pygmy mulga monitor

[mixfx]

hey all,

i am looking to buy a pygmy mulga monitor, so i am trying to do as much research as i can to set up its inclosure, i have read afew old posts on here and followed links to other websites like vhs but any information that i am unlikely to stumble across would help. like, i have read they like high temp basking spots but should i leave it on of a night or turn it off? and do they really require no uv light or should i have it in the inclosure anyway?

thanks,
mick

 

[Guest]

they will definately benifit from uv light and Gilleni do become active around dusk, night heating depends on how cold the enclosure gets at night but in the warmer months I wouldn't think it's needed

 

[sweetangel]

have a dedicated day basking light and either a ceramic or infra red light for night. so no visible white light during the night. also i would have a uv light. but thats just me. i use uv for my ackies.

 

[TWENTY B]

uv is not nsesicary, but doesn't hurt.
night heat is not needed, but if it's getting down to 10* i'd put a cord under the tank to heat the substrate a little. only to 18* doubt you'll need it though.
no night lights, they will be in thier hides anyway.
basking spot over 50*

 

[mixfx]

thanks for the info guys, big help. its good to hear it from keepers. you never know whats right or wrong on some sites and i'll hate to set up the inclosure wrong.

 

[Sdaji]

After breeeding more than half the captive Pygmy Mulga Monitors in Australia each year several times and raising many of them with and without UV, I couldn't tell any difference or see any benefit from UV.

I built my first gilleni enclosure with night heat, but after my first season left it permanently switched off for the next few years (including through Melbourne winters). Back when I bought my first ones many people still thought it was good to keep small monitors with blue globes as the heat source, and many people wouldn't believe me when I said that would kill them during my first couple of seasons of breeding them. I published the first article in an Australian hobby reptile magazine describing their need for a basking lamp as opposed to ambient heat (someone correct me if there was something published prior to my article in Monitor).

They're desert lizards. Hot days, freezing nights especially in winter. Give them UV if it makes you happy, it won't hurt them.

 

[Serpentes]

That's right, no UV for mine either. No night heat, and a simply reflector globe producing heat onto a basking spot, which is on top of a rock platform. The basking spot is <50 degrees, unlike my accies which are <70 degrees. The rest of the cage is unheated. They're one of the easier monitors to keep I think, although breeding may be different.

 

[Sdaji]

Mine used to breed like flies, I had clutches of up to 12 eggs and usually three clutches per female per season. It was very rare that I would get an infertile egg, and I don't think I ever had a fertile egg which didn't hatch.

One of the best things about them was that I never had any aggression issues at all. Other monitors can be prone to killing each other, sometimes swallowing their cagemates which are as large or even larger than them. Other than male/male combat (which is just wrestling and doesn't involve any harm) I never had any sign of aggression between any of them, even in groups of 20 or more. I really miss them!