what monitor?

[allergenic]

Nice to see people arguing over a thread that is well over a year

It was listed at the top of the forum last night, with last active activity Feb 6th.

[JLC]

It was listed at the top of the forum last night, with last active activity Feb 6th.

Yes...that can happen when an OLD poll is voted on...it bumps the thread back to the top...then folks start posting and commenting without noticing that their comments are mostly irrelevant due to the date of the poll.

I try to close polls older than 90 days (with a few notable exceptions)...however, with so many polls being created all the time, it's easy to miss them until they get bumped up like this one. It's closed now...and will eventually sink to the bottom of the pile where it belongs.

[lucyyenic]

Im looking to spend about $50-$150. Regardlessof which is a better pet monitor ive been doing some research and i think im gonna go with a sav, and any i have a while to decide.

[bsash]

I have a Ornate Nile monitor and a Savannah monitor.

Here is what I feed them every week:
Sunday- Two hard boiled eggs each
Monday- Nothing
Tuesday- Two rat pups each and two dozen roaches each
Wednesday- Nothing
Thursday- 4 ounces cooked beef liver each
Friday- Nothing
Saturday- Nothing

The Savannah monitor is three years old at 3ft. long and the Nile monitor is almost two years old at 2 1/2ft. long

I house them both kind of the same, except the Nile stays a little more moist. I keep them both of them in their own 125 gallon tank, the substrate is the excavator clay, sold at reptiledirect.com, I like that because I lay a thick layer of it down and they can make their own burrows. It holds much better than the half dirt, half sand mix I used to do. I have a typical reptile screen lid on the tank, in the middle I have a 250 watt white heat lamp, then off to the side I have the powersun 160 watt uvb uva heat combined bulb. On the other side of the tank I have nothing, and the temperature stays at about 75 degrees. In the middle with the 250 watt bulb I have a basking tree for the Nile, and a big stack of stones for the Savannah, as she is horrible at climbing. The basking spot stays at 100- 115 degrees. My warm side with the 160 watt powersun bulb stays at 80-90 degrees. I also keep their water bowls (Giant cat litter boxes) on the cool side. I see it this way, in the summer we like to cool off by going in a pool or taking a cold shower right? I do the same for them and leave the water on the cool side so it is at least refreshing.

Sorry that turned out so long. I also used to rescue monitors, but it is an expensive business so I had to quit it. I know I am probably going to get crap for keeping them in fish tanks, but I believe they need moving air too, but you do need higher watt bulbs in order to keep them in fish tanks, because then otherwise the heat does just rise out of the tank.

Hope this helps!

[mumps]

I have a Ornate Nile monitor and a Savannah monitor.

the Nile monitor is almost two years old at 2 1/2ft. long

Ouch.

My V. ornatus is 1 1/2 years old and almost 5 feet. Eats everyday until he's 2...

Chris

[bsash]

Ouch.

My V. ornatus is 1 1/2 years old and almost 5 feet. Eats everyday until he's 2...

Chris

When I got the Nile monitor he/she was being starved to death. The past owner no longer wanted it and I guess felt letting it die would be best, so I gave him $50 for the monitor and bought it back home with me. He told me that it was a year old then, so I assume that the Nile monitor is almost two, because I have had it since then. Possible growth stunt? I am unsure. I do feed real food items such as frozen/thawed baby chicks, rat pups, and super worms with the hard boiled eggs and beef liver, so it's not like they only get real food once a week. I would be open to suggestions, I do have them both in fish tanks right now, but hopefully by April/May I will have their new enclosures built, and everything will be on the inside (Heat bulbs, misting, and so on.). I don't want people to think that I treat my animals like crap, I work very hard to keep everything just right for them. I was actually supposed to have the enclosures built last summer, but my grandmother got real sick, and then she passed away, so honestly, the enclosures never got done.

[mumps]

bash:

Maybe you should have mentioned the rescue situation when you posted originally... didn't mean to "bash" you, lol.

Varanids grow exponentially in the first couple of years (as do all living things), and eat everyday, at least something. I notice you don't feed yours everyday; you should. My ornatus gets a medium rat everyday except for the days he gets ground turkey and eggs. Turkey once a week and eggs every 2 - 3 weeks.

You will find when you make your enclosures (I recommend walk-ins; saves you having to make more later on), that once you are not coming in from the top, they will trust you more as right now you are perceived as a "swoop down" predator.

Good luck with your varanids.

Chris

[bsash]

I actually used to try and feed them everyday, neither one of them ever wanted to eat that often, but I could try it again. I don't feed turkey, just beef liver and hard boiled eggs with their live food.

Also, don't worry, no hard feelings over here.