Ridge Tailed Monitor Enclosure Build

[Sami-Lochy]

Hey rick, love your setup, your hard works definitely payed off. Having read and followed this thread previously i cant believe i didn't even realise that our little ones may be/probably are brother and sister. I got mine shipped from SA a bout a month or 2 ago. I can see the little white dot in one of the previous photos, that the lady put that on mine as well to identify which is which. I got 2 little ones. I believe one of mine is a boy, after owning quite a few ridge taileds, I can tell the similarities in the face quite well. And they say there is only usually 2 males in every clutch to about 5/6 females. One usually being the sub dominant male and the other being the more dominant. It would be awesome if you could post some photos of your little boys face. Here's my little one and there tank I up sized 2 square feet today. might be going to get this 8ft by 2 ft by 2 ft tank for the little guys, will do it as soon as I can transport it!

 

[Sami-Lochy]

That sucks all the photos are upside down.. Ill try again I guess.

 

[Rogue5861]

Hey rick, love your setup, your hard works definitely payed off. Having read and followed this thread previously i cant believe i didn't even realise that our little ones may be/probably are brother and sister. I got mine shipped from SA a bout a month or 2 ago. I can see the little white dot in one of the previous photos, that the lady put that on mine as well to identify which is which. I got 2 little ones. I believe one of mine is a boy, after owning quite a few ridge taileds, I can tell the similarities in the face quite well. And they say there is only usually 2 males in every clutch to about 5/6 females. One usually being the sub dominant male and the other being the more dominant. It would be awesome if you could post some photos of your little boys face. Here's my little one and there tank I up sized 2 square feet today. might be going to get this 8ft by 2 ft by 2 ft tank for the little guys, will do it as soon as I can transport it!

Thanks mate. Mine come from a local breeder that advertised a few on gumtree, I got mine from his second clutch of 6 eggs (5 made full term).

I have also read that Ridge Tailed Monitors determine sex after hatching, normally with fewer males then females (normally a 2f/1m ratio). I mate of mine one from this breeder and said he believed his to be female and the other a male, which should give me 2f 1m.

Rick

 

[Sami-Lochy]

Sorry I don't know why it's showing them upside down.

 

[Sami-Lochy]

Greg

This is another male I currently own, Greg Hughes..god love him.. Haha he is a special little one and will never stop running up my jumper sleeves.. He is always happy to handled but is also just as happy slipping down the crevices of the couch.. Haha. He is the only one from the original crew that I had and I love him dearly. He is fully grown and only 29 centimetres long and he must be about 3 years old.. Poor thing didn't get much love from his previous owner, could be why he is so small.. I've had him for about a year and I thought he was only about a year old when I got him but he hasn't grown an inch in the past year. But what he lacks in size he makes for in character.

 

[Sami-Lochy]

Thanks mate. Mine come from a local breeder that advertised a few on gumtree, I got mine from his second clutch of 6 eggs (5 made full term).

I have also read that Ridge Tailed Monitors determine sex after hatching, normally with fewer males then females (normally a 2f/1m ratio). I mate of mine one from this breeder and said he believed his to be female and the other a male, which should give me 2f 1m.

Rick

Nice photos rick, they look like a happy bunch. Sometimes mine have small scruffs, mainly the
little female going for the male, I don't know if I should separate them, but If I see them fighting again I'm going to have to, I would hate losing a second monitor to that sort of thing. Ridgeys seem to be very territorial about their space, I'm hoping this bigger enclosure will help them find some sort of peace..

 

[Rogue5861]

The biggest in the group allows me to pick it up for a bit for a pat (held inside enclosure), the other 2 are getting there but I'm in no rush to handle them. 2 small ones are still a bit flighty if I get to close but don't mind me opening the doors or cleaning out enclosure, more then happy to continue basking or eating an keeping an eye on me.

I have noticed a bit of dominance mating going on but only seems to be the mid sized one jumping the other two, he gets right into biting the others head or legs. Doesnt seem to be causing an damage yet but time will tell, i have seen chickens do similar things but inflict alot of damage to one another.


Rick

 

[BDkeeper]

Took some new photos of them yesterday, changed around there enclosure a bit to suit a bigger water bowl that they can lay in if they want.

Rick

Hey rick what sort of light do you use to light up your whole enclosure i know you use the two spot lamps but what is the other light source?

 

[Rogue5861]

Hey rick what sort of light do you use to light up your whole i know you use the two spot lamps but what is the other light source

Just 2x 60cm fluros.


Rick

 

[BDkeeper]

Just 2x 60cm fluros.


Rick

Ok i was going to use them but was thinking of useing the spot lamps but was a bit worried if they would get to hot so yeah will probly be using the flouros now
thanks

 

[Rogue5861]

Ok i was going to use them but was thinking of useing the spot lamps but was a bit worried if they would get to hot so yeah will probly be using the flouros now
thanks

Spot lamps won't give a lot of light for the enclosure in a room that isn't well lit. I'm considering changing them out for led strips due to heat build up, come summer when my room temp is a lot higher I don't want to be seeing 40c+ in the enclosure. I get around 34c days at the moment an room temps are around 18-22c.


Rick

 

[BDkeeper]

Spot lamps won't give a lot of light for the enclosure in a room that isn't well lit. I'm considering changing them out for led strips due to heat build up, come summer when my room temp is a lot higher I don't want to be seeing 40c+ in the enclosure. I get around 34c days at the moment an room temps are around 18-22c.


Rick

Actuelly thats a really good idea im going to have a look on ebay once i get my enclosure built

 

[Sami-Lochy]

The biggest in the group allows me to pick it up for a bit for a pat (held inside enclosure), the other 2 are getting there but I'm in no rush to handle them. 2 small ones are still a bit flighty if I get to close but don't mind me opening the doors or cleaning out enclosure, more then happy to continue basking or eating an keeping an eye on me.

I have noticed a bit of dominance mating going on but only seems to be the mid sized one jumping the other two, he gets right into biting the others head or legs. Doesnt seem to be causing an damage yet but time will tell, i have seen chickens do similar things but inflict alot of damage to one another.


Rick

By the way, I bbelieve I remember reading some articles on whether or not the sex is determined in the egg and I think I recall that most people agree that it is.
Apparantly it happens when sperm meets the egg, the sex chromosomes of the gametes determine whether it will go on to be male or female.
i handle the little male sometimes, but not the female as much as she doesn't like being handled.

 

[BDkeeper]

Just 2x 60cm fluros.


Rick

Wait if youre using 2x60cm fluros i was only planing to use 1 and surely that wouldnt give of as much heat would it?

 

[MathewB]

By the way, I bbelieve I remember reading some articles on whether or not the sex is determined in the egg and I think I recall that most people agree that it is.
Apparantly it happens when sperm meets the egg, the sex chromosomes of the gametes determine whether it will go on to be male or female.
i handle the little male sometimes, but not the female as much as she doesn't like being handled.

I thought it was to do with incubation temp? I swear I read that somewhere. I know that's what happens with crocodiles, maybe I'm getting the 2 mixed up haha

 

[Rogue5861]

Wait if youre using 2x60cm fluros i was only planing to use 1 and surely that wouldnt give of as much heat would it?

Yes. 2 will not produce as much heat as 1. Most of my heat is up high so ground temps are around 25ish at the moment, will probably see them at 30c during summer which is fine but I wouldn't want it much higher. As ya can see it was 8:40pm and temps on the background were 34c.


Rick

 

[Rogue5861]

I thought it was to do with incubation temp? I swear I read that somewhere. I know that's what happens with crocodiles, maybe I'm getting the 2 mixed up haha

Not all reptiles are TDS (temperature determined sex). I did see a dissection of a ridge tail that was a hermaphrodite. I not sure on how exactly they determine sex but do know the ratio is normally more females then males in a clutch.


Rick

 

[Rogue5861]

A bit of dominance between two of them.


Rick

 

[MathewB]

Nice shots, they seem to be pretty active little guys.

Do you by any chance know what age they reach breeding maturity? I'm looking at getting some myself some and haven't been able to find that in my readings.

 

[Sami-Lochy]

Nice shots, they seem to be pretty active little guys.

Do you by any chance know what age they reach breeding maturity? I'm looking at getting some myself some and haven't been able to find that in my readings.

Depending on whether or not they are being power fed, I think they can breed around 18 months but it is much better for the female to be older/around 2+ as premature breeding can be detrimental to the female and she could die while the eggs develop.
it all really matters on the size of the female, if she is looking healthy and robust and nearly fully grown (about 50cm), she should be alright to breed.