Hey, where's my cricket??

[Jeff_Favelle]

Crazy little monsters!

http://members.shaw.ca/jefffavelle/yellow_ackies%20013.jpg

[NiagaraReptiles]

hahaha, crazy may be an understatment :D

Looks great Jeff, have fun with them! :)

[sSNAKESs.com]

lol great pic Jeffy!! the monitor bug is biting me to!! i want one i want one!!

[Jeff_Favelle]

I know the feeling man! I couldn't resist the urge any longer, and there's more on the way!!

[C.Marshell]

they are great looking little guys Jeff!..are they easy to house?
what are thier requirements?

[Jeff_Favelle]

Verryyyy easy to house, IF you don't think like these are like other reptiles and IF you don' read the literature that's older than 5 years!!! Ha ha!!

These things are bullet-proof if given the chance. They need SOIL to dig in. Nothing else will work, its been proven. They also need a HUGE range of temperatures. 150F is common in monitor enclosers, but that's NOT the ambient temperature. Ambient temperature doesn't exist with monitors (well it does but you get the point). Just as a hot spot of 150F is necessary, so is a cold dark spot of 70F. Hard to do? Nope. Just use a spot lamp on a brick or a "Retes stack". Go outside on a warm day. Even now. just make sure its sunny. The ambient temps in Ontario now MIGHT get up to 5 or 6 Celsius. But the pavement? Where a monitor might bask? It could be 10 degrees higher!! That's nuts. And that's the kind of things that have to be considered when dealing with monitors.

[C.Marshell]

You mention A Retes stack...is that like Frank Retes?

[Jeff_Favelle]

Yeah, its basically a stacked object that has multiple levels under a heat source (usually a flood/spot lamp) that provided an unmatched set of temperature gradients where the top platform is 150F, the next "apartment" is 125F and so on......

[lance]

hey jeff what kind of enclouser are you using
just curious
and welcome to the lizard world haha

[Jeff_Favelle]

Right now its just a big polyeurothane tub. But the 4x2x2 enclosures have paint that's just about dry and then they'll go into those. They are stackable and we have more lizards on the way so we need all the space we can get!

[NiagaraReptiles]

Retes Stacks - they were "invented" in order to provide monitors with several things, temperature gradient included. A properly built stack should also provide security as well. Not all monitors want to gain heat by basking out in the open all the time. This "stack" idea can provide them with several elements in different ways and allow them the ability to choose what they want, when they want it (the key to successful monitor husbandry, IMHO).