A question for big monitor owners in melbourne/sydney

[Frozenmouse]

question 1 , Do you guys that own Laceys and other big monitors in cooler areas keep them indoors all year round? Or have them out doors for summer in for winter ? I ask as i am considering heating for an out door area.
question 2 , does anyone mix any monitor species , i have seen it done with a pair of parenti and a pair of penopties in the same out door pit, just wondering about mixing a spence and a lacey of equal size ?

 

[crocdoc]

There aren't many places in the Sydney area in which lace monitors can't be kept outdoors all year round, provided the aviary is set up properly. If I had a yard I'd have mine outside for sure, but mine are currently indoors. I've spoken to a number of people that have kept lace monitors in Melbourne and some have had few issues whereas others had to offer supplemental heat (especially to winter hide spots). It often depends on where the house is situated and the aspect of the yard (ie north or south facing, for example).

As for mixing species, I probably wouldn't do that for a couple of reasons. Not lace monitors and Spencers, anyway. Perenties and panoptes are found in similar habitats, or at very least in the same area with slight habitat differences (central Qld, for example) so an enclosure set up for one species will probably suit the other. Those two species are also fairly equal in terms of activity level and food response, so one isn't likely to monster the other.

Lace monitors and Spencer's monitors, on the other hand, come from very different habitat.

Lace monitor in habitat

Spencer's monitor in habitat

They also have different builds, activity levels and attitudes. They'd probably get along for a while until they have a tussle over food or something. To paraphrase my mother, it's all fun until someone loses a leg.

 

[richardsc]

lacies should be fine outdoors in melb,just give them plenty of options to escape the cold,just a hollow log or wooden box may not suffice,some folk offer a bit of heat to hides to cover that

best keeping just one species per enclosure,plus i doubt spencers would do well outdoors in melb how you keep lacies,there winters are probably like our summers,lol

 

[-Peter]

Mine are outside all year round.

 

[dozerman]

Anyone keeping anything other than lacies outside ?

 

[serpenttongue]

I am in Wollongong, and I keep lacies outdoors all year. It gets cold here in winter, but I doubt it's anything like Melbourne. I just make sure that their hides are dry and well insulated with no drafts, and situated where the lacies don't have to travel too far to get to their basking spots for the early morning sun (this is mainly for winter).

 

[imported_Varanus]

Anyone keeping anything other than lacies outside ?

At one stage I kept an adult pair of Spencers Monitors outside all year round in the Wimmerra District in Victoria (Northern Grampians-Horsham). Very flat and very cold mid-winter (into the minuses). Never experienced any problems. I did provide a heated box, but they rarely used it, preferring to burrow. Also, they were kept in a large concrete water tank complete with a thick concrete floor that may have retained some heat over the cooler months(?). They do have local wild populations of Gouldii in the area, also.

 

[dozerman]

Hey I.V , Ive got a big leaky concrete tank here that I could probably convert, hmmmm.

 

[Brodie]

Unless you have heat going through the concrete, it is going to get pretty bloody cold in winter. When I went to raaf ots, we had concrete floors in a couple of the bathrooms. My feet have NEVER been that cold lol.

But yeah if you have a heat source, the concrete should work well. I used to keep gouldii and panoptes in the same aviaries. Never had any problems and the panoptes were considerably larger than the gouldii! Never kept varius or spenceri though, I'm sorry.

 

[Frozenmouse]

Thanks for the replies some very good food for thought. i was thinking about a garden shed/aviary type set up with 6mm poly carbonate panels in place of the wire for winter and a lazer lite roof to let the sun in and one heated hide up high and 1 heated hide down on the ground.

 

[JAS101]

i have a warm box inside my garden shed that backs onto the laces enclosure , a hole cut through the shed and the box . when ever its cold the lace gos in the warm box .

 

[imported_Varanus]

Hey I.V , Ive got a big leaky concrete tank here that I could probably convert, hmmmm.

It would entirely depend on where you are, Dozer, and what species, as I'm sure your aware. Initially, I was very apprehensive about leaving my Spencers pair out over winter in Victoria (considering their natural range) and relieved on sunnier mid-winter days when they'd emerged from their burrows to bask for a few hours. No doubt being out of the wind and in full sun all day (when the sun was out) also helped. Rain was my biggest issue, luckily I was always on hand to tarp half the tank, so it never became a problem.

 

[dozerman]

Cheers I.V it must have been a bastard lifting tonnes of sand over the wall of that tank

Im using heatcord encased beneath floor tiles for my spencers (indoors) at the moment,just wondering what you guys are using for your heated boxes etc.

 

[imported_Varanus]

Cheers I.V it must have been a bastard lifting tonnes of sand over the wall of that tank

That's what mates are for...mate!

just wondering what you guys are using for your heated boxes etc.

Here's another example, made from old cool room panels (75mm thick). Thanks, again Toni!

 

[whyme]

Freezer panels. Can't beat 'em!!

 

[imported_Varanus]

75MM of foam inlay and a heat pad, not even 12 degrees below can get through that!

 

[crocdoc]

Here's another example, made from old cool room panels (75mm thick). Thanks, again Toni!

I've seen that one up close and it rocks!

 

[imported_Varanus]

Certainly a great idea! I've yet to set this one up, but Toni's works really well .

 

[Frozenmouse]

Do the monitors seek out warm areas when they are subjected to weather they are not equipped to deal with or do you have to round them up. I know some skinks and dragons will just slow down and die with a warm area within reach.

 

[imported_Varanus]

Personally, I've never had any problems with either Lacies or Spencers, but I have heard of an incident a few years ago with an adult Perentie being kept outside in Canberra (I'm assuming with a heat hide area provided(?)) that was found outside, dead one winter morning.

In any event, perhaps best to supervise for a while until you know for sure they are using the heated hide.