Black Roughneck Issues

[smy_749]

I have a Black Roughneck Baby refusing to eat roaches, only eats fuzzies with a hole punctured in his head. Hes very Small still, always roaming, digging tunnels, chills in his bask spot for a few minutes (1 or 2) and roams some more. Has a warm pool of water that he bathes and uses the bathroom in.

Cool side in the Day 84, Hot side 92, basking spots 130 and 120 , he usually uses the 120. using coco fiber , very moist and damp. Moisture @ about 70 all day (basking side is less). At night temps are 80 warm spot and 73 - 75 cool side. Cage designed for minimal moisture and heat release. Hes very active, not very tame (just hisses and tries to make a run for it). I dont hold him much, and his tank gives him privacy (cant see in on any sides except front and I put a big travel luggage infront of his cage to give him added security.

So, why wont he eat other than mice. I've tried worms, fish, eggs (showed interest then left them) , roaches and mice. Could he be stressed? He did manage to jump out while I was changing his water and run under my bed, and I think I may have stressed him trying to get him out...

How long before he goes back on food if its from stress? Also I've tried hotter temps, he doesnt bask, observing his behavior I found 130 / 120 ish best to his liking. Please let me know what you guys think? ( I dont wanna use parasite treatments as he is very active and energetic, and the experts I've read posts from say they dont think a healthy monitor should ever need them and his body will fight it off, only use if its 100% necessary)

Let me know what you think, still learning and ready to make the changes needed.

[Corey209]

You should post a picture of the enclosure for the more experienced :)

[smy_749]

hard to take a decent pic on my primitive phone, will steal someones iphone when I get a chance and snap a few pics.

[RyanReptile]

How long have you had him? He could just stressed out. You might also want to stop holding him all together if he is new. I am sure someone with a bit more experience will come across the thread soon this is just my thoughts.

[War Machine]

Rudis are very flightly, so you have to tread carefully when it comes to interaction. My advice, just keep him on rats, and watch the growing happen. Though a healthy monitor should eat anything it can fit in its mouth. So my bet is a husbandry/interaction issue.

What size is the tank? Post pics!

[smy_749]

Will be posting in a bit, enclosure is probably the size of a 40 breeder atm. And I'm thinking husbandry interaction as well. I don't hold him, I just try to feed him on tongs, and leave it in the enclosure at the end.

[Akuma223]

When I first got my boy he would hardly eat anything, and I thought he wouldn't make it. That was back in October and now he is far less picky. he would gradually start to accept different food items, pinkies were the hardest to get him to eat. I had to trick him into eating them. Do you have pictures of your baby? Also does yours dig? Mine never has much of an interest in borrowing except under his water dish.
Heres mine then and now.

[smy_749]

Did they show, first time posting pics here, and they are really bad. I dont honestly know how old he is, he still has his yellow. . I've only had him a few weeks, my camera is really bad (no he doesnt live in the glass enclosure that hes eating in, I was just feeding him in there for a bit, now he wont eat unless he has privacy and doesnt eat roaches anyways (the fuzzies dont move, they are dead lol )

[smy_749]

Ill try to get a pic of his tail / hips tomorrow, they are pretty full and hes not skinny I dont think?

[Corey209]

Are you keeping him in an empty glass tank?

[monitorlizard]

It appears that the OP uses a separate enclosure to feed their Varanid. Possibly because of the feeding issues.

[smy_749]

Yea I typed it in the same post as the pics, thats just for feeding, but he wont feed in it anymore so I stopped. I just the mice out in his enclosure and he eats when im gone.

[Pirarucu]

Just make the other food available and eventually he will take it if his cage is set up right, which it sounds like he is.

[smy_749]

Should I try to make a 50 gallon rubbermaid setup temporarily with no visibility at all? to minimize stress?

[War Machine]

Stop with the seperate feeding tank for starters. And get him sorted in a larger enclosure ASAP.

[smy_749]

I dont wanna say I have to wait, but where I'm at is really small, I'm moving to a 4000 square foot home next month so If I can keep him healthy and happy in a smaller enclosure for just a bit longer I can make a massive enclosure...no limits on size

[smy_749]

I stopped with the feeding tank, since he stopped feeding in it, was too concerned with getting out and away from me. Any particular reason you say stop with the feeding tank? I don't have much experience with monitors so I was just curious as to what that affects? Appetite? or is it a stress thing? I dont know how to about feeding dubias, he wont take them from tongs and they will hide in his enclosure if I leave them for hunting... or no?

[Pirarucu]

How cluttered is his cage? Visibility is not the only thing, he should be able to move from one end of the cage to the other without being seen if he wants to. Give him tight spaces to squeeze into, and lots of cover. Fill up any empty space.
How large is his current cage?

[DeadlyDesires]

He will need a larger enclosure asap. These guys get pretty big.

how much substrate do you have for him to borrow in.. have you tried adding some sand to it to help hold the borrows?

[Pirarucu]

The feeding tank is just stressful, they need to be left alone, especially at this age. Just leave the dubias in there. He'll find them.. Heck, having to track them down would be more natural and might trigger a feed response.

[DeadlyDesires]

The feeding tank is just stressful, they need to be left alone, especially at this age. Just leave the dubias in there. He'll find them.. Heck, having to track them down would be more natural and might trigger a feed response.


My monitor, not a roughneck mind you, but still a monitor.. i just throw the dubias in there when he isn't willing to tong feed and he digs everywhere for them.. and the tong feeding process doesn't happen over night by the way.. he is probably stressed out.. im sure you are stressing him out and not realizing it too , no offense, its quite common actually with new keepers.. i did it. im sure others have as well.. just let him be dont mess with him.. picking him up all the time will deff stress him out and feeding in a diff enclosure is not necessary.

[DeadlyDesires]

there is someone around here "wayne, war, someone" that has a video of how to tong feed and let the monitor come to you i think it would be beneficial for you to take a look at.

[infernalis]

most all of my videos are tong feeding.

My Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/user/Infernalis1?feature=mhee)
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[smy_749]

Ok guys, so I've been busy since the morning. His cage was not very big, and I can't build his permanent one I'm doing a major move to my first home in a month and I wanna do it big when I get there (wont be able to move it or fit it if I do it now, and if its a smaller one no point because he wont be using it in a month)

So I bought a 50 gallon rubber maid (hes only 18 inches long , maybe even less honestly and the bottom of the rubbermade is 42.75"L x 22"W x 18"H. I put a small screen vent in the top for ventilation, I one of the FR on varanus saying if you don't have atleast a little bit of ventilation it will be a rainstorm and not good :S. I got more top soil, washed play sand ,mixed them together. I got like 12 nice fake plants and the lady at walmart only charged me for 2 :D . A foot high planting ceramic pot, which I luckily smashed into 2 equal Hide like halfs and thats his new basking spot. I got a cork bark runs the height of the tub. A 1.5 ft long by 8 inch tupperwear pool (his snout to vent isnt even half of that) and I put a rock towards the edge. Got a cool hide, a medium hide, and a hot side hide, and I replaced the 120 watt basking bulb with a 45 watt halogen heat bulb, and its suspended in his cage, not sitting on top. Basking spot on the ceramic pot is 124 (EDIT: its at about 130 now) (will see if I need to go hotter and ill grab another) and cool side is 75. I did forget to get the hygrometer (I know I know). But the cheap one I have (which is brand new so it may have SOME accuracy no? ) says 80%. Pictures coming soon !

[smy_749]

These are the photos I took, I know they arent really clear, but I can here him in there being very active, and form peaking through the vent, I see he already made a tunnel, Defrosting a fuzzy and a silverside whole fish cut into 2 halves (purchased a pack of frozen ones from petco since I thought the smell of fish would entice him maybe)

and just a question, if there is like 5 cockroaches roaming around in there, and I MAY have lost a pinky somewhere in the soil, do I have to remove everything and look for it or will it be fine to leave it in there? I can't confirm whether there is one or not, (I guess the smell will make it apparent eventually)

Let me know.

[DeadlyDesires]

it doesn't look like there is enough sand in there :-/ looks like all soil to me.. how much did you add of each? like 50/50 or 60/40? or less? also, did you pack the substrate down well? with my enclosure i stepped all around my substrate to make sure it was nicely compacted.. This tub is better than what you have before but it still wont last, and personally i dont think he should be in it now based on his current size but you are doing what you can, just make sure you keep him healthy and good so he will get his big enclosure. The problem you can run into with the enclosures being so small is they get depressed and just dont eat anymore. Good luck :D wish you the best

[jhinton6932]

i keep some quince monitors which are similar to rough necks (different areas of the world tho) indonesia vs asia, and my quince's are said to eat fish/insects/small animals in the wild but in captivity they eat (or only seem to want to eat mice). after almost a yearish now nothing bad from eating only mice or cut up crawfish, they function fine, are very active and i just give a little bit higher temps 130+. when younger they ate crickets but never seemed to eat roaches but one time and i think it was just luck. there was one guy on here who kept rough necks, not sure where he has gone tho. rough necks are forest dwelling monitors so organic soil/sand is always good with leaf litter or "coco fiber on top*. i forget if rn's are the same complex as most indo forest monitors but the care is pretty similar except rn's require a rainy season for better mating/breeding, but will still breed without it

[smy_749]

I think there is about 50/50, but its covered by peat moss ontop , maybe thats why? I Must admit I did not pack it down, should I pull everything apart add more sand and pack it down then re do it? It holds its shape but its not super packed down. Do roughnecks burrow so much? From what I read they arent really a burrowing species, I've never seen a roughneck burrowing photo unlike savannahs, ackies, etc .etc. ? Just curious if they actually burrow are mainly stay up in the tree line?

[DeadlyDesires]

I think there is about 50/50, but its covered by peat moss ontop , maybe thats why? I Must admit I did not pack it down, should I pull everything apart add more sand and pack it down then re do it? It holds its shape but its not super packed down. Do roughnecks burrow so much? From what I read they arent really a burrowing species, I've never seen a roughneck burrowing photo unlike savannahs, ackies, etc .etc. ? Just curious if they actually burrow are mainly stay up in the tree line?


I dont actually know, let someone else answer that question, but if their answer is yes, i would try to pack it down a little bit.. as far as the 50/50 thats fine.. prob can't see cause of the moss...

[murrindindi]

I think there is about 50/50, but its covered by peat moss ontop , maybe thats why? I Must admit I did not pack it down, should I pull everything apart add more sand and pack it down then re do it? It holds its shape but its not super packed down. Do roughnecks burrow so much? From what I read they arent really a burrowing species, I've never seen a roughneck burrowing photo unlike savannahs, ackies, etc .etc. ? Just curious if they actually burrow are mainly stay up in the tree line?

Hi, most Varanids will burrow to some extent given the means, even the so called semi-arborial types.
I would use a mix of soil/playsand at a ratio of around 80% soil to 20% sand (it`s trial and error) moist but not wet, and very well tamped down, otherwise the burrow/s might collapse. Apart from the obvious issue of burrows helping to keep the monitor hydrated, they`re also good for security.

[Pirarucu]

I wouldn't worry about the pinky or roaches. What I would worry about is how much empty space there is. Just pile in some cork bark or branches or something. Make that space useful.

[smy_749]

I wouldn't worry about the pinky or roaches. What I would worry about is how much empty space there is. Just pile in some cork bark or branches or something. Make that space useful.

I put in a large water bowl, there is 4 hides, lots of plastic plants, and cork bark, not too much empty space, but easy to move around , there is a tunnel he made, going down into the cool hide, and around the back of the pool of water. A hide under his hot basking spot, netting on the walls that he likes to chill on (kinda like cork bark), and there is cork bark on the hot side wall with a hide underneath.