My ackie thread, or, The spiney tailed monitor thread.

[Allthingsterrarium]

Thanks. Fed ex is now an hr late...

I wouldn't worry too much. In my experience Fedex does the best job and my 2nd tomato frog arrived a little late too. It should work out okay.Besides. Lizards don't get tougher than monitors

 

[MassExodus]

So, he arrived. He's smaller than I thought, looks like he's half the size of Tom's, lol. I put him on his basking spot, held my crappy phone up and he then started zipping round the terrarium and dissappeared. I have no idea where he went so I put some roaches and a bowl of superworms in and left it alone. He's fast. I'm going to let him settle, he looked terrified.

 

[MassExodus]

Terrarium is too big and busy for his size. We'll see if he comes out to bask

 

[MassExodus]

Just to let people know..I used to have a fantastic phone camera. It had Zeiss(sp?) optics. Unfortunately it was a wiindows phone that wouldn't sound my alarm for work after 6 mnths or so. I got a new android and a month later dropped it in a soapy sink full of water. I can't do macros, close ups, or even a decent pic of a huge terrarium. I've been wanting a new one for a long time. Unfortunately, a new motorcycle and several tarantulas and mc gear have delayed that. I won't post again in this thread until I get a new one friday. I do apologize for not being able to do this right. I used to have pretty decent pics in my invert thread..

 

[MassExodus]

I see him now. He's wedged himself in a fake, hollow tree that came with an exo terra. I see his face near a top exit hole. I tried coaxing him out because I couldnt resist. He puffed up to wedge himself in more firmly, and refuses to budge. He looked like he was going to tail whip me. I did no good at all, just prolonged it. When he comes out I'm changing some things. He's too small for this terrarium..

 

[Tortoise Tom]

Glad he made it! Looking forward to seeing how it all develops and what you learn.

 

[MassExodus]

Glad he made it! Looking forward to seeing how it all develops and what you learn.

Me too buddy! He'll have a quiet night with a room to himself, I gotta go to work. I lowered my basking temp to 140. 78-89 temp gradient on the cool side, big shallow dish, moistened sand around it. Way too much space and hides in my opinion, but I'm just going to remove the tree. If he ever comes out..

 

[Tortoise Tom]

I think my cage might be a little on the big side too. Mine dig in each night and come out to bask each day, so I think it is working okay. I find two of them under the water bowl each night. They are ravenous for their roaches. I'm thoroughly enjoying them so far. I've got a couple of rare days off coming up, so I'll get to mess with them a little bit. They don't mind being picked up and handled so far, but they are pretty active too.

 

[MassExodus]

Mine is very young, he tried to bail in the short time I held him. I say "him" because the breeder suspects male, comparing him to the others I guess. Hope he settles in soon.

 

[MassExodus]

So, after two days, he is still hiding. He's small, and scared of everything. I got impatient after he moved to the rockpile and disappeared again. So I found him, held him and got a few pics(with my brothers phone) before he started squirming.

Gorgeous. And tiny, and scared of everything. The taming process is going to take time..

 

[MassExodus]

Lol, he's in the rocks in this one..zoom in on the middle

 

[Tortoise Tom]

He's a nice lookin' one man!

One trick I find to bring them out of hiding is to hand or tong feed them their insects. When they associate the giant hairless ape with food, they start to lose their fear pretty quick. This even works with wild lizards outside. I have a couple of fence swifts that follow me like puppies and take roaches from my fingers. Then the trick is to start handling them without grabbing or restraining them.

You are right. It does take time.

I'll bet you've already seen what I'm saying here on the videos you've watched. Just sharing some insight I've gained with other varanids over the years. Either way, it will be great fun to watch them all (yours and mine) grow up over time.

 

[MassExodus]

He's coming out for food now, we just finished a session..I love this!

 

[MassExodus]

He'll completely ignore dubia to go after a superworm. I'll have to control that. Theyre more a snack than food. He loves them though. He just keeps eating..

 

[MassExodus]

I gotta get a phone, I have to share this. They act like little freakin dinosaurs! They have intelligent eyes..he actually peeks at me at my desk, rofl. Too cute man, too cute. And when they eat..the little velociraptors are awesome..

 

[MassExodus]

He made poopies! Who's a big boy? Lmao. Looks like bird crap..

 

[MassExodus]

After four days in my care, the "skittish" little guy will walk up to his feeding slab and let me pet him under the chin. He runs off again but it's progress. He looks plump and healthy, he's also very active in the morning. Right now he's basking. He'll stay that way and just watch me until something spooks him. Then he'll hide for about three seconds, poke his head out, then come back out. He's learning fast. Just watching that "predator at rest" pose is fascinating. I can't stress enough how intelligent they seem to be.

 

[Tortoise Tom]

After four days in my care, the "skittish" little guy will walk up to his feeding slab and let me pet him under the chin. He runs off again but it's progress. He looks plump and healthy, he's also very active in the morning. Right now he's basking. He'll stay that way and just watch me until something spooks him. Then he'll hide for about three seconds, poke his head out, then come back out. He's learning fast. Just watching that "predator at rest" pose is fascinating. I can't stress enough how intelligent they seem to be.

I've got similar observations with mine. They are on the counter in the reptile room, which is a busy spot. They sit right out in the open in their basking spot watching all the goings on. Doesn't seem to bother them at all that I'm feeding tarantulas or soaking tortoises right next to them. I can get them on my hand for a few seconds and then they jump off to go do something else.

Great fun they are.

 

[Dave Jay]

So, after two days, he is still hiding. He's small, and scared of everything. I got impatient after he moved to the rockpile and disappeared again. So I found him, held him and got a few pics(with my brothers phone) before he started squirming.
View attachment 32168

View attachment 32169
Gorgeous. And tiny, and scared of everything. The taming process is going to take time..

Hey guys, I just read through this, very cool ! Monitors would be about the only local lizards I haven't kept, my brother and I could never catch them no matter what we came up with. Probably for the best really, I would say the metre long ones we usually saw would have ripped us up! A young guy that used to hang around my shop often brought in lizards he'd caught to show me, one time he brought in a pygmy monitor not much bigger than this one only it was wild and not a baby so it was very aggressive, it absolutely hated him and used to latch onto him every chance it got! It thought it was killing him but really the bites looked more like a rash, maybe a tiny bit of blood. Seeing the pictures brought back the memory. Luckily, much as I used to do, he was allowed to bring whatever he caught home, but had to take it back to the bush on the next trip, especially if it wasn't settling in well.

 

[MassExodus]

Good to see you @Dave Jay, welcome back man! Yeah the little ones cant do us much damage, but those big fellas you got there will put a serious hurtin on you..I saw a bite vid on youtube, looked like the dude stuck his hand in a blender..