Peach Throat Moniter

[wolfy-hound]

Hi all! I finally went and got myself a moniter. A beautiful peach throat, young. Captive bred, and handleable. She is a sweetheart, although she tends to scratch a bit.
I have her in a 29 gallon tank for now, she will move into a 50 when she gets larger. I got a ceramic Glow light from Exoterra, and it has a 100W infared Heat Glo lamp. I simply showed the moniter to Exoterra stand, and this is what they said I would need, but I didn't realize it would be red lighted. Hmmm.. does not show her off well. Reptibark, a large limb that is placed so it is high right under the lamp, basking spot correct? And a large water dish, which I fully expect to have to clean every day at least once or twice.
Now: They said she was eating mouse hoppers, which I thought I had some in my freezer, however those were badly freezer-burnt. I did have a pinkie rat the same size, so i offered that. She ate it.. after attempting to tear it apart, and finally swallowed it butt first after mangleing it a bit.
Soo, will rat pinks be okay? What else should I be offering her? And why doesn't the tank seem very hot? I'm having a bit of trouble with my camera posting pictures correctly, but I will get some tomm at the latest hopefully.
Is there a light that will be more visably pleaseing, or should I simply add a fluesant light to it?
She very much enjoys her water dish. And she has a small rub sore on one "wrist" on the left front leg. Neosporin?
I adore her, and I have handled her a bit, and she is active, but spending time soaking in her dish also.
Wolfy

[tigerlily]

Sorry I know nothing about monitors, but just wanted to congratulate you on the newest addition. And of course to submit my request for pics.

[wolfy-hound]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...nd/moniter.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...itertongue.jpg

I'll have tons of pictures, but I can't seem to resize them to upload quickly, hopefully later I will have it fixed! She loves her lamp!
Wolfy

[wolfy-hound]

Okay, I have had her 2 days, I adore her. I made her a quick harness out of denim(not string, don't want it to be uncomfortable) and let her go outside on a leash after I made sure she couldn't get out of the harness, and she had a ball, climbed a couple trees until I took her down, got a little high for me to reach, so down she came, then back up again...
I have her in a 29 gallon tank, but it is obviously a bit small, as I didn't know she would be so active! Any suggestions on what size? She is about 25(?) inches long, including that long whippy tail. I want for her to be happy, and she is walking and rubbing her nose on the glass.
Any suggestions advice would be totally welcome!
Wolfy

[mr~python]

the rule of thumb for monitors is an enclosure twice as long as the monitor's length and as wide as the monitors length.

[wolfy-hound]

Thanks! I moved her to a 40G breeder earlier tonight. Also got my first bite! No big deal, I moved all the stuff out, THEN grabbed her, and got bit, because she was scared.
When I get a better light and some decent pictures I will post the pics of her enclsoure.
W.

[Kara]

Also got my first bite! No big deal...
W.

WRONG!!!!!!! I hope you THOROUGHLY disinfected that bite! It may not seem like much at first, but *all* Indo monitors have nasty, funky saliva, and what seems like a simple cut can turn into a really, really nasty infection in just a couple of days. You need to thoroughly irrigate the bite with betadine solution, and I mean continuously rinse it with the solution for a full 5 minutes or so, then pat dry & apply an antibiotic ointment.

DO NOT take peach throat bites lightly...a little bit of prevention can go a long way. Kev almost lost his ability to play guitar as the result of a nasty peach throat bite a few years back. (if you're wondering why that's such a big deal, I'll send you a link to some of his mp3's).

BE CAREFUL!

K~

[wolfy-hound]

Thank you for the precaution, I was not aware. I will treat it like a cat bite. In the grooming industry, cat bites are common for getting so badly infected.
Scrubbing it open and pouring fun stuff in to make me make squirmy movements and squeeky noise in about 5 minutes.
I still consider it minor in damage, but high risk in infection possibilites. Thank you again for that advice, and I will be sure to follow it.
Wolfy

[Kara]

Wise move...I'd hate to see your monitor keeping experience go from sugar to doodee after one seemingly harmless bite.

You know...what you don't see can really eff you up!

Indo monitor bites are especially serious...they all seem to have a really funky bacterial brew thriving in that saliva, and a bite just loads you up with it. Make thorough disinfection part of your standard protocol.

And be wary of those teeth...Peachies have quite the set of chompers!!!

Your setup sounds good, BTW, but glass tanks tend to make monitors nervous if there aren't lots of places to hide. IMO, you should consider taping paper over at least 3 sides of the enclosure - 2 short sides & a long side, and make sure there are lots of hiding spots in the mean time. What are your temps running?

K~

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

I think most all monitors have some bad bacteria in there saliva right? I got bit by my sav a few good times and within only 1/2 hour the bite was "healed" and for a few days later the spot was swollen and painful to touch. Monitor bites suck. Not sure if peachies bite and clamp down like my sav does but be sure to keep some vinegar around incase they do. It can be hard to get monitors to release and they even do a death roll like move when they have a good grip. Nice Peachie and hope to see some more pics. I would think a peachie would be ok in a 6' by 2' by 4-6' tall cage. Has he eaten or pooed yet?