Thanks Josiah for PMing me to clear things up - all good now and good luck with your lovely pet - I'm only dissapointed he's not coming my way
haha He is a beautiful lizard
I need urgent help with my lacey! :'(
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haha He is a beautiful lizard
hey mate go see Dr Peter Cameron at Altona. i take all my snakes he is good... Lets us no if u need anything else
hello mate, thanks for help. he doesnt work there anymore. i called them up today
thanks anyway
alright then, i will go to bunnings with my dad and set that up. i am going to put anohter 150watt globe in the corner so heats travels through enclosure all the time. and on eBay i am buying 2 digi thermostats for each end
Justdriftnby
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Question- Do Laceys produce melin (I believe thats what its called) when they shed to help like snakes do? could this be the liquid from the blisters is? I had a snake that produced excessive amounts of Melin and was constantly wet looking.
Otherwise top job for taking the advise on the chin and making the changes. its always worth asking the Qs up front before you dive in though.
Otherwise top job for taking the advise on the chin and making the changes. its always worth asking the Qs up front before you dive in though.
Don't buy animals you haven't prepared for or even researched minimally... Its a real shame, I wanted to buy this monitor from kupper but it was bad timing for me as I had purchased a different monitor at the same time. For the lacey's sake I hope you get your act together and listen to the people here and maybe even do some research of your own instead of having information handed to you that you could of easily obtained before purchasing the lizard.
Jeremy
Jeremy
Justdriftnby
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Please if its booked into the Vet take it there, there may be other underlying issues, I have had several reptiles over there at Karingle vets and they have extensive knowledge of all reptiles.
I was merely asking the question as I have never owned monitors YET
notechistiger
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So now you have the space to keep him?
Serpenttongue, how long do you think a young monitor could for go without feeding?
Serpenttongue, how long do you think a young monitor could for go without feeding?
serpenttongue
Very Well-Known Member
Depends on the condition of the monitor, but josiahs lacie could easily make it through winter without a feed. It looks well fed from being in kuppers care, and has a nice meaty tail base. Fresh drinking water will keep it hydrated.
I stopped feeding my monitors last month and wont offer them any food now until early/mid October.
Snakeluvver2
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Really i thought there metabolisms where much faster than that?
Thats cool though and I'm happy to hear that as well.
Thats cool though and I'm happy to hear that as well.
serpenttongue, are you saying that lacies don't eat through out the winter? I've got a 3 week old bells phase, and i was getting quite nervous because he only eats once every 4 or even 5 days.
and this thread has helped me so much with my lacie.
and this thread has helped me so much with my lacie.
serpenttongue
Very Well-Known Member
As with all reptiles, a lacies metabolism will slow down throughout winter, and feeding will cease. Unless, of course, you decide to keep the monitor at summer temps day and night throughout winter. In doing so, your monitor will most likely continue to feed, but this isn't necessary unless you have a sick animal that needs feeding up, or it is a hatchling that you want to raise up through winter.
I cool all mine down.
I cool all mine down.
kupper
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very well fed , mice and meaty items offered every second day and taken with great enthusiasm , fresh drinking waster available at all times and a constant heat source/ basking spot of 45 degrees odd 24/7
was a great animal and i regretted selling it the minute it went but wanted to focus on my spencers
was a great animal and i regretted selling it the minute it went but wanted to focus on my spencers
Mr.James
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mjb.2010
If you have a 3week old lacey, just place the food in the enclosure early in the morning on a plate/dish that is easy to see and access for the monitor & not out in the open, somewhere it can sneak out of its hide & eat, then sneak up to bask & back again, they are usually very shy. Then take the plate/dish out at the end of the day, I would recommend trying this with smaller meals every 2-3days.
If you have a 3week old lacey, just place the food in the enclosure early in the morning on a plate/dish that is easy to see and access for the monitor & not out in the open, somewhere it can sneak out of its hide & eat, then sneak up to bask & back again, they are usually very shy. Then take the plate/dish out at the end of the day, I would recommend trying this with smaller meals every 2-3days.
I'm getting to this thread a bit late (been out of town) but glad to see some progress has been made. Josiah, good on you for taking on the advice being given, too. Basking spots and substrate have been covered and those are both very important changes which needed to be made. One of the things that Mr Boyd touched on which is also important is the size and location of vents and the number of hide spots. I apologise if someone else has covered this (I've skimmed over most of the thread, as there is seven pages worth!), but if it were me looking after that lace monitor I'd build a glass-fronted plywood enclosure rather than use an all-glass fish tank. There are a few reasons for this, but the most important are:
1. A custom built plywood enclosure can be front opening, meaning there are no openings on the top. An aquarium has to be top opening. At the moment you have a screen lid, which means that any heat coming from the bulb goes straight up through the top, taking valuable humidity with it, cooling and drying out the enclosure. In winter this is even more of an issue because there's a rapid drop in temperature between the basking spot and the rest of the enclosure. Lace monitors are highly unlikely to get burned if they bask on a hot basking spot as long as the air temperature is warm around the basking area. My adult lace monitors have basking spots that hit 60C mid-summer and have never suffered a burn. However, if the basking spot is hot but the monitor still feels cool because of the surrounding area being cool it may bask longer than is safe, getting burned. The dryness caused by the warm humid air rising through the screen lid is also a huge issue and was exacerbated by the sand substrate you had the monitor on to start with. I suspect that the oozing you are seeing coming from your monitor's skin is either shedding issues caused by the desert-like set-up (sand substrate, screen top) or burns.
2. Glass aquaria are very poorly insulated. Not only is the heat rising up through the screen lid as mentioned above, but the heat escapes through the glass as well. A thick plywood enclosure retains the heat. If you're trying to keep a reptile active and feeding right through winter in Australia you're going to be up against it with a glass tank. Even heat pads or heat cords aren't going to do, for the air will still cool off quickly away from those heat sources because the heat escapes so easily through the glass.
3. Having a custom enclosure with front rather than top access is better for keeping interactions with your monitor on a calm level. Monitors hate being approached from above for they'll usually see you as a predator and act defensively.
You may want to consider investing in a non-contact temperature gun, too. Much better than a digital thermometer for gauging temperatures for you can measure the basking surface temperature in under a second and that is the most important temperature you need to know. You don't need an expensive one and there are many inexpensive ones available these days. I think they're a must for any reptile keeper, but particularly for monitor keepers.
1. A custom built plywood enclosure can be front opening, meaning there are no openings on the top. An aquarium has to be top opening. At the moment you have a screen lid, which means that any heat coming from the bulb goes straight up through the top, taking valuable humidity with it, cooling and drying out the enclosure. In winter this is even more of an issue because there's a rapid drop in temperature between the basking spot and the rest of the enclosure. Lace monitors are highly unlikely to get burned if they bask on a hot basking spot as long as the air temperature is warm around the basking area. My adult lace monitors have basking spots that hit 60C mid-summer and have never suffered a burn. However, if the basking spot is hot but the monitor still feels cool because of the surrounding area being cool it may bask longer than is safe, getting burned. The dryness caused by the warm humid air rising through the screen lid is also a huge issue and was exacerbated by the sand substrate you had the monitor on to start with. I suspect that the oozing you are seeing coming from your monitor's skin is either shedding issues caused by the desert-like set-up (sand substrate, screen top) or burns.
2. Glass aquaria are very poorly insulated. Not only is the heat rising up through the screen lid as mentioned above, but the heat escapes through the glass as well. A thick plywood enclosure retains the heat. If you're trying to keep a reptile active and feeding right through winter in Australia you're going to be up against it with a glass tank. Even heat pads or heat cords aren't going to do, for the air will still cool off quickly away from those heat sources because the heat escapes so easily through the glass.
3. Having a custom enclosure with front rather than top access is better for keeping interactions with your monitor on a calm level. Monitors hate being approached from above for they'll usually see you as a predator and act defensively.
You may want to consider investing in a non-contact temperature gun, too. Much better than a digital thermometer for gauging temperatures for you can measure the basking surface temperature in under a second and that is the most important temperature you need to know. You don't need an expensive one and there are many inexpensive ones available these days. I think they're a must for any reptile keeper, but particularly for monitor keepers.
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