Juvie Monitor enclosure, please crit

[crapwhereaminow]

Hello all, I'm hoping to have a juvie whitethroat monitor arriving soon and I was wondering if anyone would be kind enough to critique my setup. Please keep in mind this tank will last all of 4 months if I'm lucky and will only house the baby until I get a larger enclosure finished for the ginormous sub-adult it's going to turn into. Little buggers grow quick!

So anyway, basking spot is ~ 140 (too hot?) using a 75w bulb.
Humidity is ~ 50%
ambiant is ~ 90 warm side, 80 cool side with 72 being the coolest spot in the tank. There is a ceramic heat emitter 1/3 of the way through the tank to keep the ambient up at night.

The stacks of rocks are well secured and 4 levels deep on both sides. The dirt is the stuff I get out of my backyard, it actually packs and holds shape well.

Terrible phone pics ahoy!







his/her view



Thanks in advance!

-Jessica

[crapwhereaminow]

Little update (although I'm not sure anyone's looking lol)
She arrived today, a little earlier than expected. She looked good for the couple minutes I saw her before she'd decided she'd had enough of me and hid.

She was put in her cage around 11am. I saw her when I got home from work around 4pm. When I arrived she was basking. She showed a bit of interest in the hornworm I offered but didn't eat it. She was very hissy and puffy when I was near/in the cage. She then crawled somewhere into the rock pile and I haven't seen her since. I know she was eating mostly rodents before I got her so I'll try a mouse fuzzy or something tomorrow.

basking spot's been a constant 150F. Is that too warm for a younger monitor? I'm pretty sure she's somewhere in her stack, temps at the top are 150 to 85 at the bottom.

So in summary in the 10 or so hours I've had her she's managed to muddy her water dish, and hide. I'm guessing that's normal for a monitor, I've heard a happy monitor is one you don't really see.

Updates tomorrow if she eats!
Also, I don't know boy/girl but this one's a she until proven otherwise.

[jmugleston]

Personally I'm not a fan of fish tanks for reptiles. They're great for fish, but not the best for lizards. They lose heat too quickly and the tops make a perfect dessication chamber. Great for jerky, but bad for long term care. That said, here are a few things I'd recommend to make the next four months easier on the both of you:

1: Careful on the basking spot. I'd lower it to something between 115 and 130 degrees F at the hottest spot.

2: Dirt is fine. I use the junk from the fields for my monitors as well.

3: Careful on the rocks. If they are not glued into place you may want to consider doing so. Your little one will tear up its cage and if the rocks are able to be knocked loose, you risk the chance of your new pet hurting itself.

4: It is normal for it to hide. Lizards that small don't do so well when they hang out in the open next to bigger animals.

5: If the lid is screen you may want to cover 1/3 to 1/2 the lid with Saran Wrap to keep the cage from drying out to fast. If you do this airflow will be reduced, humidity will rise a bit, and you'll need to be sure your lights aren't getting it too hot in there.

6: Careful on the diet. People seem to be a bit overzealous when keeping monitors from the African clade. If you overfeed it you'll have a "tame" lizard that is too fat to move and will keel over earlier than you probably want. Most pet African monitors are so over weight their bellies drag on the ground. That is a bad thing.

[crapwhereaminow]

Thanks for the tips! I raised the light a bit to get the basking spot at 135.

The rocks are glued and secured with tons of dirt so they shouldn't move.

The tank's actually got a glass lid, and it's in a room with fishtanks and a panther chameleon so humidity in the room is at least 40% all the time. So I'm actually seeing a bit of condensation on the cool side, and some condensation on the walls of the tank.

This baby will get mostly insects. I've read (?) insects with calcium are better than an all rodent diet for juvies.

Thanks again for the suggestions! I really appreciate it, this is my first monitor so all I have to go by is what I read online.

[jmugleston]

Thanks for the tips! I raised the light a bit to get the basking spot at 135.

The rocks are glued and secured with tons of dirt so they shouldn't move.

The tank's actually got a glass lid, and it's in a room with fishtanks and a panther chameleon so humidity in the room is at least 40% all the time. So I'm actually seeing a bit of condensation on the cool side, and some condensation on the walls of the tank.

This baby will get mostly insects. I've read (?) insects with calcium are better than an all rodent diet for juvies.

Thanks again for the suggestions! I really appreciate it, this is my first monitor so all I have to go by is what I read online.

Sounds like you're off to a good start. Just be prepared to get a larger cage soon. They grow fast. I prefer bugs over rodents for the little guys. Once it gets some size you may want to offer larger items which should be okay provided you give them variety, and don't over do it. For my larger monitors I feed large roaches (hissers, dubia, and similar sized roaches), earthworms, fish, eggs, birds, and mice.

[crapwhereaminow]

oh my gosh I'm such a dork. I just realized I typed "whitethroat" when I meant to type "ackie"

I adore whitethroats and blackthroats, but I just don't have the room right now, so I google pics/video of them and I must have had whitethroat on the mind. lol

the ackie's kind of a "tester" monitor to make sure I can properly care for one. And they're adorable.

[jmugleston]

Oh crap. Well that changes things slightly.

Bring the basking temp back up. Keep it about 130-145 at the hottest spot. The ambient temp sounds about right 75 (cool end)-90 (warm end) during the day.

They do fine on crickets. Just feed them a lot. My ackies (even the adults) eat at least once a day. I do supplement with pink or fuzzy mice once a week. They'll also take baby quail, bird, snake, or gecko eggs, worms, roaches, and about anything else that fits in their mouths. Personally I think they're more fun than some of the bigger monitors and you don't have to worry about hospital visits, huge cages, expensive feeding bills, etc.

[crapwhereaminow]

I'm so embarrassed, I wish I could edit the first part. lol

Ok, so hot spot at 145, bottom of hot side at 85, cool side is 72.

I'm going to be completely honest, I'm terrified of crickets. There's a reason my chameleon has never even seen one. I absolutely refuse to have them in the house, hence the reason I send out for silkworms, hornworms, superwomrms, and butterworms. (I'm still creeped out by all of those, I just handle them with tweezers 'cuz I'm a wuss)

A roach colony is probably a good idea though. I'm sure my cham will enjoy them too.

One more question, do you supplement your insects? I've heard some people add calcium. I'm used to supplementing the chameleon with calcium, calcium with D3, and a multivitamin. What do you use (if any)?

Again, thanks for all the help jmugleston!