Just a few monitor shots.....

[Jeff_Favelle]

brachyurus:

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[Ed_r]

Very Cool!! What is the common name for them? Real cool to see them in a community setting. Many food squabbles? And How big is that cage?

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[NicoleRussell]

hey I did post a comment but it got deleted---had to be an accident because all I said was how nice they looked
Have I said lately how much I really love lizard pics??

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[Jeff_Favelle]

I have 5 groups of 1.2 and all reside in 4x2x2 cages. Community settings are the ONLY way to keep monitors.

No squabbles over food (social animals), so long as you feed them everyday!! LOL!

Common name is Yellow Spiny-tailed Monitor, or Yellow Ackie.

Thanx guys!!

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[Ace]

jeff, those pics are nice but they make the cage look huge. do you have a pic of the ouside of the cage, or a pic of the whole cage, i would like to see how you set it up, and what the cage is made of. Also in the pics there looks to be a sqabble over the rat, do they fight for very long or does one give up pretty quick.

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[Dragon]

Are those the little Aussie ones that only grow to about 2 feet? They're beautiful.

Paul

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[NicoleRussell]

so many lizards so little room ;(

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[Ed_r]

so many lizards so little room

Well the kids really don't need their own room do they?lol :P

I hear ya, I need a MUCH bigger house.
*Buys more lotto tickets*

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[KuhnDog]

Sweet pics.
I agree w/ Ace... those pics make the cage look huge! I've got a 4x2x2 and I'm having trouble picturing all that in my cage.
About how big are they, 1.5-2ft?

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[Jeff_Favelle]

These are DWARF monitors that only get about 2 feet in length. They are not your average Savannah or Nile Monitor. 4x2x2 is enough room to house 1 male and 3 nesting females, but I cut it down to 1.2 because I had the space and its easier to feed them.

They ARE social eaters in that for the bigger prey (like the mouse in question), several of them will take it down and make sure its dead and of no harm. Put a smaller pinky or maybe even a mouse "part", and they all eat individually. Watch Komodos on Animal Planet or Discovery. You'll see social eating. Monitors aren't built like other lizards.

Here's a pic of the outside of 2 stacks of cages in the old monitor room:

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[Ed_r]

HERPIN TRIP AT JEFF'S HOUSE!!!!!!

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[gemisnake]

awesome monitors, I am in a one bedroom apt and already have many animals or Id get more monitors, now I only have a young savannah. Yours are so pretty.

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[savannah_babe]

oh wow, they are so beautiful!! i LOVE monitors. i wish i had more room, for more

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[Ace]

thanks for the pics Jeff. those pics show the real size of those guys. Keeping them in groups, does that settle them down at all, or does it make them more aggressive?

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[Jeff_Favelle]

I don't think it settles them down or makes them more aggressive or anything like that. They are highly social animals that when strangers are put together, some don't get along. When raised together from babies (the tried and true method) there seems to be FAR less problems. Not to mention, there's theories that monitors are not one sex or the other until a few months after hatching. That is, they become male or female after environmental pressures are put upon them as youngsters. So when raising a group, you usually get favourable ratios. Its just a theory, not mine though. I'm not sure how it works. But its been tested, and has proven somewhat true so far.

In the 3 groups that I've hatched, kept back, and raised, (3 animals per group) all 3 have turned out to be 1.2. Coincidence?

Hmmm..........

[DMZ77724]

Hi Jeff,
I was just looking at your Ackie enclosures and was curious as to what substrate you are using? I am thinking about purchasing 1.2 or 1.1 Yellow Ackies from www.proexotics.com im June/July and was wondering if you could give me any advice on housing? I am thinking about a 5x5x3 enclosure, would this be allright for 1.1 or 1.2?
Thanks,
-Dave

	1.1 One Male and One Female

[Jeff_Favelle]

5x5x3 is a HUGE cage and might provide hard to heat and even harder to get in and dig out eggs. I would cut the width down, for sure. 5x2x3 is much better.

And the only substrate to use is silty alkaline dirt. Like you would see in Australia where these guys are from. Monitor husbandry is 75% SUBSTRATE and 25% heating. For sure.

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[Bry]

Jeff, how deep do you make the substrate in their cages? I have heard monitor substrate needs to be 2 feet deep or so.

Bry

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[NicoleRussell]

how do you get that type of substrate jeff?
Hello Dave!!!! You made it into thr forum?
Welcome to RTB.

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[Jeff_Favelle]

Bry, my substrate is 14 inches deep for the dwarf monitors. Anything bigger, and I would up the deepness to the appropriate size. You have to see the network of tunnels and chambers these guys create as part of a series of NATURAL life events to realize that 5 inches of potting soil or sand or astroturf or some other archaic substrate simply won't do.

Nicole, I go dig it up. I'm a firm believer that there is sitly alkaline dirt in almost every part of the world, so for people to have sub-par monitor substrate, well there simply is no excuse.

Good substrate allows for this:



Wich leads to this:

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