Monitors?
- Thread starter jhappe
- Start date
THECHAMMAN
Established Member
my dad had a water monitor. lets just say it was a bad idea to put any part of your body in a cage. timor monitors are cool, but my fav's are savannah monitors.
Dean Pulcini
Avid Member
Stick with the smaller ones ( Dwarf ) because they do get large and will need a large enclosure not a fish tank. They are strong a will break glass with no problem. Unless you have an area you can dedicate to them I wouldn't get a large one.
Lizardlover
New Member
I have a savannah, i got him when he was a baby but now hes like 2 feet, hes moving into an outdoor cage soon because hes outgrowing his, ill post some pics for you during the week.
The main things are
High wattage bulb
Water dish (fill it once a week, its natural for them to go without water then gorge themselves)
Sand and wood (they like to make burrows, and they dig alot!)
and thats about it, i dont know about other monitors. thats just savannahs, mine likes to walk on a leash outside, (you should see the looks i get
)
The main things are
High wattage bulb
Water dish (fill it once a week, its natural for them to go without water then gorge themselves)
Sand and wood (they like to make burrows, and they dig alot!)
and thats about it, i dont know about other monitors. thats just savannahs, mine likes to walk on a leash outside, (you should see the looks i get
)
jhappe
New Member
Yea im not looking for anything real big, what are some that stay smaller? Info I found on the Timor says it stays relatively smaller, and I think they are pretty affordable. Blue tree monitors look amazing but they are a bit out of my price range...
Dean Pulcini
Avid Member
That's the problem with the dwarfs they are highly sought after and the price reflects that. There are some that don't become monsters but still obtain a good size do some research on adult monitors and I'm sure you will find some answers.
PardalisGirl
Avid Member
I was a Monitor Addict.....
I had an extensive tree monitor collection until about two years ago. One of the better collections in the USA. I had a breeding group of 1.3 Blue Tree Monitors (V. Macraei), 1.3 Green Tree Monitors (V. Prasinus), and 1.1 very rare Kordensis Tree Monitors (V. Kordensis). Only a couple of people in the world had those at the time. I also had 1.1 Timors and 1.1 Argus Monitors. I sold them all after I got heavily into the chamelons and Crested Geckos.
Tree monitors are beautiful but not personable as pets. They do not want to be handled at all. They should be considered specimens to observe only. Not to interact with. They have jaws that can clamp down like a vise grip and cut to the bone. I've gotten a few painful bites. Babies are very adorable but adults are messy and smelly. Clean up has to be done several times a day or they track through it everywhere. Timor monitors are much easier to keep and their bites are less painful. Females are very secretive and hide a lot. Neither sex is very tame. Argus monitors get very big and can be very nasty. My big male could wipe your face out with his tail. Take a tree monitor bite and multiply it by ten and you get an Argus bite. Savanna's are much more friendly. Big monitors require a lot of food. I bought frozen mice by the gross and had a freezer full of what my husband and I called "freezer treats". Guests were never allowed to open our freezer for fear of them totally freaking out.
Here is a picture of my Blue Tree Monitor Cage. I defy you to find a single monitor in the picture. They slept in the narrow cracks of the grape vine wood:
A picture of my male Blue Tree Monitor:
One of the females:
A picture of one of my prized young Kordensis Tree Monitors:
Monitors are totally cool but are a lot of messy work. I had a six year run with them. I look back on it fondly but don't miss the mess
I had an extensive tree monitor collection until about two years ago. One of the better collections in the USA. I had a breeding group of 1.3 Blue Tree Monitors (V. Macraei), 1.3 Green Tree Monitors (V. Prasinus), and 1.1 very rare Kordensis Tree Monitors (V. Kordensis). Only a couple of people in the world had those at the time. I also had 1.1 Timors and 1.1 Argus Monitors. I sold them all after I got heavily into the chamelons and Crested Geckos.
Tree monitors are beautiful but not personable as pets. They do not want to be handled at all. They should be considered specimens to observe only. Not to interact with. They have jaws that can clamp down like a vise grip and cut to the bone. I've gotten a few painful bites. Babies are very adorable but adults are messy and smelly. Clean up has to be done several times a day or they track through it everywhere. Timor monitors are much easier to keep and their bites are less painful. Females are very secretive and hide a lot. Neither sex is very tame. Argus monitors get very big and can be very nasty. My big male could wipe your face out with his tail. Take a tree monitor bite and multiply it by ten and you get an Argus bite. Savanna's are much more friendly. Big monitors require a lot of food. I bought frozen mice by the gross and had a freezer full of what my husband and I called "freezer treats". Guests were never allowed to open our freezer for fear of them totally freaking out.
Here is a picture of my Blue Tree Monitor Cage. I defy you to find a single monitor in the picture. They slept in the narrow cracks of the grape vine wood:
A picture of my male Blue Tree Monitor:
One of the females:
A picture of one of my prized young Kordensis Tree Monitors:
Monitors are totally cool but are a lot of messy work. I had a six year run with them. I look back on it fondly but don't miss the mess
jhappe
New Member
Did you successfully breed any? How hard is it?
ciafardo 4
New Member
I had an extensive tree monitor collection until about two years ago. One of the better collections in the USA. I had a breeding group of 1.3 Blue Tree Monitors (V. Macraei), 1.3 Green Tree Monitors (V. Prasinus), and 1.1 very rare Kordensis Tree Monitors (V. Kordensis). Only a couple of people in the world had those at the time. I also had 1.1 Timors and 1.1 Argus Monitors. I sold them all after I got heavily into the chamelons and Crested Geckos.
Tree monitors are beautiful but not personable as pets. They do not want to be handled at all. They should be considered specimens to observe only. Not to interact with. They have jaws that can clamp down like a vise grip and cut to the bone. I've gotten a few painful bites. Babies are very adorable but adults are messy and smelly. Clean up has to be done several times a day or they track through it everywhere. Timor monitors are much easier to keep and their bites are less painful. Females are very secretive and hide a lot. Neither sex is very tame. Argus monitors get very big and can be very nasty. My big male could wipe your face out with his tail. Take a tree monitor bite and multiply it by ten and you get an Argus bite. Savanna's are much more friendly. Big monitors require a lot of food. I bought frozen mice by the gross and had a freezer full of what my husband and I called "freezer treats". Guests were never allowed to open our freezer for fear of them totally freaking out.
Here is a picture of my Blue Tree Monitor Cage. I defy you to find a single monitor in the picture. They slept in the narrow cracks of the grape vine wood:
View attachment 9322
A picture of my male Blue Tree Monitor:
View attachment 9323
One of the females:
View attachment 9325
A picture of one of my prized young Kordensis Tree Monitors:
View attachment 9324
Monitors are totally cool but are a lot of messy work. I had a six year run with them. I look back on it fondly but don't miss the mess
pardalis girl you tend to like animals that are quite costly i see for one panthers out the wazoo and tree monitors do you come from old money or new ? hahaha
PardalisGirl
Avid Member
Tee Hee
Not old money or new money....just made money. I've worked full time since I was sixteen, even through college. I did not end up having kids so the money and attention that would have been spent on them goes to cats and lizards. I stopped working a few years ago for a "rest" that has turned into retirement I guess. My hubby likes having me home instead of working the horrendous hours as a CPA. My clients were all business clients and I was busy all year round, not just tax season. I'd like to work again but not in an office of any kind. I am never seated except for meals now. Allways doing something. It would drive me crazy to be in an office. Thought about being a vet tech.......
As far as breeding goes. Real easy to get eggs from tree monitors. Almost impossible to hatch Blue Trees or Kordensis out, at least it was two years ago. People could get them almost to term and they would die in the egg. I think people have been hatching the Green Trees out fairly well. Blue Trees are totally different. People were were really tackling the situation in a scientific manner with variations in temp and humidity with no success. I got lots of eggs and tried to hatch them with no luck. It's super sad because 95% of the wild caughts that you see advertised on Kingsnake are dead within six months. They are sold to people that have no business at all getting them. It's a lot of work and study to get them to health. You have to have a good reptile base of knowledge to begin with to do it. I was very proud of my Blue Trees because they all came in as skinny, stick-like, parasite loaded creatures and I had them for about six years and they were fat and plump and healthy. I had to force-feed a couple of them to get them to the point where they were healthy enough to eat on their own. That made me not worry to much about hatching eggs. I'm glad I went through all that experience with them. A lot of what I learned applies to other types of reptiles. Or at least I have a little more common sense because of it.
Not old money or new money....just made money. I've worked full time since I was sixteen, even through college. I did not end up having kids so the money and attention that would have been spent on them goes to cats and lizards. I stopped working a few years ago for a "rest" that has turned into retirement I guess. My hubby likes having me home instead of working the horrendous hours as a CPA. My clients were all business clients and I was busy all year round, not just tax season. I'd like to work again but not in an office of any kind. I am never seated except for meals now. Allways doing something. It would drive me crazy to be in an office. Thought about being a vet tech.......
As far as breeding goes. Real easy to get eggs from tree monitors. Almost impossible to hatch Blue Trees or Kordensis out, at least it was two years ago. People could get them almost to term and they would die in the egg. I think people have been hatching the Green Trees out fairly well. Blue Trees are totally different. People were were really tackling the situation in a scientific manner with variations in temp and humidity with no success. I got lots of eggs and tried to hatch them with no luck. It's super sad because 95% of the wild caughts that you see advertised on Kingsnake are dead within six months. They are sold to people that have no business at all getting them. It's a lot of work and study to get them to health. You have to have a good reptile base of knowledge to begin with to do it. I was very proud of my Blue Trees because they all came in as skinny, stick-like, parasite loaded creatures and I had them for about six years and they were fat and plump and healthy. I had to force-feed a couple of them to get them to the point where they were healthy enough to eat on their own. That made me not worry to much about hatching eggs. I'm glad I went through all that experience with them. A lot of what I learned applies to other types of reptiles. Or at least I have a little more common sense because of it.
