How can i make my nile monitor grow faster

[RedTailedBoa]

Hi there, this is my first question on this forum which i was lucky to find because yahoo answers sucked at answering my questions.
Anyways i bought a baby nile monitor around 2 weeks ago which i was very lucky to find in stock at my local LLL Reptile after 2 years and he has been eating great, his cage is a custom made 10ft long 3ft wide and 2ft tall, he ate the first day i got him and still eats without any problems, he is skittish whatsoever but never bitten me before, i feed him a mixture of roaches and crickets around 6 every other day.
I'v seen people with 3-4ft one year nile monitors which surprised me, are there any possible ways to make him grow faster without "overfeeding"? Thanks!

[Terranaut]

I do not own a monitor but my leopard gecko eats that amount so I am guessing you need to feed it more..but it's a guess. Why are you concerned after only 2 weeks? It will grow if you feed it don't worry. Hopefully one of the monitor guys will jump in but I do think your underfeeding it right now.

[Toothless]

Your monitor will grow quickly if it is set up properly and fed appropriately.
As of now, it seems you are seriously underfeeding it. Baby monitors should be fed every day, and much more than 6 crickets. Someone more experienced with niles will hopefully be on soon.
Also, if you could give more information on the enclosure setup, it will certainly help. Low ambient temp, humidity level, substrate type and depth, and basking surface temp. These much be measured with digital devices and a temp gun (for basking surface temp).

[DeadlyDesires]

yea, you are deff not feeding enough, my monitor would eat about 6-10 roaches and 20+ crix a day, baby monitors should be fed every day as much as they want to eat unless you start to see them get chubby, with the size enclosure you have you shouldn't have any issues though, what are you heat and humidity temps setting at? and how are you measuring them? can you post some pictures of your lizard? also, that cage is a very good start for a baby he will be happy, however i believe they will need one thats around 12-16 ft long in the long run once they get full grown.

[Pirarucu]

I agree, you are not feeding enough. You really can't overfeed a baby monitor as long as it has a proper setup. Feed it as much as it wants every day, and I'd add in mice and chicks if you can. Cut them up if they are too big, he should be able to get food down in just a couple gulps.

It would help if you could tell us more about his setup as well. How hot are the ambient and surface temps? What is the humidity at? What is the substrate, and how deep do you have it?

[smy_749]

Originally Posted by Pirarucu

I agree, you are not feeding enough. You really can't overfeed a baby monitor as long as it has a proper setup. Feed it as much as it wants every day, and I'd add in mice and chicks if you can. Cut them up if they are too big, he should be able to get food down in just a couple gulps.

It would help if you could tell us more about his setup as well. How hot are the ambient and surface temps? What is the humidity at? What is the substrate, and how deep do you have it?

This. Rodents rodents rodents. And add more basking areas, Idk what you have now. But put 110, 120-130, 140-150 at different spots and let him choose. Proper heat and variety of choices = More efficient in digestion = more food intake = more growth = more food intake....you get the picture.

[RedTailedBoa]

Thank you all for the great answers
I will certainly start feeding him up to 20-30 large crickets daily!

[jarich]

You can add a variety of food items, there is no need to just feed crickets. You can feed crayfish, night crawlers, hornworms, roaches, fertilized eggs, rodents, etc. Variety is a good thing.

[varanus_mad]

Originally Posted by RedTailedBoa

Thank you all for the great answers
I will certainly start feeding him up to 20-30 large crickets daily!

Dont limit him with access to food arbitory numbers like that mean nout.

let him feed as much as he wants till he stops.

Generally id feed him in two sittings a day much as he wants both sittings can be a bit trickier with niles as they dont like people...

so if you have to leave roaches running round the enclosure 24/7

[smy_749]

Originally Posted by varanus_mad

Dont limit him with access to food arbitory numbers like that mean nout.

let him feed as much as he wants till he stops.

Generally id feed him in two sittings a day much as he wants both sittings can be a bit trickier with niles as they dont like people...

so if you have to leave roaches running round the enclosure 24/7

I figured out a technique that works really well for me in this regard, though it may sound stupid haha. Throwing them in the cage, I never know how many he ate or how many more to add for mine because he refuses to eat anything if I'm even in the room. So I got a few small tupperwear containers, and I put roaches in one, and rodents in the other, and I leave both of them floating in his water pool (its like 2 feet long 1 foot wide). That way if he knocks it over, the roaches just drown and don't get away and make me think he ate them all...He still eats them if they are dead in the water too.

Oh, and the warm water in the dish keeps the mice at room temp or warmer so they don't get all cold.

(the point I guess is just to give you an idea of what hes eating on a daily basis without worrying if they are all hiding under logs and what not)

[infernalis]

Get some worms... they love worms. Good source of moisture and nutrients too.

[jarich]

Wow, neon dance worm there! Look at that crazy blue

[Mark Taylor]

Duuun dun duuun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun BOM BOM dun dun dun dun dun dun doo dedoo doo dedoo dede doo dede doo dededoo

Now that's what I call dinner awesome colours on the worm lol.

[DeadlyDesires]

Originally Posted by infernalis

Get some worms... they love worms. Good source of moisture and nutrients too.

i savannah will sit and eat 20 night crawlers in one sitting if i let him lol....