Spencers monitor

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Frozenmouse

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I have no information in my books and i am thinking about getting one can anyone tell me how big they get and any special needs they have(out side of what other more commonly kept monitors require) please feel free to post any pics of enclosures or any spencers you keep or have kept.
 
ps i have read the care sheets and have scowered the net for info so anything you have to add will be helpfull
 
keep them like sand monitors,they love to dig and burrow if allowed to,they grow about 4 foot in length,but dont think there not big,they are one of the stockyest aussie monitors,there short tailes to for a monitor which makes them shorter for there build compared to others,they need high basking temps at least 60 degrees at the basking spot,i repeat basking spot only at that temp,they still need cool areas as well,being in darwin u can keep them out doors id imagine,so cage size shouldnt be to much of a hinderance for u,have u kept any monitors before,id be more inclined to keep ridge tailed monitors first,but each to there own,lol,spencers are a great monitor,havnt had the chance to own one yet but definatly on my toget list,i keep lacies,,sandys,flavirufus and gouldi,mertons,ridgeys,gillens and storrs,so far,spencers and tristis will be next on the toget list as well as mangroves when funds allow,lol,hope that helps u
 
There have been a few threads on them so try doing a search, but basically just as richard said. They would be fine as a first goanna if you arnt interested in the smaller species. They dont seem to be to prone to biting(unless they think your food lol),
 
thanks heaps guys i had alook at them today they are quite stocky as you say the juviniles are black and off white almost look like a bells phase lacey to an untrained eye i am guessing they loose this solid color as they age.?will post picks next week when "it" arrives any ideas on sexing.
 
Yeah the markings fade a bit as they get older. You cant sex them reliably as hatchies, but you can guess based on the size of their head, probably about 50% reliable :lol:
 
he arrived isnt he cute .
I would love to see a pic of someones adult spencers if you have them.
 

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Put some serious heat into him, like "kill a python in 2 minutes" sort of heat. I have 2 x 100 watters on mine, the thermostat blew up 2 years ago, he's powered ever since.
 
i have a 100w infa red in there i have it cycled 1hr on 1h off during daylight hours it gets about 60oc in the hot end and the cold end gets up to 40oc is this not too hot ? i was worried and backed it off a bit but i will crank it back up now.
 
My cold end is a constant 35 - 38 hot end 60 on the ground, 80+ on the perch for day, nights are around 25 ambient, though in Sydney I have to go a bit harder than you will in the NT, just see how it goes eating wise, if it eats well, heating is fine.
 

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nice enclosure do you know how big they get i am getting stuff together to build a couple of pits but for now he is in a 1200/600/600mm enclosure.
 
I am still blown away with the temps they need.One of mine is happy with a hot spot of about 60c and the other will only eat when the cage is as hot as hell.
 
just a bit of an update as advised i have put the temps up in the enclosure cool end is 32oC (ambient) and i have installed a 150w infared globe which has bumped the hot area up to 52- 55oC and he has started to eat like a horse.
i also replaced the newspaper substrait with a red sand about 180mm deep and now has a matrix of burrows that were dug but the monitor the first day the sand was placed in the enclosure.
in fact this little guy spends all day digging so i think it would be almost cruel not to keep them in some kind of
substrait that alows this behavior.
he has been feeding on crickets fuzzy mice ,beef heart ,earth worms.
thanks for. everyones advice.
 
if any one has anything to ad any further advice is much appreciated.
 

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Sounds like you have everything sorted. As it starts to get a little bigger i would increase the basking temp a bit more. A halogen spotlight would be the best way to do this IMO. Eating, digging and baking seems to be all they want to do so sounds like your taking good care of the little guy.
 
just making my personal recomendation for monitors is not use high murcury vapour bulbs they are awsum and provide the best uvb/uva output you can get and you can get them in 100-150 watt bulbs also wouldent hurt to build him a tile stack for directly under the heat source while hes small and as he gets to big for the stack replace it with a matrix of branches and a nice big flat rock to hold the heat under the spotlight
 
heres a pic of a basic setup with a tile stack (top of the stack is 70c) and a digging/nesting site next to it
 

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