Water Monitor Issues

[Flirtycuddle]

My ex bought a water monitor and did all the care for it when we were living together. He gave it up to me in March since he couldn't keep it any more due to living situations and this poor guy is 2 feet long if that when he was purchased over a yr ago. He only eats f/t full size mice and I had to redo his cage completely. The tip of his tail is red...looks like the very tip fell off and the red is spreading down his tail. I just listened to what he told me and never checked the care of this poor animal. I need to get insects for him that much i know and need to work on the humidity in his cage too. I have a large dish in there for water for him and a smaller dish under the light with a uvb/uva light on him too. I have him close to the light so that his basking temp is 115 right now. The ambient temp of hte cool side is 85 degrees too. I have a home made hide for him but he wont use it either. Stuck shed on his feet too that i am soaking him daily to get off. Could he have tail rot too though cuz of the tail and the red spreading?

[crystal]

i would take him to the vet but i dont know anything about water monitors... so


BUMP

[Skiploder]

Your basking temp is too low - he needs to option of going as high as 130+.

As far as the tail goes, I'm not even going to hazard a guess - my advice is to take him to the vet and get is checked out immediately.

Once he has been diagnosed by the vet and is on a treatment regimen, you need to assess whether or not you are willing to give this animal a long term home. Do you want an animal that is going to reach at least 6' and weigh over 50 pounds? Do have the space to keep him? If not, find a good home for him.

In the meantime, makes sure he is in a proper sized enclosure with proper substrate. At 2' in length, I would get him into a nice stock tank - at least 5' Lx 3'W x 2' H and I would highly recommend getting him into a couple feet of organic soil mixed in with sand. This would provide a nice diggable, moisture retaining substrate that will greatly aid him in shedding, reduce the stress of undergoing repeatedly baths to loosen stuck sheds and correct the moisture issues his enclosure.

As far as his diet, I would supplement it with some ground raw turkey, some roaches, etc.

In the meantime, no one here can help you with his tail issue - please get him to a vet immediately.

[Flirtycuddle]

Went to the vet and the tip of his tail did fall off but not known from what. The vet said it didn't look infected at all so just keep him in the right set up and he'll grow now. I have him a 6ft x4x4 cage now till I can get a bigger one made. Yes I know how big they get and they are agressive by nature. He however is pretty mellow for the most part. The stuck shed on his toes is coming off and she even said soaking him once a week for an hour or 2 is what I should be doing even says it on pro exotics web site. He has a mix of top soil and sand and has started digging his burrows finally and then tons of places to run and move around and hide. THe basking temp is now 125 trying to get it up a little more. Have a mega ray bulb on teh way too for him.