Well I am just venting but I really don’t understand why there is so much inaccurate information on Monitor care. I was reading a page on Niles and I was like "Okay... check... check... okay" then I see minimum cage size 6×4. What the hell! Where can I get a detailed care sheet that I can follow and trust every word. No "They live a max of 10 years" or "They dont need access to water 24/7 as long as you put them in the tub once a week". I just want something that I can trust to give my Nile as good of a captive life as I can.
Message To: Dominako In reference to Message Id: 2270009
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There is no all inclusive accurate care sheet for monitors. A lot of it should be common sense, Dominako.
A Nile is potentially a 6ft lizard so a 6x4x4 would be cramped quarters for an adult. Monitors need access to fresh water, not a bath tub once a week. They can live much longer than 10 years if kept properly. Most of this should be common sense. I’ve seen a 16 yr old female Niloticus that was kept in a 10x4x4 it’s whole life.
Message To: Varanus_odom In reference to Message Id: 2270012
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I listed those things because they were obviously inaccurate. I know what size cage he needs, I know how long he can live, I know his water requirements, I know all the common sense things. I should have been more clear. What I am looking for is accurate information for optimal care. I want to know the BEST humidity levels, the best cage temps and not just a ballpark, and the best food and nutrition and the frequency of what he should eat and how often. I know the basics and the essentials. What I am looking for is more than that. When I go to a caresheet and see a piece of inaccurate information I must go under the assumption that the rest of the information may be flawed. I am looking to raise the most impressive specimen I can so the basics will not do. The issue is that the only thing I currently have to go off of is my gut and being that this is my first Nile I don’t want to just leave it at that. I have already been provided excellent information from users on this forum but I don’t want to constantly be posting questions if a trustworthy caresheet exists where I can get my information.
Message To: Varanus_odom In reference to Message Id: 2270012
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At the bare minimum when considering a species and a cage, look at the honest size of an adult male. Then double that AT THE VERY LEAST for your cage length and a touch bigger in width. This is bare minimum keeping requirements and these animals can get to that size in a couple years easily. So knowing on a quick Google search that a V. niloticus can hit 7 feet pretty reliably, you need to house one in a 14’x7-8’ foot floor footprint at the least. That’s a big animal that will require a very big cage and a lot of space, heat, and cost to feed and house that $50 lizard. People don’t want to shell out the few hundred bucks for the CBB dwarfs and smaller Gouldii types, etc and tend to grab the less expensive imports, but if you do the costs on these animals, the big Nile or Water or Albig is going to cost you much more in the long run. Plus WC is just not cool for so many reasons. I think if folks are going to get into WC Monitors, at least look small with Savannahs, not the goliath sized ones. But to answer the OP’s question, no....there is no catch-all care sheet that will tell you every single thing you need to know and a lot of this stuff is pretty much common sense. They tend to eat more than people expect and use more heat than people initially think. They also grow very quickly and need a lot of space relative to some other more sessile lizards out there. Niles a no joke...big committment! Good luck and post away if you have ?s or need ideas.
Message To: Krusty In reference to Message Id: 2270015
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Okay, money is no issue and I have been planning on a large Monitor for about five years now. Here are my intentions; I want him to have the ability to explore my home at his leisure with a cage to retreat to with optimal conditions inside (he is not defensive in anyway so I am not worried about him being stressed by sharing a space with me), I want to make sure he grows to his best potential. Really I want tips on optimizing his cage and how to make sure the free-roaming thing works out the best it can.
Message To: Dominako In reference to Message Id: 2270019
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May I ask how big he is?
Everyone always gets a large lizard in the hope that one day they will let it wander the house as a ’pet’. If, like you say, your Nile is one of the rarities and doesn’t mind your presence then you may be able to get it out once in a while (if it is still young, it has time to hate you!).
But, imagine having a 7ft beast around the house when all of the sudden it flips... You won’t be able to control it. You won’t be able to have other pets as he will kill them and you have to ensure that the whole house is ’monitor proof’. Plus, a 7ft monitor has massive and stinky craps, whilst free roaming he will let loose in the house! These are only some reasons that free roaming doesn’t work - its okay to let them out once or twice a week, but for a long term basis it is a losing game.
Like Krusty said, you need that size cage even if you plan to free roam... When you lock it up for whatever reason, you don’t want it being a coffin.
Message To: Dominako In reference to Message Id: 2270019
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Free roaming is no bueno. Im not saying you cant take it out of the cage, but if its a continual thing and you expect it to be fine just roaming around the house, it wont be. A home is is not going to create an optimal specimen as you called it.
Message To: Daryl- In reference to Message Id: 2270030
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I don’t think he will charge me as they are defensive not aggressive so it is pretty obvious when they are not happy and its easy enough just not to mess with him. As for the free roam thing he will have constant access to his cage and the rest of the house is just for his natural curiosity. The poops dont bother me as he poops 90% of the time in water so an accident here and there is fine. The vet I brought him to used to own a free roaming Nile and he had a lot of success with it. He told me that if you have a rarity its not going to attack you like people may tell you however it may get pissy from time to time and in that case just leave them be. The free roam I have in mind is only when me or my fiance are home. For things such as making sure he doesn’t dig our drywall or furniture.
Message To: Dominako In reference to Message Id: 2270038
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Defensive can turn into aggressive rather fast and it’s not always predictable. Monitors are extremely aggressive when it comes to anything they *perceive* to be food related at any given moment. Don’t assume your monitor will decide to walk into his enclosure to take a dump or pee. He’s going to go wherever he feels like it and if given the choice, he’s going to use your house floor 99% of the time to release his massive stinky loads on and you’ll be left to clean it as best you can.
If your lizard has "constant access" to his enclosure, you’ll also be constantly letting heat and humidity out of said enclosure.
The monitor digging at your drywall and furniture (???) would be the least of your worries! LOL
Message To: 3240 In reference to Message Id: 2270040
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Ray, the owner of Bay Area reptiles in Tampa, used to own a 7ft male Salvator. They raised it to it’s adult size and ended up letting it free roam for a bit until they couldn’t stand cleaning up god awful dinosaur size poop piles. They sold him thereafter.
Message To: Varanus_odom In reference to Message Id: 2270047
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Monitor’s are also considered a to be a wild animal with primal instincts. Say good bye to the cat’s and dog’s. Not to mention a toe or two when he see your feet in white socks walk by and thinks its a mouse or thinks your toes a pinky mice. I’ve seen a full grown man get chased out of his house because his black and white tegu though his feet were mice and it charged him. I think a free roaming monitor that is some what healthy is a threat to you or any body else in the house hold, and it will only take one attack of a adult size nile to make you realize that.
Message To: Mxracer In reference to Message Id: 2270062
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My main concern with this whole free roaming idea, is that your house is not going to have proper temperatures or humidity levels for him also if you are leaving his cage open to allow him free access then his cage will also lose all its heat and humidity. If you want a healthy lizard this is a bad idea.. not to mention the kind of things a monitor can get into. its far to dangerous to the animal. if you wanted a free roaming pet then maybe a large monitor is not the best for you.
you say that your vet had one free roaming, by chance did you ask him how long he had it, or if it kicked the bucket before its time due to improper conditions
Message To: Yaksha In reference to Message Id: 2270063
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Naw, he mentioned that it lived a long healthy life. Reptiles are not completely slaved to needing the same heat all day long. He knows how to thermoregulate. If he didn’t their species would have died off a long time ago. As for the cage if the only ventilation in the cage is the opening for him to fit in and out of there is not going to be much heat or humidity loss. I know people who have had much success with Iguana roamers doing the same thing I plan to and I am sure a more intelligent lizard would fare even better. I realize they are very different animals but the concept is the same. And as for the poop I worked as a vet assistant for a while and I can tell you I KNOW HOW TO HANDLE POOP. I saw some screwed up stuff and it will make his poops look like nothing. I have seen large monitor poop.
Message To: Dominako In reference to Message Id: 2270065
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I am not looking for him to be like a cat or something. I am not in denial, I know what our relationship is. I mean nothing to him and I never will. This free roaming thing is so he can really stretch his legs and explore. Realistically he will probably choose his cage over exploring anyway. Reptiles seek optimum conditions so the only thing that would draw him out would be curiosity.
Message To: Dominako In reference to Message Id: 2270065
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I live on what could be called a hobby farm and also know poop. Monitor poop (mixed with urine) is something special, it reeks, and it’s very difficult to clean up. It’s also fun when they walk through it or their tail drags in it and spreads it around.
These animals are smart but if you think it’s going to crawl out of it’s cage, calmly explore, and go back into it’s cage when it’s too cool, you’re mistaken. My croc got out of it’s cage last year. Getting it back in the cage was like a WWE wrestling match. Also, there’s no way to maintain temps and humidity if there’s any type of opening in the enclosure.
I worked with Cyclura (iguanas) many years ago and hear about free roaming all of the time. I’m not a fan but I can tell you that an iguana is far less destructive than a 7’ nile monitor. Also, there’s a big difference in poop. Monitor poop is awful stuff. I have a 130LB Black Russian Terrier that ate something that didn’t agree with him yesterday. He couldn’t hold it and took a nasty crap in my bedroom last night. It’s was the size of a VW Jetta! I’d rather clean up his poop, over a nile monitor, any day!
I’m guessing that you’re going to do what you want to do. Go for it. You’ll learn.
Message To: 3240 In reference to Message Id: 2270076
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Like everyone has stated, it is a bad idea. To start with, iguanas are a different species to monitors and are recognised as being more chilled out. Regarding temps, you say they thermoregulate but unless you plan on keeping your house warmer and more humid then the monitor may not even come out of his cage due to the cold, plus, if it does come out and can’t find it’s way back - you have a serious issue as a cold Nile is a nasty Nile... Also, I wouldn’t want a 7ft beast trying to fit on my window sill to bask!
But, I have some questions: How old is it at the moment? What size will the end cage be? How do you plan on making the whole house Nile proof?
One more thing to think of is if you have house guests... Not only may the monitor freak them out, but if they have any pets at home then the monitor will smell the odour and may become aggressive.
Like I said, you can get it out every now and then, but people on here have years of experience so I would trust them if I was you.
Message To: Daryl- In reference to Message Id: 2270081
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Unrelated question: My Nile doesn’t show much interest in water. He will go in his water pool from time to time but for the most part it doesn’t really interest him. What could be the cause of this? Also, I am trusting the judgment of the more experienced Monitor keepers and I will NOT be letting him free roam. However, talking him out multiple times a week is still something I would like to do.
Message To: Dominako In reference to Message Id: 2270092
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I think some folks just need to get some experience and telling them, in advanced, is just falling on deaf ears. So go ahead and try your ideas out...learn by doing if that is what you need. But for my last comments, you will NOT want this thing out and about in your home. They drag their vents and scent mark things left and right, particularly males, every time they go somewhere new. It’s like Hansel and Gretel’s breadcrumb path for them. They love to crap and drop urates in places they don’t have to walk over too often - that can be a corner of a cage or a water feature, but a Monitor habituated to coming out a lot will crap when it’s out.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a little bit of supervised exploration out of the cage with the bigger stuff that won’t dart behind the computer or refrigerator and potentially hurt itself or knock your valuable $hit over. But you are talking about an activity you will honestly only do a little bit here and there as they get older and you’re doing it every day, year after year.... So it’s like 2% of it’s life out of the cage and 98% in a box. Better make that box hot, humid, have substrates, hiding areas and room to move about. Try making the cage warmer and see if your lizard goes in the water. They probably will not get in water below about 78°F or so. Where they are from.....that’s winter water temps!!!!! Monitors are equatorial to tropical lines at best - hot, hot, hot environments mostly.
Message To: Dominako In reference to Message Id: 2270009
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They are a great lizard to keep, but as everyone else has stated,they are hard work to maintain!!!
A good size water dish requires changing everyday, at least something that allows them to fit their body in, a 4foot nile will easily fit into a large tub, but you may have to change the water twice a day!!
They love food & eat like pigs most the time, ideally you need a large room full of substrate & a large pool as they gain size that needs a bottom drain like in koi pond to do it properly, they are for the more dedicated monitor keeper who loves to muck out!!
good luck if you go for one!! as i said if you can cope with all the above, they are a stunning lizard & real cheap to buy. :) (that’s the bad part!! )
