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Woosah!!! lol chill pill everyone.

I think we need to put more responsibility on the breeders. I have no idea why someone would agree to sell 4 large monitors to anyone wihtout doing some serious resume` checking first.

I've refused to sell many animals to lots of different people because i didn't think they owuld cope with them. It's way too easy to go out and buy these kinds of animals legally.
 
A very good point, maybe the seller should have some space to talk??

Maybe Reptillian66 should state what he asked for before he would sell his Sandy's, and what they needed to show and prove before they could take ownership??
 
how about this guys,
instead of telling me i shoudn't get them, couse i know nothing,
try giving some good advice, beaouse then i will know something,
and others car read it to, then they will know something as well,

OR, you can stop posting in this thread

i'm having all these useless posts deleted,
 
We are trying to give you good advice, start small and work your way up.

Reptilian66, waruikazi and I are all trying to advise you start with 1 and see how things progress don't jump in half a***d to the detriment of the little guys.

Your choice to listen or not but really are you ready?
 
Here's a thought (and do with it what you will -- it's only a thought)... if you're only getting four to be sure that you get a pair, perhaps you could ask the breeder to attempt Danny's 'hemipenal transillumination' sexing method (http://varanidae.org/Vol3_No1_Brown.pdf), which if they're small enough may give you sexed a pair.

Good luck with your critters.
 
white sand wont hold burrows,use red sand mixed with brickies sand,so what if it discolours them,they shed there skin so will shed discolour everytime,sand that holds good burrows is more important than white sand that stops them getting discoloured but wont hold a burrow

also 4x2x2 is fine to start off with a group of juvie sandys,just upgrade as they grow,with sandys kept correctly,will be needing upgrading with in 6 to 12 months,also if keeping 4 together u need to consider the possability that as they grow they may not get along as a groupsome do,some dont,but if they dont you will need somewhere to put them,also feeding 4 adult sandys together isnt for the faint hearted,especially when they all want the first rat

congrats on your choice,sandys are a nice animal,they constantly dig and love burrows,so apart from heat, thats one thing id strive to provide them,good luck with them
 
oh guys,twenty b has wanted 4 sandys for probably well over a year,he had a wanted 4 sandys up in his posts for as long as i can remember,from talking to him in the past i think he has there best interests at heart,but as has been suggested,if planning on housing 4 adults together,id be looking for a fair wack bigger than 8 foot by 4 foot x 2 foot,thats minumum for a pr i reckonplus add in a foot of sand
 
thanks richard..
thanks to Danny's technique it looks like i'll be getting 2 male, 2 female
 
Wanting something and being able to house it and care for it appropriately are 2 very different things.

If the seller believes they are making a fair sale as Waruikazi has mentioned, great!

If you Richardsc believe with what ever experience you have, (not being rude, but I don't know) that he is capable of caring for four individual monitors that are more of a handful than Ackies, especially only 2 great!

I just feel for the animals that a person would purchase 4 and then decide to do some research and ask questions of people about care and housing them...

I think Waruikazi and Reptilian66 hit the nail on the head, TwentyB has has the opportunity to ask questions of someone with 30 years experience and didn't and the seller is probably a little naive to sell 4 animals to an apparently ill prepared person..

And In Closing....

If TwentyB only wanted a pair why not only take that after this new method of sexing revealed 2 Males and 2 Females??
 
look.
I'm getting 4. That's set in concrete. You can bitch about it or help me look after them the best i can.
I have the help of a few very experienced keepers both online and through my herp society.
I've spent countless hours reading everything i can find no medium and large monitors. Now it's time to put all that theory into practice.
Althoug i might ask what looks like a very basic questions, it's more that i want to confirm something than i know nothing.

So lets keep it no topic, because everything that goes here should help others in the future learn more about there wonderful creatures before they get them.
 
2 pairs is good,well done,pm if u need any advice

katshirt,knowing me or not doesnt mean a thing,someone wants to get 4 sandys good on them,if he didnt care about there well being dont u think that its odd hes asking for advice on here so when he recieves them he can give them the care they need, instead of dissing and writing the animals off,give the man some credit
 
Please keep the chit chat out of it.
Just helpful advice thanks.This info can also help other members as well as twenty.
 
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i believe sandy males generally need to be mature for the xray to pick up anything so xraying juvies is worthless,danny browns method sounds good,ill have to try it
 
danny's method works very well by the look of things..
seems i'm actually getting 1male - 3 females..
clear diference can be seen between them
 
1 male and 3 females is perfect,females also being smaller as adults compared to males to,plus with multible females the male,if in the mood wont just have one female to hassle,best way to learn is personable experience,thats owning and caring for them,getting them as juvies,u get to do that,and with the experience and knowledge,you will see what they need as they grow,everyone has there way of doing things,so doesnt mean u have to do what someone else suggests,with monitors and the info out there,so many people have success and do it differently than others
 
This is the way I raised my sandies from Hatchie’s to adult, some of you may have different ideas but this worked for me. I also followed a similar regime for my lacies and spencers.

Enclosure

Hatchling monitors are housed in a homemade melamine enclosure. It is 900 mm x 600 mm x 600 mm. I offer a temperature gradient of 47 degrees at the hot end, down to 26 degrees at the cool end I prefer to keep the temps up as monitors really seems to respond well to the heat.
Housing is best provided in the form of an outdoor pit if you are located in the monitors natural climate. If living on the east coast, an outdoor pit is still suitable as long as particular attention is paid to always providing a selection of dry hides. Supplemental heating would be necessary for southern climates. This could be in the form of a heat cord installed under a false floor in the hide, or a heat globe (preferably ceramic) installed in the ceiling of the hide.
My pair are currently kept in an outside aviary measuring 4.5 x 2.0 x 2.0 the substrate is river sand mixed with soil @ about 60 cm deep.
. My enclosures are not planted out as sand monitors tend to dig out plants. A few hollow logs, a basking platform, and a large tray for water is all that is provided. For outdoor enclosures, it is necessary to prevent digging out by way of tunneling. Wire placed under the enclosure will stop this.

Enclosure Furniture

Indoor enclosure furniture provided is basically rocks and logs make sure these cant be undermined causing possible injury to your monitors. A large basking rock is best provided at the hot end which will also retain heat throughout a lot of the night and should become a favorite sleeping spot for the monitors. Logs which allow the monitor to crawl in and almost wedge itself are ideal. These monitors seem to feel more secure when they are able to be touching the walls of their hide-spot. A small water dish is supplied at the cold end of the enclosure. Make this a heavy bowl to prevent it being tipped over
Heating

Indoor enclosures, hot spot temps of around 47 degrees must be provided .
Ambient temps with this species is acceptable at around 25 - 28 degrees. This needs to be monitored though and you must ensure the heat gradient does not vary too dramatically over any area of the enclosure. To provide these temperatures, I run a 100 watt reflector globe at the hot end. Night heating (I do not) this would best be done I feel by a low-wattage heat cord under a tile this would ensure the monitor's day-night cycle is not disturbed and tend to last much longer than red globes.
Heating is run for approximately 10 hours a day, switched off by a timer.
Lighting

Because my heating source is white-light emitting reflector globes, it is not necessary to provide any other form of enclosure lighting.
It also seems that many people who have experience with dragon lizards and progress onto monitors feel it necessary to provide UV light. While this is a good thing that they will do this for their animals, there are no known benefits that monitors receive from UV exposure. My suggestion would be to put your monitor into a sunning enclosure for about half an hour on enclosure-cleaning day.

Feeding

Diets of captive Sand Monitors should be wholesome and varied. Whole prey items should be offered like cockroaches, meal worms, & pink mice when hatchlings. Mice, chickens, rats, quail when larger. Chicken necks & kangaroo meat can also be used . Try to avoid processed food like dog & cat food. Attention must be paid to ensure the monitor is not overfed, which is a common problem in captive specimens. Juveniles will eat a diet of crickets, roaches, pinkie mice and other insects.
When the monitor is larger, whole-mammalian diets are preferred. This provides all their nutritional requirements. Prey is mostly swallowed whole. My Sand Monitors are currently fed on a diet of mice, rats, & day-old chicks, .
My adult monitors are fed every 3 - 5 days, depending on the size of the last meal. A growing monitor should be feed everyday. For hatchlings I feed enough chopped up pink mice, crickets or cockroaches, of appropriate sizes, until the monitor no longer shows interest in eating. Then throw in a few more later in the day. The size of the prey should be adjusted to the size of the monitor as it grows. Prey should not be wider than the width of the monitor's head. Smaller prey items are easier and more efficient for a monitor to digest.

Handling

I only handle my monitors when it's necessary. This means the monitors are generally less stressed.
This may be a different story with a hatchling, as they do get used to being handled & can become quite tame. Just keep in mind that they can do a great deal of damage to hands and fingers if they do bite or dig in their claws.
When handling any my adult monitors with larger claws, I recommend and use a pair of leather gloves. A good habit to get into is giving your monitor a check over for any health problems whenever they are handled.
Breeding
To successfully breed sand monitors you must first look at caging and ensure you have enough space, correct temperature gradients and daylight length for the season. Mine being kept outside are subject to the seasonal changes automatically. Winter average min. 12.1c high 22.8c and Summer average Min 19.4c High 37.1 c .
During winter they are able to dig in and brumate coming out when the weather warms up in spring.
The second thing to look at is food. I believe as do others that food has a direct bearing on breeding behavior. Feeding quality whole prey items more often is thought to trigger a breeding response and if kept up can result in multiple clutches being laid.
Mating activity was observed during October & November with eggs being laid in December.
My first attempt at breeding produced 8 eggs of which 4 were good they were incubated at a temp of 31 c on a 1:1 per weight ratio vermiculite : water and hatched 186 days later
 
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