problem with basking light - Page 2

murrindindi · 11-12-13, 02:01 PM

I think the monitor is somewhat overweight, you need to reduce the total amount of food offered. Can you give details of exactly what you feed daily/weekly at the moment?
I also think you need to use a larger basking object and space the halogens out slightly more so it increases the area of heat.

murrindindi · 11-12-13, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nepoez

yes when I open the cage or go in the cage to do stuff it fogs up my glasses.

If you fit small windshield wipers to the glasses they won`t fog up....

nepoez · 11-12-13, 02:07 PM

So you are saying I need that basking wood platform bigger? OK I'll do that.

Also for food, I honestly didn't keep track but I give him maybe 30 super worms(rough guess) and 2 mice each day. Or 30 worms and 8 smelts, or just one roughly 9 inches galunggong fish with no worms.

If I buy crickets which is maybe every 2 weeks only I buy 100 and he would eat a bunch but lose interest quickly so I stopped crickets, and we have no roaches here in canada. I tried whole shrimp but he ignores it for some reason, same as clams...

nepoez · 11-12-13, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by murrindindi

I think the monitor is somewhat overweight, you need to reduce the total amount of food offered. Can you give details of exactly what you feed daily/weekly at the moment?
I also think you need to use a larger basking object and space the halogens out slightly more so it increases the area of heat.

yeah I figure he's too big too as my other post I posted a month or so back, I was comparing to infernelis's and his are way more slim even the latest pictures... and his guys are much more faster compared to what mine is line these 1-2 weeks.

murrindindi · 11-12-13, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nepoez

So you are saying I need that basking wood platform bigger? OK I'll do that.

Also for food, I honestly didn't keep track but I give him maybe 30 super worms(rough guess) and 2 mice each day. Or 30 worms and 8 smelts, or just one roughly 9 inches galunggong fish with no worms.

If I buy crickets which is maybe every 2 weeks only I buy 100 and he would eat a bunch but lose interest quickly so I stopped crickets, and we have no roaches here in canada. I tried whole shrimp but he ignores it for some reason, same as clams...

Are the mice adult? I think we had this conversation a couple of weeks ago and you agreed to adjust the diet by offering less rodents and more inverts (approx 50/50% of each)?
Yes, a larger basking platform and slightly more space between the bulbs.
In comparison to Wayne`s monitors yours is much heavier. In my opinion Wayne`s are a little underweight for adults (not badly so).
By reducing the total amount of food as of right now it shouldn`t be long before he/she is in decent condition (I`m not suggesting the animal is morbidly obese)!

nepoez · 11-12-13, 02:56 PM

yes I do remember, heres' the link http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/varan...v-too-fat.html
But you stopped talking about a response. I also did take action, but problably still isn't the right stuff.

Prior to that post I fed no insects, but only fish/mice. After the conversation I added worms to replace some. So each day there's always worms + an animal. about 3-4 days of the week is worms+mice, and the other times is worms+ fish. As you suggested 50% inverts and 50% verts. You also suggested 3-4 days rotents only and I did. Anyways it's obviously still wrong what I did that's why I need more help again.

Perhaps the ratio of what I'm feeding is ok, just need to be less? e.g. for 3-4 days it will be just 1 mouse + worms, and the remaining days will be some fish(that adds up to the volume of 1 mouse) + worms?

and yes they are adult mice.

thx

nepoez · 11-12-13, 02:57 PM

p.s. you have lots of bulbs, how big is your tank?

nepoez · 11-12-13, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by murrindindi

(I`m not suggesting the animal is morbidly obese)!

However he's really a lot slower than he used to be and not aggressive at food as before. But only one way to find out.. I'll cut down more food and observer for a couple weeks and see if it changes..

murrindindi · 11-12-13, 03:05 PM

I`m having a few problems with the laptop, it takes minutes to get into the site and respond, if I don`t reply you`ll know why (it`s too late to get it fixed tonight).
I would feed 2 (two) adult mice per week, then in between mainly inverts for the time being (a fish is o.k, less fatty than rodents), the object is to reduce the total amount of food.
My enclosure is 12 x 6 (feet) and I used the walls of the house for the back and one side (though I fixed 1/2 inch ply over the wall to protect the plaster).

nepoez · 11-12-13, 03:38 PM

OK so just to confirm, I'm going to feed only 2 mice and 1 fish in total per week. And the rest is gonna be inverts, meaning worms for me, since I got nothing else he would eat.

How many super worms should I feed per day? I know I'm asking a lot of questions but if I don't fix this right, I fear for bad things happening. So please do be patient! thx

murrindindi · 11-12-13, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nepoez

OK so just to confirm, I'm going to feed only 2 mice and 1 fish in total per week. And the rest is gonna be inverts, meaning worms for me, since I got nothing else he would eat.

How many super worms should I feed per day? I know I'm asking a lot of questions but if I don't fix this right, I fear for bad things happening. So please do be patient! thx

Yes, two mice per week and one fish. Can you find any earthworms instead of superworms?
It may be helpful if you can get an accurate length measurement.

nepoez · 11-12-13, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by murrindindi

Yes, two mice per week and one fish. Can you find any earthworms instead of superworms?
It may be helpful if you can get an accurate length measurement.

ok that should reduce lots of food intake. So how many superworms can I feed him each day? If it's 50% ratio then on the days I feed mouse/fish I would give 25-30 worms, and on the days with no mouse/fish I guess I'd feed 50-60 worms?

I have found earth worms here which I used to put in the soil, but they are $40 a bag like 1lbs only. That's too pricey to maintain...

Let me get a measurement when he's awake tomorrow, for now I think 2.5feet but tomorrow we'll know for sure.

murrindindi · 11-12-13, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nepoez

ok that should reduce lots of food intake. So how many superworms can I feed him each day? If it's 50% ratio then on the days I feed mouse/fish I would give 25-30 worms, and on the days with no mouse/fish I guess I'd feed 50-60 worms?

I have found earth worms here which I used to put in the soil, but they are $40 a bag like 1lbs only. That's too pricey to maintain...

Let me get a measurement when he's awake tomorrow, for now I think 2.5feet but tomorrow we'll know for sure.

I would almost cut the number in half which means every food item has been reduced, obviously this is temporary until the monitor has good body condition, after that happens you will have a much better idea of how much to feed. You should not feed anything else on the days you feed the mice.
This is not sarcasm or directed just at you, but it really isn`t "rocket science", if they start to look heavy cut back on the amount of energy you offer (of course a gravid female will naturally be heavy in the body)!

You need to remember that almost all the food they take in goes to energy rather than to maintain a stable core body temp as in mammals and birds, which means that the amount of food is in relation to the amount of energy they use.

nepoez · 11-12-13, 05:03 PM

OK. that would be a big cut back, let's see how this goes for the next 2 weeks then! thx again.

And my guy is a guy I think. After he poos, he always walk around then pauses, and sticks his hemipenis out a few times.. it looks like a flower from mars or something I hate looking at it. I was told the flower shape means he's male?

formica · 11-12-13, 05:10 PM

diffrent kinds of wood hold diffrent amounts of heat, I have 4 diffrent pieces in mine, and each reaches a diffrent temp

drift wood ~120-125
oak branch ~120-130
treated plywood ~120
cork bark ~145

so now, I use the cork bark under the lamps

all measured with the same heat lamps (3 X 35W halogen floods), at the same distance, at the same time of day (evening around 8pm), and ambient temps where the same on each day (~30-31C mid enclosure)