New pick-up

[MMReptiles]

Oh lord, some of the information given in this thread is downright laughable.

First off, congrats on the new monitor. Niles are perhaps one of the most beautiful and misunderstood species of monitor one can own. Of the 4 monitors I currently have, my nile is absolutely my favorite. He's got just enough attitude it makes him enjoyable to work with, and respect for what he is - a large carnivorous reptile capable of lots of damage. That being said I have a few pieces of advice for you.

1. The cage you are being given is too small, it's extremely clear the previous owner had no idea what he was doing with this monitor. Niles are extremely fast growing, and his size for his age is pretty sad. Mine is something like 1 year 4 months old and is around the same size as yours. Up his food intake as previously suggested.

2. Dirt substrate- and lots of it. Niles LOVE to dig, in the wild these guys burrow, dig up prey including croc eggs, and do amazingly well in deep soil substrate. Plan for at least 2 foot of substrate for him to burrow in.

3. Temps and Humidity- sounds like you got the temps right but what kind of humidity are you offering him? Mine did amazing with high humidity and I do recall Roger (sidbarvin) using high humidity with his as well, and growth was greatly increased.

4. Go hands off with him for now. Grabbing him and force handling him a bunch now will only cause problems. Give him some space and let him be exactly what he is- a monitor. Monitors are NOT dogs or bearded dragons, and should not be touched nearly as much as your average monitor owner touches them. I can count on one hand the number of times I've picked up my nile- and she does not hiss or bite.

Swamp: As pretty as the cage is- there is not enough substrate for any monitor for any length of time. All monitors will dig at some point, and get a great benefit from it besides the burrowing aspect. Being under the dirt allows for high humidity in the burrow along with higher temps at night if they sleep there. It's an excellent place for them to hang out when not basking and still have high temps/humidity for ample growth.

As for glass aquariums- this is probably the WORST advice you could ever get for owning a varanid, and should be completely disregarded. In most cases fish tanks are exactly that FISH tanks. A large number of reptiles do awful in tanks monitors included. Monitors like to have lots of room, with lots of places to hide. High temps and high humidity. This simply can't be obtained inside of a class tank. Period. Just because you've kept a red tail in a tank doesn't mean anything at all. Let me guess, your red tail has an open top enclosure allowing for humidity escaping, and it probably has a heat light too (lol nocturnal).

Monitors are not for beginners or people without a lot of time, room, and deep pockets and a passion for large lizards you may never get to touch.

Chris - great points, glad to see someone who knows what they are doing

[BloodPython699]

Oh lord, some of the information given in this thread is downright laughable.

First off, congrats on the new monitor. Niles are perhaps one of the most beautiful and misunderstood species of monitor one can own. Of the 4 monitors I currently have, my nile is absolutely my favorite. He's got just enough attitude it makes him enjoyable to work with, and respect for what he is - a large carnivorous reptile capable of lots of damage. That being said I have a few pieces of advice for you.

1. The cage you are being given is too small, it's extremely clear the previous owner had no idea what he was doing with this monitor. Niles are extremely fast growing, and his size for his age is pretty sad. Mine is something like 1 year 4 months old and is around the same size as yours. Up his food intake as previously suggested.

2. Dirt substrate- and lots of it. Niles LOVE to dig, in the wild these guys burrow, dig up prey including croc eggs, and do amazingly well in deep soil substrate. Plan for at least 2 foot of substrate for him to burrow in.

3. Temps and Humidity- sounds like you got the temps right but what kind of humidity are you offering him? Mine did amazing with high humidity and I do recall Roger (sidbarvin) using high humidity with his as well, and growth was greatly increased.

4. Go hands off with him for now. Grabbing him and force handling him a bunch now will only cause problems. Give him some space and let him be exactly what he is- a monitor. Monitors are NOT dogs or bearded dragons, and should not be touched nearly as much as your average monitor owner touches them. I can count on one hand the number of times I've picked up my nile- and she does not hiss or bite.

Swamp: As pretty as the cage is- there is not enough substrate for any monitor for any length of time. All monitors will dig at some point, and get a great benefit from it besides the burrowing aspect. Being under the dirt allows for high humidity in the burrow along with higher temps at night if they sleep there. It's an excellent place for them to hang out when not basking and still have high temps/humidity for ample growth.

As for glass aquariums- this is probably the WORST advice you could ever get for owning a varanid, and should be completely disregarded. In most cases fish tanks are exactly that FISH tanks. A large number of reptiles do awful in tanks monitors included. Monitors like to have lots of room, with lots of places to hide. High temps and high humidity. This simply can't be obtained inside of a class tank. Period. Just because you've kept a red tail in a tank doesn't mean anything at all. Let me guess, your red tail has an open top enclosure allowing for humidity escaping, and it probably has a heat light too (lol nocturnal).

Monitors are not for beginners or people without a lot of time, room, and deep pockets and a passion for large lizards you may never get to touch.

Chris - great points, glad to see someone who knows what they are doing

Just to start, Exo-terra and Zilla don't specialize in fish tanks. As for you remark on my Boa. If you would read more closely you would have read that I have my ways of keeping in humidity. The hygrometer can even be seen behind her water bowl on the left. Unfortunately, you guessed wrong and were quick to assume and predict.



My Red Tail, Betsy, and I hate bright lights about as much as Nosferatu. She spends most of her time in her hide box to the right in the picture and I believe in heating pads and, as you can see, she does not have a heat light. The only reason why the lamp in my room is turned up to max is so I can take a picture to show you how assuming does the age old saying. Also, I do no have it open for humidity to escape or else my methods would fail. By the way, last I checked glass enclosures have not been proven to be a "known" fatal husbandry mishap of monitors/reptiles. Taking the time to spray a cage does just as much good as a much more expensive and less attentive method of housing. Forgive me for polluting this post with my horrid information. God forbid my ideals are ever implemented into someones less knowledgeable mind. Hopefully anyone who reads my response is smart enough to know that you're correct and my methods are flawed. For all they know, my Boa could be dead.



Or not...

-Michael. A

[Jared2608]

Nile Monitors (Lequaan in South Africa) are awesome! My friend used to work at a pet shop, he got called to someones house because one of these things had invaded the swimming pool, and attacked the cat...The people weren't very impressed, but we thought he was awesome!!

As aggressive as they can be, they still run like banshees when a big Fish Eagle, or the likes is around. Fishing at a dam once I hear a weird noise, and one of these guys, not a very big one, but big enough, came bolting out of the bushes, and launched himself into the damn. The dam was about 3 meters lower than the banks, because of a drought, and the lizard had quite a bit of "hang time" before he hit the water. When I looked around, I noticed a very large Eagle circling around, so I figure this thing was making a hasty retreat!

Your one is awesome, hopefully he'll overcome his posturing and hissy-ness, lol!!

[jbean7916]

Thanks to everyone who has responded.

We now have superman on a soil substrate and though its not quite as deep as it needs to be, we've built it up as deep as possible for the time being. We're working on a new enclosure but having some difficulty finding plans that will suit both our and his needs. (our main concern is the "pool" area and how to easily change the water and clean)

As for upping his food, hes doing very well there and my bank account can tell you that! We've switched to rats as his staple with occasional ground turkey. He'll eat 3 or 4 small rats every other day and a couple similar sized chunks of the turkey on the other days. Does this sound like enough?

His humidity is between 90-100% and even then he spends about 80% of the time in his water (which needs changing 3xs a day the dirty bugger).

As far as handling goes, we never forced handling but rather allowed him to walk out of his home to us. Regardless, we're not handling him often only when the cage needs more than spot cleaning. Saturday we took the doors off to clean them and he walked right out and and decided to climb me.

He has stopped hissing and only occasionally postures, usually in the early morning when hes first waking up.

Thanks again for all your responses!

sent from my EVO

sent from my EVO

[MMReptiles]

Just to start, Exo-terra and Zilla don't specialize in fish tanks. As for you remark on my Boa. If you would read more closely you would have read that I have my ways of keeping in humidity. The hygrometer can even be seen behind her water bowl on the left. Unfortunately, you guessed wrong and were quick to assume and predict.



My Red Tail, Betsy, and I hate bright lights about as much as Nosferatu. She spends most of her time in her hide box to the right in the picture and I believe in heating pads and, as you can see, she does not have a heat light. The only reason why the lamp in my room is turned up to max is so I can take a picture to show you how assuming does the age old saying. Also, I do no have it open for humidity to escape or else my methods would fail. By the way, last I checked glass enclosures have not been proven to be a "known" fatal husbandry mishap of monitors/reptiles. Taking the time to spray a cage does just as much good as a much more expensive and less attentive method of housing. Forgive me for polluting this post with my horrid information. God forbid my ideals are ever implemented into someones less knowledgeable mind. Hopefully anyone who reads my response is smart enough to know that you're correct and my methods are flawed. For all they know, my Boa could be dead.



Or not...

-Michael. A

Your telling me that a see through 4 sided enclosure woudn't stress out the animal and possibly lead to death? Especially in a monitor? Your lack of monitor knowledge is vast, and obvious.

Please do tell me your ambient humidity in the entire enclosure, not just next to the water bowl. Lol.

[mumps]

Just to start, Exo-terra and Zilla don't specialize in fish tanks. As for you remark on my Boa. If you would read more closely you would have read that I have my ways of keeping in humidity. The hygrometer can even be seen behind her water bowl on the left. Unfortunately, you guessed wrong and were quick to assume and predict.



My Red Tail, Betsy, and I hate bright lights about as much as Nosferatu. She spends most of her time in her hide box to the right in the picture and I believe in heating pads and, as you can see, she does not have a heat light. The only reason why the lamp in my room is turned up to max is so I can take a picture to show you how assuming does the age old saying. Also, I do no have it open for humidity to escape or else my methods would fail. By the way, last I checked glass enclosures have not been proven to be a "known" fatal husbandry mishap of monitors/reptiles. Taking the time to spray a cage does just as much good as a much more expensive and less attentive method of housing. Forgive me for polluting this post with my horrid information. God forbid my ideals are ever implemented into someones less knowledgeable mind. Hopefully anyone who reads my response is smart enough to know that you're correct and my methods are flawed. For all they know, my Boa could be dead.



Or not...

-Michael. A

That is one SAD looking setup.

Chris

[Jay_Bunny]

Congrats on the nile! They are beautiful lizards.

@ BloodPython699 - You comparing the keeping of a boa in a glass tank and keeping a monitor in a glass tank is comparing apples to snow peas. They are two completely different species. The only thing they share in common is they are in the class of Reptilia. After that their needs are quite different. What works for your boa might not (and in this case, DOES NOT) work for a monitor lizard. Now I know nothing about monitors but these people do. YOU have never had a monitor. YOU have never housed, fed, cleaned up after, etc a monitor lizard. Yet you claim to KNOW that tanks are proper housing for them because your BOA lives in a tank. I have plenty of reptiles that live in tanks. I have corn snakes, a king snake, and a leopard gecko in tanks. And they do just fine. But something like a monitor needs something more.

To the monitor keepers, man this thread makes me want one. But I know I'll never be able to have one. So you guys better post up pictures of all your monitor babies.

[Jerhart]

[Amon Ra Reptiles]

Really guys ..... Not everyone's setups are the same. The whole for sides are open .... Omg..... It's not a ball python. Yeah some boas may want to be more secluded than others, but as long as his snakes is eating and growing....then it's fine. I agree with the not keeping monitors in tanks. But a boa or other snake.... They do fine in tanks and as I recall we have quite a few members here who keep snakes in tanks.

[MMReptiles]

Really guys ..... Not everyone's setups are the same. The whole for sides are open .... Omg..... It's not a ball python. Yeah some boas may want to be more secluded than others, but as long as his snakes is eating and growing....then it's fine. I agree with the not keeping monitors in tanks. But a boa or other snake.... They do fine in tanks and as I recall we have quite a few members here who keep snakes in tanks.

That doesn't make it right. As much as people may think their reptiles enjoy human interaction they forget one simple thing. Reptiles are solitary predators in most cases. They do not want to be seen, they do not want to be held, they want to be left well enough alone.

While I agree snakes can live in a fish tank, I also believe they do BETTER in any number of environments- including tubs in a rack system- where 3/4 sides are covered by walls of the rack around it.

Fish tanks are stressful for reptiles. Period.

Lets get this topic off of fish tanks as snake enclosures and back to the OPs topic- about the new Nile.