Slow Grower

[Rikki]

Well, I have had my nile monitor for a little over 8 months now, he his fattened up, though he is not getting much longer. He has grown only about tw inches as of now, totaling at about 9 inches as of now. He is in a 55g tank at this time. Is there anything I can do to boost his growth? Hes feeding on pre killed mice every three days.

[V.hb]

It all depends on your husbandry. What kind of temperature gradient are you offering to the monitor? If you have optimal conditions, and being that he's a juvi you may want to feed him daily insects and offer a rodent a couple times a week. That will surely speed up the growing process.

[Rikki]

Hes kept in the mid 90's...

[Bartman]

I know most monitors need a basking range of up to 130. Im sure it should be higher, but lets see what an expert says :)

[treevaranus]

The reason why he has grown fat, and not long, is that the temperatures offered to him are insufficient. Monitor lizards, along with all other reptiles power their metabolic processes, including digestion and growth, through the heat they absorb. When they are not receiving the optimal amount of heat that they need(basking temperatures, not ambient temperatures), their body goes into an energy conservation mode, and they do not burn off the food they take in, thus gaining weight, becoming obese.

If they have access to proper temperatures, and are fed frequently, that surge, and increase in energy can then be put towards other metabolic processes, such as growth.

Give your monitor a basking spot of at least 130F, but keep in mind that this is basking temp only. The cool side of the enclosure should drop down to the low 80's, as monitors need to cool down sometimes as well.

You generally see a lot of fat savanahs and fat niles, as these are the most commonly kept monitor species, and the majority of these keepers go by what the pet shop they bought them in says to do. 99.9% of these times, the pet shop is wrong, recommends too low of a basking temperature, and the result: you see a large percetntage of these monitors becoming big, fat tubs of goo, that are dwarfed, very rarely reaching their maximum adult size..

Do a search on this forum, as your topic/query/problem has been addressed many times before... But your problem, or his problem I should say, is temperatures...

Good luck,

cheers,
bob
treemonitors.com (http://www.treemonitors.com)

[Rikki]

His overall cage temp is around 95, though yes the basking spot temp is in the 100's. Thanks for the advice everyone :)

[treevaranus]

95 for an ambient temperature is too hi, and an easy way of killing the animal/weakening its immune system. When forced to remain at high temperatures like that, it can cause serious permanent damage and death.

Like I said, shoot for a range of temperatures, from the low 80's to 130/140 for a basking temperature.

Cheers, good luck

Bob

[Jeff_Favelle]

Yikes! That monitor needs access to the low 80's. They don't like to be above 95F 24 hours a day. YIKES!!!!!!!

READ!:

http://www.varanus.net/faq/housing.htm

[Rikki]

I am not making my self understandable lol. Durning the day the temp is in the 90's...... Though at night the temp is at about 90 even.... I could take out one heat pad to lower the temp a bit...

[coldblooded]

I think what is meant is that you need a thermal gradient, not hot during the day and a little less hot at night.

Try getting the ambient temp down to around 80 on the colder side and around 90 on the hot side (basking side) with a nice hot basking spot.

At night let the cool side drop to high 70's, maybe? and the hot side drop to the high 80's.

My temps are 80 on the cold side when light is on and as low as 75 on the cool side when light is off, with a 145 basking spot.

Hope this helps a bit.

Mike

[V.hb]

Look at it this way.

(heat lamp)----(middle of the enclosure)----(far end)
130+--------------------80-85-------------------80 and below.

Thats a good gradient, gives the monitor places to escape the heat as well as soak it all up.

Good luck.

[Rikki]

Thanks everyone! :)

[Jeff_Favelle]

I am not making my self understandable

I think its the OPPOSITE. **bangs head against wall repeatedly**

[Rikki]

Now your on this topic....