Baby Salvator. Picture Heavy! Lots of Questions!

[murrindindi]

One of my previous Water monitors was reasonably "calm" from day one, though he had been in the petshop for a couple of months, I suspect they did force handle, and obviously there would be people glaring in the tank for that period, too.
I wouldn`t get into the habit of feeding from your fingers, I can tell you if you get bitten when the monitor has grown another foot or so it will hurt quite badly and that pain and damage increases with size!
Edit: You previously mentioned the SV length was 4 inches and the tail length is 3, is half the tail missing, because it should be around 6 to 7 inches long (and that would still be a very small hatchling size), they can measure between 12 to 15 inches ToL?

[Vegasarah]

Originally Posted by Akuma223

She is soo tiny! I remember when my boy was so small, its hard to believe how big he's gotten! Just out of curiosity, are your nile and water monitor permanent residents? Or are you caring for them until someone comes along that would also take them in?

Wellllll that's a tricky question. In a perfect world, I'll keep them for the rest of their lives. But I did take them in as rescues knowing that I might not be able to keep them into adulthood (space requirements). Let's put it this way: If someone wanted to adopt either one and had a fully set up 12x6x4 enclosure with all the bells and whistles? I would say yes in a heartbeat. But until I find someone 'worthy', I'm going to continue to keep and care for them and throw more money into the black hole that is private monitor keeping lol.

Would love to have my own monitor rescue some day. I am a board member/ volunteer/ community relations officer for a 501- c3 non-profit animal rescue. I get all the large lizards when they do come in because I have the space to house them and the money to feed them. And the patience to love an animal that constantly wants to rip my face off (my Nile)!

[Vegasarah]

Originally Posted by murrindindi

One of my previous Water monitors was reasonably "calm" from day one, though he had been in the petshop for a couple of months, I suspect they did force handle, and obviously there would be people glaring in the tank for that period, too.
I wouldn`t get into the habit of feeding from your fingers, I can tell you if you get bitten when the monitor has grown another foot or so it will hurt quite badly and that pain and damage increases with size!
Edit: You previously mentioned the SV length was 4 inches and the tail length is 3, is half the tail missing, because it should be around 6 to 7 inches long (and that would still be a very small hatchling size), they can measure between 12 to 15 inches ToL?

Good call on the hand- feeding, I was using tongs and just wanted to see if she would take it from my hand. But I'm going to switch back to using just the tongs- definitely don't want to get bit. She might not be able to do much damage now but I know that's going to change so soon your head will spin haha. Growing is what they do best!

I totally forgot to go back and change that measurement. My spacial awareness is obviously not as good as I thought it was lol. Her snout to vent is like 4 inches, but that tail when it's straight out has to be at least another 6. Hard to get a good judge on it when she's moving around and she hides under the fake ferns/ branches a lot. But you're probably right, her total length is probably somewhere between 10 and 12 inches. I wish I could weigh her, I would love to track that over the next few months. Maybe if I lured her on to the scale with a roach on tongs or something...

[murrindindi]

I personally think it`s quite important to keep a record of growth, especially in the beginning with wild caught monitors which have usually had a hard time of it during export/import. Maybe you could lure the monitor into a small box by leaving some food in there, as he/she enters close it then weigh, the stress should be minimal.

[Vegasarah]

Originally Posted by murrindindi

I personally think it`s quite important to keep a record of growth, especially in the beginning with wild caught monitors which have usually had a hard time of it during export/import. Maybe you could lure the monitor into a small box by leaving some food in there, as he/she enters close it then weigh, the stress should be minimal.

She follows those tongs pretty well if I have a moving cricket in them. She would walk on to the flat scale i have no problem. I'm going to try it tomorrow. I also weigh her good just for record keeping as well.