Monitor Keeper Tools

[Ravi]

Hi all

I'm interested in hearing opinions on what would be considered the 'must have' tools for monitor keepers.

Lets see lists of what eveyone considers the top 3 tools that would be used in our day to day care for them.

Would you consider it a temperature gun? Medicine? Tongs? etc.

Hope to generate some good discussion we can all learn from.

As always

--Ravi--

[SHvar]

I use them more than the other tools, followed by a temp gun, then a long pair of hemostats to assist in feeding. There are other tools but none used as much as these.

[Ravi]

Thanks SHvar

I keep my animals in the basement of my house. My basement is unfinished and can get cold in the winter.

One of my biggest problems is keeping the temps in range. For this is use a digital thermometer for <i>ambient</i> temps and a temp gun for <i>basking</i> temps and a bunch ot other uses. I'm not sure how many people realize just how useful this little tool is.

After that, is a <b>spare</b> tank. This is an incredibly handy thing to have. You never know when you'll have to seperate monitors for whatever reason.

After that I use my sink the most. It is incredibly handy to have a sink nearby the monitors for cleaning and watering.

Keep em coming.
--Ravi--

[V.hb]

Hey Ravi,

I as well use my basement. Thankfully, my furnace is also in my basement, so it throws off heat to keep the basement in the high 70's at night while the lights are off.

I also have a sink, which I must say IS incredibly handy to have nearby... Espeacially a double sink!!

I too also have spare enclosures just incase something happens. Along with my feeding tools, first aid kits and not nessecarily for monitors but for other new reptillian acquisitions Flagyl, Panacur, Batryl, etc etc..

[skinheaddave]

Single most usefull thing by far is welding gloves. After that is one of those pythons. I don't have a brand name one, but is the same deal -- hook it to your tap and it creates a syphon that you can use to drain the water dish. Since I use a 40 gallon system with a filter, maintenance is more like that of an aquarium than a standard water dish. Lastly, a watering can. Useful for introducing water to the substrate.

Cheers,
Dave

[asphyxia]

Other than whats been mentioned so far, I'd say a shovel- To get all the friggen dirt these puppies need.

I could not imagine not having a sink close by, feeding tongs, probe thermometer, leather gloves, misting bottle, a dedicated rat freezer and good rodent supplier to suplement in house rat colonies.

Cheers
Brian

Brian

[Steeve B]

The tools I most often use are …

Safety tools; Tongs, gloves, Plexiglas shield, and a head mask. Transport box.

Husbandry tools; temp gun, water mister, 18in heat-humidity probe, various size plastic containers (use for water, feeding, hiding, medical treatment)

Specialized tools; incubator, snare traps, rat traps, various syringes, peroxide, Iodine, Methylene blue, stitches (cat gut), scissors and tweezers,

These are the tools I use on a daily basis, without them aim in trouble!
There are 100 more tools I use but these are a minimum
Rgds

[Jeff_Favelle]

Dirt, Retes stacks, and the proper wattage of light bulbs for each particular cage.

[SHvar]

I consider Retes stacks, thermostats, thermometer/hygrometers, lights, dirt, all as mandatory cage parts or furniture (they are needed before the animal is placed in the cage. Along with cage locks for when Im not there, as well as a Glock (if ya want my monitors you gotta get through both of us to get them). There are other tools such as roach colonies, spray bottles, novalsan, extra bulbs, towels, transpot containers, etc.

[Dragoon]

I have BBQ tongs, shovel and a pair of nail clippers. That's it.

The clippers are indispensible. They are for me, the lizards, and my one rat's teeth. (Poor baby)

The eggs have a cheap thermometer. The rest of us are waiting for Ravi to email me back. hahahahaha
D.
D.

[Ravi]

Hi All

Ok, that was great. A lot of good ideas came out of that. Here is a list of the non-specialized (since thats what most here would use regularly) 'tools' that we all use: (in no particular order)

<ol>
<li>Gloves
<li>Temp Gun
<li>Spare Tank
<li>Sink
<li>Hemostats
<li>First Aid kit
<li>Watering device (can, sparay bottle, hose)
<li>Shovel
<li>Probe Thermometer
<li>Hygrometers
<li>Freezer
<li>Shield
<li>Transport box
<li>Various sized 'Rubbermaid' containers
<li>Incubator
<li>Retes stacks
<li>Dirt
<li>Extra light bulbs
<li>Towels
<li>Nail clippers
</ol>

What's next? How about we take these 'tools' one by one and expand on the uses of them. For example, lets start with gloves. What about them is useful? In what circumstances are they useful? Lets state both the obvious and not so obvious.

Does this sound like something everyone would like to do? I think as we work through that list we'll all come out a bit wiser.

Lets start with gloves and see how it goes.

Regards
--Ravi--

[skinheaddave]

Ravi,

Have I ever told you that you're insane? :)

Okay, let's do gloves. They are useful if you are going to get bit, as they will protect your hands. Behemoth also doesn't seem to mind the feel of them as much as bare hands.. They are good as decoys to gain his attention. They are also good for taking out light bulbs that have been on and thus are hot. But yeah, it is mostly about hand protection and handling confidence.

Cheers,
Dave

[Scales Zoo]

Gloves are o.k for smaller monitors, but would you use them when catching a 7' crocodile monitor?

They could bite right through most gloves, and in that case the gloves would just impede ones ability to properly grasp a large monitor.

Ryan

[SHvar]

Gloves to protect your hands and wrists from claws, very valuable. Gloves to protect your hands from teeth and tails, if youve ever had a large monitor go irrate with no help around youll thank yourself time after time for getting thick gauntlet style leather welding gloves or concertina handling gloves (Ive had it happen and had an easier time gripping the animal with gloves). I also looked at a 7+ft croc male yesterday he was slightly smaller and less stocky than my large albig in the body, mostly all tail, only he had longer legs and a long nose. Even though the gloves may not stop you from getting bruised up from a bite from a large monitor the teeth wont do near as much or barely any damage. Gloves to help in moving cage furnture (large heavy pieces of plywood, retes stacks for large monitors), digging in dirt, and Im sure there are many others Im forgeting.

[V.hb]

I find it difficult to work with larger varanids wearing gloves. Alot easier to grab little guys with em' but the big guys are incredibly hard to grab when gloves are sliding all over.

[skinheaddave]

Perhaps I should have made it more clear that I am using welding gloves. I just assumed they were a standard item.

Cheers,
Dave

[Steeve B]

In my opinion Gloves are mandatory when handling most monitors, More to avoid scratches then a potential bite, as most varanophile's learn to avoid bites quit rapidly, but we seem to get scratched often, this is how I got infected by Salmonella and passed it on to my baby girl 6 years ago (she spent 5 days in intensive care)

As it was mentioned gloves can be dangerous when handling large varanid's, especially Salvadorii, specie for witch I still haven’t mastered free handling yet.
For these creatures I use a head mask, its basically a thick black pouch that is safely put over the monitors head using a modified snake hook, its locked behind the head with a quick release strap, this calms the animal and allows free handling without any risk, and trust me crocs need to be handled often!

Also a word of caution regarding welders glove, they have a FIRE RETARDENT AGENT witch is TOXIC especially when wet.

Regards

[skinheaddave]

Whoa! Toxic? Is this just an issue if ingested or can it be an issue in other ways? I generaly don't let my monitor bite my gloves (as you yourself stated, it is easy not to get bit) but I do handle him with the gloves on. I am going to assume that the compound is non-volatile and will not travel through the skin (for obvious reason)?

Cheers,
Dave