V. Melinus pics

Jaymz · 05-28-12, 05:34 PM

I have 2 of these lil guys. Happy to bask/eat in front of me but leg it when they see the camera hence the pic quality.
One is a lot yellower than the other as pics show.

marvelfreak · 05-28-12, 05:43 PM

Beautiful monitor. What is it's common name?

Jaymz · 05-28-12, 06:08 PM

Commonly known as Yellow or Quince monitor

marvelfreak · 05-28-12, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaymz

Commonly known as Yellow or Quince monitor

Cool and thanks. How old are they and how big do they get?

Jaymz · 05-28-12, 06:45 PM

No worries. These guys are about a year and a half old and roughly 20" long but can possibly reach 5' but 4' is more the average.
Even though they eat a lot they dont appear to be very fast growers compared to a lot of the other species I keep.
Most keepers of these complain of "empty cage syndrome" but I have found the opposite with these 2.

Gregg M · 05-29-12, 12:42 AM

Better change that substrate. They also seem quite small for their age.

Jaymz · 05-29-12, 01:41 AM

Hi Greg.
No need its covering a topsoil and playsand mix (does look a bit dry in the pics though)
Small maybe but very very healthy

Cheers
Jay

Gregg M · 05-29-12, 06:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaymz

Hi Greg.
No need its covering a topsoil and playsand mix (does look a bit dry in the pics though)
Small maybe but very very healthy

Cheers
Jay

You should replace the cork bark with oak leaves. Also, being that small for its age means it was not cared for properly. It may look healthy on the outside but that means nothing with varanids. Not dogging you as it is clear that you care very much for the monitor. Just pointing out that the care it got before you got it must have been pretty crappy.

rullom · 05-29-12, 06:54 AM

while we are on this topic of care.....I can post new thread if you want but I have the same species and wanted to share a bunch of things. When I got it about a month or so it was not scared of me at all. Didn't eat as much for the first few days. Recently I could tong feed it roach adults and it would run up to eat them....Usually just 1 though otherwise I left 12 crickets in a bowl. The last couple days it has become extremely flighty with me. If I open the cage doors it runs like mad. I tried feeding it a pinky mouse but it won't eat it. I am not sure if it is scared too much to eat at this point or what. It does not run from the players that hold the food though. It is just me at first then it calms down a bit. Could it be it doesn't' like the smell of the mouse? This is the first time I am feeding it that.
Also with regards to size it looks like my guy is about the same size but is only like 6-7 months old. This is by picture though....definitely not 20 inches.

mo9e64 · 05-29-12, 08:05 AM

I think your monitor is just acting more naturally.At this stage they might prefer eating in private.With your experience with such a shy species,to get behaviours different than what you are experiencing you would have to make changes.Why is it so important that it eat in your presence,to the monitor you're just something that threatens and causes stress-trust is built slowly over time.You should be more concerned that it gets enough to eat for proper development.Just give it more of what it does eat crickets or roaches.