mangrove monitor setup suggestions please.

[scalesandfins]

ok im gettin my mangrove on tues. for now he will be in a 40b till he calms down and gets a little more chill. i know these monitors are arborial when young so i figured building a tank topper for him would be greatly appreciated.
but i have a few questions...
1 would 1/2 in wire mesh work fine? its rubber coated.
would it release too much humidity? (i will be using a type of soil as a substrate and will be misting/soaking the cage every morning)
2 would a plexi topper be better if i made a screen cutout for the light?


here is my plan for now. im adding another 12 inches to the top of the tank making it 36 long 18 wide and 30 tall with topper. i would have one tall piece of wood that would go about half way to the topper for a basking spot and fake plants all over the top area.
might add a tile to the cool side to add a second level to the tank so he/she can chill higher up on a flat surface. and also this might keep the lower level more humid.
and alot more secure for him. the bottom will be decayed granite more than likely or cypress mulch if i cant find the other stuff. i will prob only put a 2-3 in layer so he can burrow slightly but cant disapear. he will have lots of grape vine wood and cork bark skattered around the cage and fake plants.
heating will prob be with a 150 watt basking bulb and maybe heat cable uder the tank if temps are an issue. seeing as my reptile room stays about 80-82 it should be good.
and yes i will give him a very large water bowl.

and jusrt for you skeptics i am building him a 5x3x3 cage in about 3 months when he should be a little over 2 ft tl and that will house him untill he is almost adult.
my plans are to tame him down best i can so he can cruise around our house when we are home so he can get plenty of excecise and stimulation.

diet: he will get crickets every day, pinkies once a week and egg and turkey once a week.

lets hear what you guys think....
and positive critiques are welcome
you negative nancys can go drag someone else down

 

[paul112]

Hey, sorry nobody's replied yet. I'm not clued up on mangrove monitors, but I'd advise against the wire mesh for the tank topper, as the humidity will disappear straight out of it. Plexiglass would be waaay better.

I wouldn't plan on having the monitor roaming around your house, I think there's too much risk involved, and you may well end up with a monitor that doesn't tame down at all. Hopefully not, but always plan for it to go the other way

Post pics of him when he arrives, would be great to see!

Best,
Paul

 

[scalesandfins]

thanks i actually just built a cage for him. its only 2x3x2 for now bc he is bigger than i thought he was goin to be. but i only let them cruise when they are dog tame. and they are very closely supervised. unless in our bed room which is critter prof for our sugar gliders (no they will not be out together)
but its disappoining how no one replys to peoples posts now unless its somethin entertaining. this is the main reason i am barely ever on here
i appreciate your help tho.

 

[scalesandfins]

just got my hands on my new little guy. he is awesome!!
first thing he did was poo on me tho :/

 

[paul112]

My sav pooed on me when I first got her too! Absolutely stinks

This forum tends to be very show-and-tell, throw a picture up and see if you get more feedback, I'd love to see your new guy.

Best,
Paul

 

[varanio]

thanks i actually just built a cage for him. its only 2x3x2 for now bc he is bigger than i thought he was goin to be. but i only let them cruise when they are dog tame. and they are very closely supervised. unless in our bed room which is critter prof for our sugar gliders (no they will not be out together)
but its disappoining how no one replys to peoples posts now unless its somethin entertaining. this is the main reason i am barely ever on here
i appreciate your help tho.

Perhaps the approach you've taken towards the situation could be looked at as a deterrent. Your initial post made it seem as if you were not open to constructive criticism so that may have influenced people not to post.

However I don't care if you don't want constructive criticism, because I'm here to give you advise on how to better care for your varanid, what you do with this advise has little effect on me, but if you end up with a sick or dead animal, then you have only your methods to blame.

Let's start with housing, your thoughts on a 40 breeder are wrong, most indicus types come in already in a juvenile state. You hardly see them as fresh out of the egg babies " and if you do expect to pay an inflated price". I'm guessing your animal is bigger which is why you stated you went bigger on the enclosure, the problem is you didn't go big enough, yea the sized enclosure you built might last a few months but its still too small. The animal takes a few steps and it's already hitting a wall, and for a high strung indicus type that's no good. When you find some time go longer and you can accomplish this by cutting out a wall and adding to the current setup.

The whole taming thing, should just be thrown out a window, the animal will come around to you if and when it ever decides to. MOST indicus complex lizards are very reclusive/secretive, so you might not see it for a large portion of it's growing life. You might have an exception, but the odds are against you, I know from experience because I currently keep ceramborensis.

Your diet is fine but offer rodents more often and ditch the turkey and egg and supplement with shellfish.

Ill cut my rant short, but good luck & post pics.........remember this isn't about you it's about the animal.

 

[scalesandfins]

lol i appreciate the help varanio, i did say positive critiques are welcome..... i just dont want to hear any bashers
but yes my guy is a captive hatched baby. he is about 13-14 in right now TL.
i think monitors are a very unknown critter and many people have theories about what you can and cant do and what is best for captive animals. they are extrememly smart lizards and i think any monitor is capable of being tame or at least manageable. you just have to put the effort in and work with them and show them you can be trusted.

but as for cage i already have the materials goin together to build a 4x2x3 cage for him that should last him a good amount of time. hopefully a few years. when he gets 3ft+ i will go up to a 6x3x3 cage.
and i will give him shrimp and crayfish also when i feed my fish. but the pinks and roaches will be his staple.

just curiuos, how many varanids do you own varanio?

 

[scalesandfins]

n paul i will get a few pics tonight and get them up. i didnt do much with him yesterday bc he was stressed from shipping so i figure the last thing he needs is me trying to get pics of him

 

[varanio]

Cool well I'm glad you took the advise, I have been working with varanids for the last 10 yrs and I'll tell you this use food to your advantage, don't force handle them because as you said they are very intelligent and once they see you as a non threat they become great captives!

I currently keep
1.1 varanus ceramborensis
2.2 varanus glauerti
2.3 varanus flavirufus
1.1 varanus macraei
1.1 varanus cumingi
1.1 varanus mertensi
1.2 acanthurus acanthurus
1.2 a****hurus brachyrurs
1.1 varanus similis
1.1 varanus gilleni

So alot of friggin monitors lol

lol i appreciate the help varanio, i did say positive critiques are welcome..... i just dont want to hear any bashers
but yes my guy is a captive hatched baby. he is about 13-14 in right now TL.
i think monitors are a very unknown critter and many people have theories about what you can and cant do and what is best for captive animals. they are extrememly smart lizards and i think any monitor is capable of being tame or at least manageable. you just have to put the effort in and work with them and show them you can be trusted.

but as for cage i already have the materials goin together to build a 4x2x3 cage for him that should last him a good amount of time. hopefully a few years. when he gets 3ft+ i will go up to a 6x3x3 cage.
and i will give him shrimp and crayfish also when i feed my fish. but the pinks and roaches will be his staple.

just curiuos, how many varanids do you own varanio?

 

[HPIZZLE]

Cool well I'm glad you took the advise, I have been working with varanids for the last 10 yrs and I'll tell you this use food to your advantage, don't force handle them because as you said they are very intelligent and once they see you as a non threat they become great captives!

I currently keep
1.1 varanus ceramborensis
2.2 varanus glauerti
2.3 varanus flavirufus
1.1 varanus macraei
1.1 varanus cumingi
1.1 varanus mertensi
1.2 acanthurus acanthurus
1.2 a****hurus brachyrurs
1.1 varanus similis
1.1 varanus gilleni

So alot of friggin monitors lol

lol a****hurus....i think you meant acanthurus