I did it!

[BoidsUnlimited]

I ordered myself a CB Salvator!

[Bartman]

Congrats. Cant wait to see pics!

[nguyen_inc]

remember to post some pics, hope you know what ur getting urself into. Where did you buy it?

[SHvar]

There are very very few people breeding them like so many other inexpensive imports. Of course so many businesses just call them CB to get them sold faster or ask a higher price. Proexotics had a few at one time (been a few years), they came from "Bloodbat". Steve Blaine might be breeding them, not sure though, hes in Canada.

[BoidsUnlimited]

I ordered him/her from LLL Reptile.

I am still waiting for a final confirmatioon though.

[nguyen_inc]

on there web site it says nothen about there waters being cb...

[dean_h00]

nguyen you say to boids unlimited that you hope he knows what hes getting into.
You make it seem liike getting a water monitor is a terrible thing to do.
Yes some people are incapable of taking care of these incredible animals but I am sure he "knows what hes getting into"
I have a gorgeous 3 foot almost 4 foot water monitor and with all do respect it miight be the most amazing animal that i own.
And im sure boids unlimited will take care oof this animal to the best of his abiliities and Im sure he will be fine and will enjoy every moment with this incredible giant.

[V.hb]

Dean, theres nothing wrong with what he said.

Waters get huge, yes they can be kept, but being kept and being kept properly are two huge differences. Sure, you can supply the monitor with tonnes of space, but is the space useful? Sure you can feed your animal, but are you feeding it enough?

Most people have no idea how much monitors can and will eat. My biggest albig will eat 10-15 rats/mice/chicks in ONE sitting. This albig shares an enclosure with another one that eats almost the same, and the enclosure is 10 feet by 6 feet wide and 6 feet tall. Oh, I didnt mention the near 2000 pounds of dirt in the enclosure which I had to remove repeatedly until I had the "right" "usuable" dirt. It's ALOT of work. These aren't bearded dragons.

[BMX_PYTHON]

LLL reptile sells imports....... Good luck!

[BoidsUnlimited]

I have been reading up on monitors and such for over 2 years now. I have had Niles (babys) and adult Savnna Monitors.

I do not know what I'm getting into size wise...nobody does TRUTHFULLY until they own the animal. But care wise, I know fully what I am getting into.

If all goes well, he/she will arrive late afternoon on Wednesday.

[BMX_PYTHON]

Post some pics!

[nguyen_inc]

dean: I think water are one of the best monitors out there if you have the money and space for them. I was just saying that I hope that BU has the time money and a large space to house it when it reaches adult hood.

And like V.hb's albigs, large monitors will tend to eat A LOT.

BU how long did you keep you Savannas for?
Reading and keeping are two different things...
I'm not trying to piss anyone offf so don't take me wrong...

[treevaranus]

With my togianus, they are fed every day, and both the male and female eat about 8 adult mice each. I did the math, and it will cost about $800 bucks a year to feed the both of them, let alone the expenses for heating their large cage. Fortunately, V. s. togianus stays smaller than most mainland subspecies, supposedly reaching only 4.5'. Those of you with normal salvators, keep in mind their sheer size, their massive diet requirements, and most of all, the room that they need to properly live a healthy life.. The enclosure I house my togs in would not be anything near sufficient for an adult V. s. s. In all honestly, a big animal like that needs an enclosure the size of a bedroom, at least.. I would go bigger in all honestly, if it were mine...

It's the same thing with croc monitors. Too many people buy them, knowing that they get huge, but they fail to truly understand the housing necessities of these animals... With an animal that is 8' long, you will need something larger than your average bedroom, to give him enough space to move around and excercise properly...keep in mind these are monitors, which do a great deal of traveling in any given day, due to their high metabolism...

So just understand what you are getting into... Here's a pic of what your beast WILL become... so keep this in mind....

cheers, have a great day,


bob

[treevaranus]

boids unlimited,

You said that you have kept Niles before... What happened to the one/s you were keeping? as they reach lengths of 5+ feet... What did you do as far as caging such a large animal? If you still have it that is....

Fish aquariums are for fish, not lizards. Even for a temporary enclosure, they suck... Give them something with floorspace, not an aquarium that is only 12" wide... And the screen top.... screen tops are for hampsters... Reptiles need adequate humidity levels, which screen tops do not/cannot accomodate... Even if it is a hatchling, do you think a hatchling is going to inhabit a 30"x 12" area in the wild? Go with something bigger as a temporary cage, as it is just mean to keep an animal in such tight quarters..

I am not trying to be rude, it just seems that you are not prepared for the committment that you have just gotten yourself into. I have seen many people like thisk, who get such an animal, only to surrender it to a rescue group later on down the line, when the animal gets too large, or doesn't live up to the owner's expectations of being a "pet". All I am saying is you should do a bit more research on salvators, ormonitor husbandry in general... Check out cybersalvator.com, as everyone over on that forum is knowledgeabl, experienced salvator keepers, and can give you some pointers in how to properly care for them, and what to expect from one such beast...

Cheers,

bob

[SHvar]

You say youve had niles, where are they today? What did you keep them in, if they died how long did you have them?
I ask this because you are jumping into another large species yet couldnt keep another large species that gets smaller. Yes a water can get 6-10 ft plus and weigh from 45-75 or so lbs, yet a good friend of mine had a nile that was 7ft and 27lbs, no little lizard, he sold him to make space.

[dean_h00]

Originally posted by SHvar
Yes a water can get 6-10 ft plus
lol
find me a 10 foot water in captivity... No wait find me more than 1.
Yes thats a pretty hard mission...

[jungleshadows]

What happened to?


Originally posted by BoidsUnlimited
Not good:(

I'm not gonna rush into something like a Water though. So it will be awhile, and when it comes, it will be a CBB Baby.

Originally posted by BoidsUnlimited
As do I Jeff.

Not only are Water Monitors a LARGE animal that needs GREAT care. But if we can stop supporting the WC industry, then it will be alot harder for people to attain such animals.

IE - The Nile Monitor :(

Thanks,

B.U.

[SHvar]

99% of monitors die in their first 1-12 months in captivity, whats left is the slightly healthier animals that never seem to grow normal (8 inch to 2 ft boscs, 12 inch to 3 ft niles, 12 inch to 3 ft waters, etc etc, some at 2-3 years old). There are many examples of large monitors in captivity but the majority of those get sold or given to someone who would have one of the former sized or aged hatchlings because they want a big monitor without out spending all of the blood, sweat, tears, effort, money, to grow them that big. They end up never getting that big anyways because now the owner that put the effort into it needs the room so gets rid of them unloads them on someone who cant keep them alive for 3 months. Why do you think the 10 footers were caught in the wild? Bad husbandry, and impulse buying causes them to stay small, and never grow old. Yes they can grow to 10ft long or more, thats proven. Just because a few grow big and most grow very little doesnt mean that the big ones were cared for wrong, it obviously indicates the opposite. I still think buying price directly effects 90% of monitors options and quality of care in captivity, if not we would be tripping on bosc and nile monitors every time we took a step in this country.

[kap10cavy]

I plan on buying him/her a nice 20 gallong tank (its only a baby) just temporarily, while I fix up the custom 4x2x2 I have from my Burms.

I wouldn't put a baby sav in anything smaller tham a 40 gallon breeder. That 4X2X2 is going to be too small. My savs live in a 12X4X3. Maybe I'm just spoiling them.

Scott

[jungleshadows]

Shvar,

do you think all waters in the wild get 10 foot or have that potential? Clearly that is not the case.

If 10 foot is the record then it is the exception not the rule.

However it is true most in captivity do not reach their potential due to poor husbandry. But to put a size on them for a certain date, whether that be a yearling, or adult and say it is the rule. (i.e. they must be 7 foot at 2 years of age, or 10 foot as adult or they are un healthy). Well that is nonsense and silly.

[SHvar]

Some waters just never grow no matter what. Normal growth from (blank) size to (blank) size is one thing, but to say that its normal for 8 inch 2 yr old savannah, etc etc is just plain not wanting to face the facts that there are serious problems. Yes examples of smaller subspecies, local varieties etc happen (banded WTs, smaller island varities of waters, mangroves, and all of that jazz), but theres a difference between normal growth and " hey, serious changes are needed fast". Im not putting a date on how fast they can grow to 10ft am I, I said that they can normally grow from 6ft to over 10ft if kept properly. I have a dwarf albig cross that was 2ft long at 2 years old and 2lbs, in one years time he grew to 4ft and 10lbs, does that mean I was doing something wrong? In fact the guy who bred him and raised him to that point told me he couldnt get him to grow no matter what, but I did, why, I just offered him a bit better husbandry or choices I guess. Im in no way taking anything away from the Faust as hes a very very knowledgeable and experienced breeder of monitors. If they can do it in the wild, they can do it faster and better in captivity, common sense, right?

[Steeve B]

Sins you guys are talking about size! Id like to share something interesting that iv experienced in the last 3 years, I raised groups of ornatus and salvator’s from hatchlings, these animals are destined to be genitors for my leather production and not for the pet trade, as expected we provided the waters with larger caging as they are supposed to grow bigger, well not the case! All my ornatus grew larger then any of my waters.
This was totally unexpected for several reasons, first literature says they are smaller then waters, next studies have shown that most TL monitors to be in the range 140m with few exceptions 190m-2m. I was puzzled about why my monitors grew bigger then all that was documented, therefore a friend (Biologist) and I investigated the possible cause, it became quit clear that African monitors are subjected to seasonal temperature variation and therefore feed accordingly and quit often will either aestivate or hibernate, this in turns slows growth considerably, its not rare for captives to mature in the 5-6 year range and common for wild to do so, however if provided with heat and food they grow like weed none stop attaining record size in a year time. As captive they have a stronger feeding response and will bask at much higher temps then waters, this alone promote rapid growth. Today if someone asked me witch of these species grew bigger, id have to say ornatus, furthermore I believe Tanzanian niloticus will be even larger, this I will see soon enough.http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/959tanznil-med.jpg

[BoidsUnlimited]

Well I was gone for awhile.

Upon reading a reply here, I checked into the status of the monitor I ordered.

They are infact, WC/CH imports.

I canceled my order, and will be getting a CB Salvator somewhere else, or a CH Nile.

I notice alot of ?'ing posts.....I understand people are concernced for the animal and all. But I assure you, I WAS one of those who bought not knowing/reading on what they were getting. That time has passed and is not returning. Anything I buy, has or HAD extensive research put into it.

Thanks for the concerns though!

PS - Cute pic Steeve!