burrows, dirt, water monitors

[John A]

steeve, thanks again for your expertise in this matter. i was in my home all weekend, changing soil depth from deep levels to lower levels for the baby and young pair, to adding more for my big well adjusted female. i too feel the small non adjusted ones can benefit from more heat exposure, and eat more frequently if there is less opportunity for them to burrow.
side note, such great posts here, i wish some of you canadiens would post to my site at times.
back to the lizards: my small water monitor, a male, is not adjusted as of yet. he eats but sometimes spends too long hidden, and food is wasted. most of my other waters were kept with little substrate to hide under, and adjusted so well, they eat and bask with me present.
-john a.

[Dom]

If I understand correctly for your observations, we should try to find an equilibrium in dirt depth in order to give a good burrow to a monitor but if it is not aclimitated, often less dirt resolves in a monitor that eats more frequently and better than one who can burrow and hide for longperiosds of time ..

I personally have observed this although, the less aclimitated ones, at first did not eat as well and coul spend up to a few days in there burrows without me ever seing them but after a certain amount of time, someimes a week to month, they eventually all come out and tend to use there burrows very very rarely now that they are more aclimitated...


Anyway .. this is simply wha I have observed with water monitors, and savanah monitors.. let me know what u thin John..

Whats ure site again John - ill go take a look..

Dom

[Steeve B]

Thanks for the nice comments john, it’s also true that all my indo monitors do much better when raised without borrows, but still they need a retreat of some kind.
Regards
Ps. you have such beautiful sulfers id love to see you use one as your avatar on this site.