Water Monitor Advice!!!!!!!!!

[monitor-maddness]

Hey guys this is my first post so bare with me!

I'm looking to get a water monitor pretty soon, hopefully a Mitchell's because of size issues. I was wondering if anyone had any good advice about enclosures. One place said start off the babies in a small tank and put them in a bigger one when they out grow it. This would work well for me as i was thinking of making my own during this initial growing time, so anyone have any good (indoor) enclosures for water monitors? I know rough minimum dimensions like as wide as the lizard is long, and as long as the lizards length doubled, I'm wondering more about content like pool size, and do this sub-species dig holes? Pictures would be helpful if anyone has seen any good ones, for babies and adults alike.

id also like to know how often i have to feed them, i find that a lot of websites give out bad info, and most say what to feed.. just not how much or how often! any advice by people who own these lizards would be helpful! this will be my first monitor so I'm hoping to get everything just right before i buy. A detailed care sheet would do the trick!

Also anyone know of pricing/availability of Mitchell's monitors in America? I'm English currently living in California and i can't find many for sale online.. I've emailed my local pet store to see if they can get one but i don't hold out much hope! I'm fairly sure they are illegal to export so it'd have to be a captive bred lizard, so I'm not sure I'll be able to find one.

Any help with these lizards would be appreciated as there is not much available elsewhere online.. i frequently find myself directed back to this site when searching for info!! thanks guys!

 

[monitor-maddness]

Any one?

 

[sweetangel]

i am looking at getting a pair early next year. i am planningon putting them into a 6ft x2ftx2.5ft fish tank that is divided into a land and water section.
as for all the feeding stuff, im not sure yet, but what i do with my ackies is put in enough food so they can eat what they want and have a few left over. i will be using the same technique most probably.
they can eat insects, meat, fish, other seafood, egg any thing really!
here is some info Aussie Reptile Keeper Forums-viewtopic-Varanus mitchelli, Mitchell's Water Monitor.

i havent found a caresheet but i have gone off mertens and similar water monitors.
water temps up around 26-28 degrees and a nice hot spot probly around 50 or so degrees much like other monitors.

here are some pics of my cage which is currently houseing water dragons!
http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/...w-water-dragon-water-monitor-enclosure-115402

and they will have space to dig.

as for pricing in america, cant help you, cant even tell you where to get them there. since this is an aussie website i doubt many ppl here could

and they are illegal in export out of australia so it might be very difficult to get them, not sure.

hope that helps

 

[monitor-maddness]

Thanks for that mate. Yea i know they are an illegal export.. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed there's some over here, I wouldn't want a wild caught one anyways. the shops here are only to happy to sell babies that will soon be nine foot monsters.. but when it comes to smaller species not so much.

Anyways thanks for the help! wish me luck!

 

[spongebob]

There are smaller species available in the USA from a variety of captive bred sources-mostly private breeders. I dont reckon much on your chances of getting a mitchells though. They aint common in captivity here so there's less chance in the USA. Plenty of other species available including some aussies. Try this website for expert opinions and to link up with breeders. My advice is to avoid petshops no matter where they are

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