new water monitor

[fatbloke]

thought i would share some pics of my new little friend a water monitor he may look cute but he aint as he likes the taste of my fingers his bite is actually worse then my nile monitor
john

 

[Melmoth]

Very nice looking lizard,mate:clap: He's gorgeous,if a trifle bloodthirsty



George

 

[Damiano]

W O W !!!!

I love water monitor

 

[fatbloke]

at the moment he is a trifle bloodthirsty especially when you get him out the tank but once he knows hes not going to win by biting he does calm down but hopefully i will be able to stop the biting before hes to big as i dont fancy an adult biting

john

 

[ingas866]

try some bitter apple spray. you put it on your hand then pick up the moniter. the bitter will make your hand not so good and after a few bites they will stop hopefuly

 

[fatbloke]

ingas866

thanks for that info will have to find that stuff over here

john

 

[Wadew]

I had one of these and let me tell you do not trust the critter when it becomes an adult they can be pretty quick and I found alot more agressive than a nile . beautiful though:drool:

 

[fatbloke]

Wadew
i was led to believe these water monitors could be trusted more then a nile just goes to show no animal can be trusted 100%

john

 

[Melmoth]

What sort of a set up do they need,John? Presumably access to something big enough to submerge themselves in,water wise?

 

[fatbloke]

George

after reading several different care sheets there was alot of different info on them with some saying that they should have access to water to bathe in all the time while others said that bathing them once a week was fine i myself prefer to give them water all the time at the moment he has a sandwich container for a water bowl so he can bathe but when he gets bigger so will the water bowls when i had my last water monitor the way his tank was set up the water bowl took about a 3rd of the tank up and with all that water the tank didnt last long as it just rotted due to the moisture

john

 

[Gene]

Congrats, I love water monitors. (Varanus salvator) I own a couple myself. Have had the male since Sept. of 01. He is a large bloke now and pretty easy going. Hope you are ready for the huge amount of space they will need as they grow.

This is a picture of Yoshi when he was about 2 years old.

 

[fatbloke]

Gene
im aware of how much space they need when there bigger alot of the info i got came from the varanus.nl site the only thing i havent really found is the adult size as im not 100% sure of which exact specie mine is so im expecting it to be the specie thats get to around 7ft+
also thats a nice looking water monitor in the pic what sort of size is he? also what sort of growth speed are they

john

 

[Gene]

Check out Cybersalvator.com and post a pic for the site owner, John. He is the most knowledgable guy I know when it comes to salvator species. I think he can help. Not to mention it's just a cool site with a bunch of great people too.

I really didn't track my water's growth. He is a little over 4 years old now and almost 6'. Probably weighs around 30 lbs or so. That's just a guess because handling that size reptile really isn't my goal. I usually end up bleeding and torn up; not because he is aggressive or defensive just because he treats me like a tree trunk and climbs up and over with those huge claws.

 

[fatbloke]

Gene
thanks for the link i will post a pic to see if any one can tell me which specie he is
as for the size and age of yours it gives me some idea of how long it will take for it to grow i thought it might of grown at the same speed as a nile
i also know what you mean about being torn apart from large monitors with their claws when they think you are a tree

john

 

[Gene]

Salvators can grow very quickly. I would say as quick, or quicker than a nile. Mine had come close to his current size in a little over 2 years. He has slowed significantly since then but was very quick to reach an adult size.

Best of luck, hope to see you at cybersalvator too.

Gene

 

[fatbloke]

Gene
when i got the nile it looked like it had just come out the egg he was only about 9" stl he is now around 18-20"stl and ive only had him just over 4 months ive also had the salvator around 2 months now and he doesnt seem to have grown they both get fed the same but ive not seen any signs of growth yet

john

 

[Gene]

Interesting... are their temps pretty close to the same? I have noticed that salvators kind of grow in spurts too but really all in all it doesn't matter. They will do things at their own pace anyway. Perhaps after a little more time with you and getting used to his environment he will pick up some speed. I really wish you luck with him. There isn't a reptile in the world I would rather have than a good salvator.

Later, Gene

 

[fatbloke]

Gene

the temps are pretty much the same under the basking spot its good to know that they have a growth spurt hopefully he will have one shortly i think he has sort of got used to his tank as he will happily sit basking will i do certain things in the tank and he will now tweezer feed

john

 

[Gene]

Good deal.

I wish you all the luck in the world with him. Sorry I take so long to reply. My ISP keeps going down and I am without internet for days at a time.