monitor info please!!!

[Luke1]

hey all
i have this thing about mintiors and snakes and i wanna breed them etc.
anyway i only have a class 1 licence so i can only get 4 here in NSW being the:
sand monitor
black headed monitor - freckled monitor
mulga monitor
ridge tail monitor - spiny tail monitor
any way i would like to know what size tanks i would need for a breed pair for the sand monitors (flavouis[?]) and a trio for the rest?
for the sandies iwas thingking around 11-12 ft W x 3ft D x 3ft H - pair ???
for the black headed monitors i was thinking 5ft W x 3ft D x 3ft H - trio ???
for the pygmy mulga monitors i was thinking a 4ft W x 2ft D x 2ft H - trio ???
for the spiny tailed monitors i was thinking 5ft W x 3ft W x 3ft H - trio ???
if any one has had any experience what so ever, even keeping them for a week for a friend i don't care could you please share it? and pics of tanks, forms, colour fases, locals etc etc would be much apreciated!

this season if i breed any of my reptiles (blond maccs, katherine childrens, jacky dragons) i will happily switch for any or the monitors above! (please pm and NSW people only)

cheers,

Luke

[python blue]

luke you can find all the info from searching this site a google altho there isnt much info on the sandies but there has being alot of posts about them with the sandies you would want more height than that as they love to burrow you would want 2 or 3ft of sand for them

[Luke1]

python blue:
i had an idea of having it about 1 1/2 foor in the tank but had a under ground part which was alot deeper so they had about 3 foot digging area!!!

[Dan19]

Black-headed monitors grow to about 1m, and they are mostly body. So the enclosure would need to be about 7ft by 3ft by 3ft minimal. The bigger the better.

[python blue]

luke in the end its all up to you, how you want to keep your animals im just advising you on the correct husbadry plus sandies arnt realy a great starter monitor start with the pygmys or accies ive found out that when i was keeping my sandies and tristis is that they have a really strong feeding response and trust me you dont want to get bitten by a fully grown sandie this season im going to be buying a hatchie sandie around july and ill be having 2 foot of sand for him/her to dig in then out it will go into an outdoor enclosure they do get well over 1m in length

[python blue]

Dan19, bigguy on this site keeps 3 in a 4ft tank so that gives you an idea

[Luke1]

python blue: thanks heaps, do you have any reckomendations on enclosure set out or lay outs?
also with sandies, i don't think they would be my first, at what seems to be happening now it looks like im getting an ackie or 2 by the end of this season!!!

Dan19: i have (so far) 19.8 ft to use, and i want at least a 12ft tank for a desert sandie or 2!!! the black headed monitors get 1m??? what do you know any forms or variations etc on them..anything i mentioned previously???

Luke

[Dan19]

Originally Posted by python blue

Dan19, bigguy on this site keeps 3 in a 4ft tank so that gives you an idea

Is that Black headed monitors?

[DA_GRIZ]

was talking to nephurus and last night and he said black headed monitors only get 60cm and mostly tail

[Luke1]

ooooh so confusing, i read they got around 60- 80cm in a feild book??????????????

[Dan19]

Just expect them to grow to 3ft. Though some might but some wont. If you see a male and female fully grown next to each other, they have alot of difference in length. Females normally will only grow to 2 ft though, males bigger.

[Kenshin]

just to dispell any myths about tristis being mostly body (they are aboreal so they are mostly tail) this is an adult female v.tristis trists males will be slightly bigger again and the more southern varietys tend to be larger then say Central australian varietys

[Dan19]

And anyways, arnt you a bit young to think of all this breeding and even cleaning there enclosure on top of school work and stuff? Who is going to pay for it all.
And i was thinking of spencers monitor me thinks.

[Aslan]

Dan - Luke1 has already succeeded in breeding reptiles and currently keeps a number of animals extremely well...I was unaware that an age limit had been placed on breeding...?

...as a thirteen year old I succesfully kept and bred a colony of 13 Blueys - of course my parents helped out where needed and even purchased food...what's the problem? Luke1 displayed a number of animals in the MacHerps show and I was particularly impressed by the maturity and accuracy of his answers to questions asked by your average member of the public...

...the question might be asked, aren't you a little inexperienced to be offering advice on Monitors (1m long Tristis as standard...? in a 7ft minimum enclosure...? )...?


Luke1 - Your sizes for the smaller species are a good indication (although those sizes are not strictly necessary) - Ackies are regularly kept in 4x2x2 enclosures however I prefer more space and currently keep my adult pair in a 5x2x2...I am confident a trio would comfortably live in the same size...

I keep my Gillens in a 4x2x2 - they are still young but growing fast and that will be there enclosure for good methinks - plenty of room for the trio as they grow...

I have spoken about this with you in the past - I love Monitors and reckon you would too - however, you run the risk of your Jackies looking boring afterwards and getting hooked on the little beggars

[Aslan]

Luke1 - Check out this link for Kenshin's new Tristis setup...

Gives you a good idea about their cage setup and has some great shots of a couple of Tristis...obviously you wouldn't need to go quite so large as he is keeping five adults in there...