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H00blah H00blah Nile/water monitors DRZRider H00blah DRZRider DRZRider H00blah Manchild H00blah DRZRider H00blah |
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H00blah View Profile |
Huge thanks!
about the water monitor - he ate 3 pinkys (i expected he’ll eat 2 or 3 but i offered 4) yesterday was no feeding day, and the cycle of crickets / worms / pinky starts again today =D now some details on his personality - i have handled him to put him into a feeding bin, but i think he kills crickets faster in his cage... i also tong fed him some meal worms and he ate 2/7 of them from tongs, and the rest he would smell them but would not eat them unless i dropped them. i am thinking of giving him more substrate as he seems to burrow a lot... right now there is about 2 inches of substrate when he burrows, i can’t see him at all. he will come out and bask then go back down. i saw him get into the middle level of the retes stack, but he stayed there for probably 5 minutes then went back to burrow. he is still slightly skiddish, but he hasn’t bitten me (yet). is there anything i can do to the substrate itself to keep it moist? i am still misting the cage when i can and the humidity seems to fluctuate from around 65 to 75. he soaked in his bowl a lot the first day he was here, but now he will go in, poop, then come out and burrow again... also: i was referred to a guy who builds reptile enclosures out of melamime for his big lizards. i have to give him the dimensions, the location of basking lights, and how many basking lights. i was thinking an 8 long x 4 wide x 3 tall - can someone just give me suggestions on what my next enclosure should be like? one more question: what are your guys’ thoughts on soaking my monitor? should i give him a weekly soak? or do you guys think it’s not necessary? thanks again for all your help and feedback!!! |
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| 08/16/10 12:02pm |
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H00blah View Profile |
Message To: H00blah In reference to Message Id: 2169726 Huge thanks!
1: what size should the next enclosure be? 2: should i soak my monitor weekly? |
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| 08/17/10 02:05am |
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Nile/water monitors View Profile |
Message To: H00blah In reference to Message Id: 2169860 Huge thanks!
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| 08/17/10 06:48am |
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DRZRider View Profile |
Message To: H00blah In reference to Message Id: 2169860 Huge thanks!
Here is my old water when I got him in January.
Here is my old water the next January. He was already 4 feet long in just 1 year and still growing. The enclosure was 8X4X7.
I believe you are underestimating what your monitor needs. Ed |
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| 08/17/10 10:22am |
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H00blah View Profile |
Message To: DRZRider In reference to Message Id: 2169905 Huge thanks!
1st, yes, he is a baby 2nd, I may hav been unclear. He has a water dish big enough to soak in, and I already change the water 2x a day. I asked bc at PE,they hav a soaking program for their monitors to get fully hydrated every week. My monitor soaked on his first day here but now he only goes in it to poop... Then he comes out and basks.. That’s y ask if I should soak him??? 3rd, i JUST asked for suggestions on how big the next enclosure should be!! What size would YOU guys ask for?? What details would YOU guys request?? The 8’4’7...did you have success with it? Is there anything you would do differently that perhaps I can do in the future of my monitors life? Just give me specifics.. Appreciate your 2 cents drz, but I would appreciate it MORE if you answered the question i asked about the size I should ask for.. Remember, I don’t have any enclosure built yet, so I have yet to make a mistake... |
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| 08/17/10 01:03pm |
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DRZRider View Profile |
Message To: H00blah In reference to Message Id: 2169919 Huge thanks!
I have two argus that I hatched in February in the 8X4X7 enclosure now. I love the enclosure. I don’t think that a 4 foot tall enclosure will work as well as a taller one for a 1 year old or older water monitor. If you have 4 feet of space and fill the bottom with 1.5 to 2 feet of dirt and leaf litter, then there is not a lot of options for a decent size monitor. I do however have a 5 foot and 4 foot argus monitor in an enclosure that is only 4 feet tall. I will be making changes to that situation very soon. If possible make your the enclosure taller. The second enclosure that I put my old water into was 4X2.5X4. It served it’s purpose for a few month between my 125 gallon aquarium and the larger one. About PE’s soaking program: They have a lot of monitors, snakes, etc. They are not able to have them all set up with the husbandry that we as hobbyist can provide (hopefully). They may need to soak theirs and if it works for them, more power to them. People like us can and should give the monitors more attention. As long as your monitor has access to the right temperature range, water to swim/soak, a borrowable substrate, and healthy food, it will be better off with out the extra stress of pulling it from the enclosure weekly to soak it. One thing that most people don’t think about is that monitors use burrows for shelter and humidity. This is why water monitor owners use deep leaf litter. It holds humidity near the bottom very well. You seem to be off to a good start. Keep it up and ou will have a healthy large lizard to be proud of. Ed |
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| 08/17/10 10:38pm |
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DRZRider View Profile |
Message To: DRZRider In reference to Message Id: 2170034 Huge thanks!
The monitor was 18 inches long when I got in 1-29-08. (I had stated February previously when I posted the deli cup picture) Here it is on 7-28-08 (only 6 months after I got it) on the day I moved it from the 4X2.5X4 enclosure.
(The light is in the middle of the enclosure, not over the monitor which is on the far end) Ed |
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| 08/17/10 10:51pm |
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H00blah View Profile |
Message To: DRZRider In reference to Message Id: 2170037 Huge thanks!
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| 08/18/10 03:09am |
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Manchild View Profile |
Message To: H00blah In reference to Message Id: 2170073 Huge thanks!
Greg |
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| 08/18/10 11:11pm |
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H00blah View Profile |
Message To: Manchild In reference to Message Id: 2170239 Huge thanks!
the fluctuation is most likely the screen top. i’ll see if i can get a hold of a camera. my phone has a camera but everything seems to appear orange... thanks for your insight. i understand that moving a reptile from one place to another would cause stress, but i’ve read and heard from talking to different people, including a vet, that water monitors feel more comfortable once in the water. is this just a myth? if there is some truth to this, then a soak would be relaxing, good exercise, and a good way to get fully hydrated. however, there is so much contradiction in reptile information out there, that the best way to learn is to ask from people with experience raising a baby to adulthood, or finding out by making mistakes.. i don’t want to make any mistakes |
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| 08/19/10 12:00am |
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DRZRider View Profile |
Message To: H00blah In reference to Message Id: 2170073 Huge thanks!
Quote: would it be possible to take pictures of the enclosure so that i can use them to show how i want it made??
There are pictures on my photobucket account. The bottom of the enclosure is a plastic water tank that was cut in half. Building an enclosure like Shay’s around a water proof bottom would be the best bet. Maybe one day I will do that. A top for your aquarium can be made easily and cheaply that would work much better than a damp towel. I have used the towel trick before and it is only a very temporary solution. The air goes from wet to dry in the enclosure, no matter what a humidity gauge says. I built this one out of scrap wood I had around the house. There was too much humidity escaping through hole on the right where the light is, so I put aluminum foil around the light’s dome. It is tacky, but it did help.
Feel free to copy and improve on the design. You can make it as complex or as simple as you want. Even just a piece of plywood over the entire screen will make things better for your monitor. Like Greg said, screen tops kill monitors. Ed |
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| 08/19/10 10:49pm |
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H00blah View Profile |
Message To: DRZRider In reference to Message Id: 2170450 Huge thanks!
Thanks again guys for all of your insight |
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| 08/19/10 11:46pm |
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