after allthe waiting and searching i found my new Sumatran water. pics

here he is. my new Sumatran water named DOG. so when people come over to my house i can say do you want to see my dog. LOL
the store i got him from just got them in this morning and they called me because i have been on a waiting list. he was the biggest brightest colored one in the cage by far. hope you all enjoy.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...3/3/water5.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...3/3/water4.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...3/3/water3.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...3/3/water2.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...3/3/water1.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...3/3/water8.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...3/3/water7.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...3/3/water6.jpg
matt

SWEET!!! If only they didn't get so big.......Once NERD has the prices come down a bit I may have to get a pair of Het albino waters. Nice

it is hard to believe how big it will get. it is so tiney right now. he did eat a mess of crickets when we got home. but when you think about it the tail is 2/3rds of the total length. so relly a adult is only about 3ft of body.

very cool. where'd he come from? a breeder or..?

he is a wild cought like 90% are so my guess is he is from Sumatran. i got him at the pet kingdom in downtown san diego. the best reptile shop in town. they just picked his group up from the distributer last night. he proabbly hasent been in the country for more than a few days. he came with a 2 week health guarentee so that makes it a little easier to buy a WC. but like i said 90% of the waters in the us are wc
matt

are the woodchips temporary until you can get him on dirt?

it is orchid bark. i read on the pro exotics web site to start them on orchid bark until they are a few months along. then swap them over to dirt. i dont know where i am going to get dirt though. i am in san diego right now. the only dirt around is in the park and it is fertilized and incectasided

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Originally Posted by fish21

it is orchid bark. i read on the pro exotics web site to start them on orchid bark until they are a few months along. then swap them over to dirt. i dont know where i am going to get dirt though. i am in san diego right now. the only dirt around is in the park and it is fertilized and incectasided

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Your back yard?

dont have one.LOL live in a town house

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Originally Posted by fish21

dont have one.LOL live in a town house

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Oh. lol, we are in the process of building out house so we have almost 3 acres of dirt and weeds, no trees. When you move to Iowa....

take a drive out to a dry creek bed, thats where the best dirt is. do you know where any are?

no but i will start looking around when i am driving.

lol, i guess im lucky. at our 22 acres we have a seasonal creek and it has the best sandy dirt.

i will proabbly just leave him on orchid bark till we move back to iowa in about 6 months. all the dirt in the world there. he is so active. my savannaha is just a bump on a log. dont get me wrong i love him verry much he just dosent move verry much.LOL the water is all over the place.
matt

he's probably so active right now because of the new environment.

i just remembered this, you can make your own soil mix. go to your local home depot or lowes and get a bag of top soil without any additives or anything and mix it in a 1:1 ratio with playsand. ive never done it myself but ive heard it works.

great thanks for the advice.
matt

I really am getting tired of dirt for my sav. I currently use a 1.1 mixture of sand and soil. He doesn't burrow at all so I don't see much of a reason for dirt anymore.

if your monitor isnt burrowing he's telling you "wrong dirt, try again".

do you have a pic of your monitor

yes, here's a few. none of them are too recent though.
when i first got him (i was surprised how tiny he was!):
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...s/ackie008.jpg
here's the most recent. he looks dull in them beecause he was just entering a shed cycle and the fact that he's covered in dirt doesnt help, LOL. (about 3 weeks ago):
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1.../ackie0062.jpg
(without flash)
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1.../ackie0032.jpg
(with flash on the same day)

i dont have any of him now and he's grown a lot since then.

Fish, I might have to get one of those...wow is he nice looking.

they are awesome. you just have to understand that they are the second biggest lizzard in the world. but also one of the tamest
matt

He's really sweet and pretty :) I get my bags of topsoil from our local home depot and if you buy more than one bag you can sometimes pick up a deal - and let's face it - a lot of topsoil will be needed ;)

My sav doesn't make lots of burrows - but he digs under his rock and makes himself a regular burrow there. I've got to get his big viv sorted so he can have deeper soil.

well he made it through the first night. so we are over the first hurdle. he gobbled up a bunch more crickets this morning. so i have no doubt that his guts are working properly.
i will update with pics and updates as we go along.
matt

it's funny my tegu wont touch crickets, but he'll eat super worms like woah...

very nice looking monitor... how big do they get?? 8ft?

Here's what you can look forward to if you put the time into making your new baby a friendly lizard. ;)

(And no, just in case there's ANY confusion, that is not me in the photo! I'm the one behind the camera.)

http://newenglandreptile.com/webpics/p.jpg

oh my god i cant wait. how big is he. and how much does he way?????

Hmmm...that pic is a couple of years old now, so Poseidon has grown a bit. He's around 7' long STL, and probably weighs 50 lbs +/-. He's a BIG boy, one we regularly take to birthday parties & educational shows. Kids love him, and he's very, very tolerant of them.

how do you transport him in a huge box????

Not only is your new baby beautiful, but Posiedon is gorgeous as well.

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Originally Posted by fish21

how do you transport him in a huge box????

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He has his own transport crate. :) P will also walk on a leash & harness when necessary...people always do a double take when they drive through the parking lot & see him out on the lawn w/someone holding the end of his leash.

Set aside some specific handling time every day when your new monitor settles in. Make it a point to really interact & spend time with it. Water monitors are SO responsive & intelligent, and just a joy to keep if you're prepared to do so.

Keep in mind that they are also big & strong & capable of inflicting a serious bite. Water monitors also tend to develop a strong feeding response, and even the friendliest ones can accidently grab a hand & really do some damage if you don't learn to read their behavior properly & know what to expect.

All food for thought...

K~

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KLG

Here's what you can look forward to if you put the time into making your new baby a friendly lizard. ;)

(And no, just in case there's ANY confusion, that is not me in the photo! I'm the one behind the camera.)

http://newenglandreptile.com/webpics/p.jpg

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WOW! He is awesome!

Congrats Fish!

Aww, that poor Poseidon...gets no love, no attention and certainly no food! *tease* Looks like a Daddy's boy to me, heehee! =D

Matt...that's a beautiful little lizard....that is obviously going to grow into a magnificent creature! (as shown in Kara's amazing picture!) Good luck with that beauty!!!

thanks to all for the kind words i will relay them to Dog.
matt

I want one!

go get one. they dont get verry big. hahah
matt

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fish21

go get one. they dont get verry big. hahah
matt

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Lies! =D

what? you couldnt handle a komodo dragon??:P ;)

i never lie. i just simply bend the truth.lol and they are not that big compared to adult female burm, or a salt water crock. LOL
matt

Sweet Kara!!! Thats a nice size little boy. How big do the females get? Aren't niles and water monitors about the same size?

waters get about 25% bigger from what i have read.
matt

Just found out they are illegal in NY state, which doesn't surprise me because EVERYTHING is illegal in NY.