Your one stop reptile community - Nile questions Please help all you experts

gixerboy · #1 (**permalink**) 03-24-2002, 09:28 PM

I have fallen in love with a baby nile I am fairly good with my snakes and lizards and have scowered the web looking for info on Niles and found not a great deal. What I want to know is how big do they average in captivity I seem to be finding about 5-6 ft and about 15-20 kg is this correct? I also have a number of books on monitors in genral but they seem to be very minamal on nile info. I know Mr bennet seems to be very against them in captivity but its allready in captivity and I think Id be a better owner than some numpty wanting a big monitor cause there cool! Ive always loved monitors and have tried to find as much info as possible but every site I find on search engines etc seems to no longer be there when it comes to niles and all the other sites seem to have very little info on niles. How many of you have them and have managed to tame them down to the point where you dnt get malled by them and they may tolerate you ?
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Jack_Daniels · #2 (**permalink**) 04-05-2002, 03:32 AM

Whats up gix.. You've picked one of my fav's... As far as finding info on them, its somewhat common, but everything you read is the same thing repeated over and over.. So, instead of throwing links up on the screen I'll tell you what Ive learned personally...

First off, Niles will NEVER be the tame boa or burm that is sweet with you, slow and calm, moving real gentle etc etc... they're a little more fiesty.. Granted the scale goes from mean as #$%^&#$%^&#$%^&#$%^&, to fiesty, I still love them, and see them as not much more of a challenge than a boa...

Basicly, their mentality is that of a cat.. they're nice with you, as long as you're VERY nice with them... over step your bounds and you'll get nailed'.. This one I "adopted" last weekend tries to bite me everytime I rub its throat... He's not aggressive, just gives me a "word of advice" every time I try to do it... and Ive learned not to [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

A Nile is a good "pet" for the person that like crocodillians, or alligator snappers, or something they're not trying to make their little schnookims... They need respect, its like dealing with um...a tiger, or lion or something... They can do some damage, and are more than willing to stand up for themselves.. But, treated with respect, they dont mind some hands on interaction..

For starters, you must NEVER....move quickly... raise your voice around them, startle them, be careless with them, or in any way take anything for granted... Yesterday I was holding the same Nile, and I sniffed... I just had a little bit of a plugged nose so I sniffed...a natural thing for me or you to do without a thought.... apparently a "sniff" sounds alot like a "hiss" to a Nile... He didnt like it too much and flipped out... Its things like that you have to think out... Prepare, is the word I guess...

As far as husbandry.. Give him a place thats too warm....and a place thats too cold...and everything in between... For example... Picture a cage... Picture in that cage a piece of beach drift wood starting at the left bottom, "rainbowing" to the right top.... I put the heat lamp about 1/3 from the left...so he has a place directly under the lamp about 3 inches from the heat light...way too hot....and half of the light is directed past that spot onto the ground... So there Ive given him an extremely hot spot...and a medium hot spot.... All in the open...then underneath where the beach wood is resting on the ground... I put a heat pad.. So He can get good and hot, and be hidden... 3 hot spots, all different... Just with that, he has alot of cool spots to choose from also.. Truthfully, I havnt even taken the temp of the three hot spots, or the cool sections, I can just tell through body language and where he spends his time what he likes... maybe someone can recommend some numbers for you... I can say tho, that I use either a 60 or 70 watt light bulb... and a ZooMed under tank heat pad...

Always have a good sized tub of water in their for him... I change mine's water about 4 times a day because he's always using his for a bathroom.. Which is cool cuz I dont have to clean his tank as much... Not to mention, fresh water is an 'always have around' type of thing for any animal...

Umm, what else.. So far Ive fed him mice, meat/cat food, some turkey... crickets, mealworms, waxworms are always welcomed... Actually the other day I was bs'ing on the computer and a moth came into my room (it was nighttime) and was drawn to his heat light, so it was flying around and I guess he thought it looked tasty so he went to town trying to catch it out of the air... so basicly they're garbage disposals when it comes to food.. They love goldfish too.. cant seem to catch them out of the water tho... Also I use a calcium supplement just to be safe... Ive found that in order to save a buck, instead of using a brand name calcium suppliment you can get these things called "cuddle bones" from your local pet store, which I guess people use for parrots... grind it up into a very very fine powder, and dust your crickets or meaty cat food (the meaty chunks, not the dry stuff)... seems to work... If you have a few extra bucks, get a Vita Lite... its definatly worth the money...

Thats about all I can think of... they average about 5-6 ft in captivity...weight is different.. you can either keep him the lean hunter he's supposed to be, or make him a HUGE piece of reptile fat.... I prefer the lean version so average 15 pounds maybe.... Ive never really weighed any of mine...

Basicly, they take alot.....ALOT....of handling for them to even begin trusting you... but with time they will start to get to know you... understand that if you over step your bounds with your boa or corn snake....they flinch.... Niles will bite you...... Mine, no matter how much I work with them, still try to whip me with their tails, or hiss at me, but when I pick them up they chill out... Just work with it, get a feel for its "personality"....and they do have some personality.... and it will all be good... Handle it daily... Calm and slow...

Thats all I can think of... as I think of anything else I'll post it.. if you have any questions as you go along in the experience post them and I'll try to answer them for you... Good luck.. I think if you like animals with some "spunk"....and arent afraid to shed a drop or two of blood.. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] you'll love your new nile... Just make sure you're in it for the long haul before you take him in....
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Jack_Daniels · #3 (**permalink**) 04-05-2002, 03:41 AM

Actually I was just thinking... Give me a description of what size cage you're going to keep him in....what supplies you have or are willing to buy... and I'll give you my 2 cents worth on how I'd set him up....

The rule with monitors is SIZE,... the more the merrier... they LOVE to just search... every nook, they're searching...every cranny...the same... they're all over the place always...

So put up a description of what you have to work with, and the size of the Nile, and I'll give you 2 cents.... [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

_________________
I am you, searching to be free...

lizardlady · #4 (**permalink**) 04-05-2002, 09:27 AM

Jack is right, but..... I know a guy who should be known as the monitor whisperer, lol! I never would have believed it if he hadn't walked into my shop. A guy comes in and asks if I want to see his nile. It's in the backseat of his car. This nile is gorgeous, is loose in the car, stretched out in the backseat nose on one armrest, butt on the other, tail on the floor. I'm astounded, it is HUGE!!! He opens the car door and I am thinking the chase scene from the Mathew Broderick movie with the monitor, lol. This guy puts a little insubstantial harness thing on the monitor and lets it out in the parking lot. The nile is heeling with the dude in the parking lot!! He walked it into my shop where he sat on the floor. The nile came up and sat across his lap, where you could almost see it purr as the guy scratched it! I believe he said it was his third monitor, and they were all like that, and they were all Niles!! I have a picture, but my scanner is broke. In about a week or so I will have access to a nice working one. If I remember to take it, I will post the pic, it is GREAT!! Unbelievable! He fed it everything (but mostly rats), said it loved pizza and had to take it to MacDonalds about once a month where they would split Big Macs. He would walk it in the park for excercise, where they would be mobbed by people. The monitor never seemed to mind any of it, and was DOG tame. Never saw another quite like it, maybe it's the Big Mac's!
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Dr.Oviparous · #5 (**permalink**) 04-05-2002, 09:47 AM

wow, thats awsome when you can really tell that someone spends so much time with their animals! it says a lot about a person that is that dedicated to making a good life for his pet. big macs!! how cute! ( that is if a nile monitor can be cute! ) I can't wait to see pics! someday when Shamika (my black tegu) is big enough I'd love to take walks with her in the park! -Juggalo
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Jack_Daniels · #6 (**permalink**) 04-05-2002, 01:25 PM

Big Mac's?? I dont even like putting Big Mac's in me.. much less my lizards.. But I think I'll try from now on if it gets them like that.. [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

Ive also heard the odd tale of the tame Tokay Gecko, so no doubt exceptions take place.. Although if you spend that much time with your Nile, I bet he would get to know you pretty good, and vice versa.. Definatly the more time you spend the better, but if I took my "average" Nile to the park... first he'd disappear in a blaze...then poodles would start disappearing...and most likely small children after that...

I wonder if he hand feeds his Nile the big macs.. (gives me flash backs of my 3 fingered teacher from wood shop) [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]
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lizardlady · #7 (**permalink**) 04-16-2002, 10:56 AM

Here is the pic I promised. The only one I got scanned is a little foreshortened, but I think you get the idea...

Handfeed??? Heck he slept with the darn thing!!! It was more like a dog, his only pet, they went everywhere together.
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Dr.Oviparous · #8 (**permalink**) 04-16-2002, 11:04 AM

WOW!!! [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img] [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img]
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JC86 · #9 (**permalink**) 04-16-2002, 04:44 PM

...I think WOW would be an understatement... [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img]

Scott
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Jack_Daniels · #10 (**permalink**) 04-19-2002, 07:25 AM

OH MY GOD.... *dives behind the couch...*.. death with 4 legs man...

Let me just say, that is an ORNATE nile monitor, which my latest is....
this means nothing I just like the colors better, so I brag...

Check it out... if the bands of circles on the back from front leg to back number 7 its a "normal" Nile.... if they number 5, its an "ornate"... not to mention ornates are more white while 'commons are yellowish....AND...ornates tend to be blockier...while commons are slimmer.....

Now that I have attempted to be percieved as a genius... that is a FAT...ornate nile... if niles are like humans,... he is DEFINATLY a big mac fan... and gets his fair share of them.. I can't believe the gut on that bad boy... literally Im stunned... speachless(yea right I always have words to say)....

Just in the time of my last post, the nile I have has gone from tolerant but skittish...to tolerant, and mellow, but dont press your luck.... For example, earlier tonight I picked him up out of his water bowl... Ice cold.... and lay'd him on a towel to dry him off, to which he opened his mouth and tried to lay into me...luckily he was cold and sluggish... BUT.. regardless of how warm and hyper, if I pick him up and dont "restrict" his movements....he's cool with whatever I do... he really digs when I help him peel his shedding skin...must feel good...

Regardless, Gix... think of the nile as a "thug"....heh, Im a dork for saying that word but.... really, they seem to be like me, or you... hold me down and Im gonna get #$%^&#$%^&#$%^&#$%^&#$%^&#$%^&..hold him down, the same reaction.,... Pinch my toe and I'll deck you...do the same to him, he'll bite you... etc etc... Niles arent your "basic" lizard..

To add to the "food list" I'll add turkey.. this dood originally named Conan, but renamed to Talon, GORGES on turkey... Today I literally would have not been surprised if he blew up..... splattered.... You wouldnt believe how many slices of turkey he ate... INsane....

One more thing, I'll NEVER cut my lizard's nails... whatever you do, so be it,.. its whatever works best for you... but... my hands look like I stuck'em up against a disk sander... Literally picture an eagle, or any bird of prey, and scale it down to size, and that's what your nile will have.... it can hurt, but if you're a TRU MAN like me...(flexing to the screen) its no big thing once you get used to it....

Anyways.. I love niles.. When you think of a dog, you dont want some dog that's gonna lay in the corner all day.. how boring is that??.. You want the one that's gonna bite at the rope bone you're waving in front of your face... the one that will lay at your feet when its "time" to chill.... etc.. My new Nile watches me more than I watch it... it's definatly a trip to keep one... Amazingly alert... He headbangs to metallica and gunz'N'Roses too.... [img]modules/Forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] j/k.. I wouldnt put it past him tho..
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Jack_Daniels · #11 (**permalink**) 04-19-2002, 07:32 AM

btw, Im literally staring at that pic in disbelief... Im stunned.. literally.. I would LOVE to meet it 'face to face' in the flesh... LOOK AT THAT GUT MAN!!!!! lol, amazing...
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bensnacks · #12 (**permalink**) 05-10-2002, 10:21 PM

WOW!!!Yes.
FAT!!!yes.
Healthy NO!!
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Radkon4 · #13 (**permalink**) 05-10-2002, 11:17 PM

Not that I’m one to give advice about monitors especially since I own one that hates me. But a great book to get would be Giant Lizards it’s pricy about $80 but full of great info. Good luck with your Nile, I had one once it also did not like me, hmm makes me wonder. If I give you any advise let it be this, to a Nile we sort of look like a chew toy.
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