monitor has gas?

[KORBIN5895]

Random thought. Could they go into the burrow because the cool air causes their skin to contract which would give them less surface are from which they could lose heat? I know a lot of thick skinned animals ( like cows) don't lose a lot of heat through their skin because of the thickness where as humans our skin is so thick it is terrible for heat retention.

[murrindindi]

Originally Posted by KORBIN5895

Random thought. Could they go into the burrow because the cool air causes their skin to contract which would give them less surface are from which they could lose heat? I know a lot of thick skinned animals ( like cows) don't lose a lot of heat through their skin because of the thickness where as humans our skin is so thick it is terrible for heat retention.

Hi, like some snakes they may seek shelter after consuming a relatively large meal because whilst digesting it they may be less active and prone to predation and other factors. Their metabolism is obviously raised during digestion.


Pirarucu: Thanks for the link!

[KORBIN5895]

First off I pooted.

Originally Posted by murrindindi

Hi, like some snakes they may seek shelter after consuming a relatively large meal because whilst digesting it they may be less active and prone to predation and other factors. Their metabolism is obviously raised during digestion.


Pirarucu: Thanks for the link!

Now I totally get what you mean about them finding a secure place to digest a bit but my thought was in reference to Josh's comments about then going in a burrow to conserve heat. Any thoughts on that?

[murrindindi]

Originally Posted by KORBIN5895

First off I pooted.



Now I totally get what you mean about them finding a secure place to digest a bit but my thought was in reference to Josh's comments about then going in a burrow to conserve heat. Any thoughts on that?

Hi, yes of course retreating to burrows does help conserve heat, especially during the night and in cooler times.
When Joshua mentions the difference in heating/cooling rates, that ammounts to just a very few minutes, not hours and hours (I`m not sure if he meant that had something to do with digestion)?
You asked earlier whether the OP`s monitor would have problems digesting if the temps were lowered for a short time, the answer is possibly yes, especially if digestion hadn`t yet started when the body cooled down. I`m not sure if the temps were somewhat lower for any length of time (days rather than a few hours)?
I did notice the OP mentioning flooding in the burrows.

[infernalis]

Originally Posted by murrindindi

I did notice the OP mentioning flooding in the burrows.

Correct, the rather substantial water dish got tipped over, sloshing a large amount onto the substrate.

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/varan...ater-help.html - Quick Link.
.
.
.

[KORBIN5895]

Originally Posted by murrindindi

Hi, yes of course retreating to burrows does help conserve heat, especially during the night and in cooler times.
When Joshua mentions the difference in heating/cooling rates, that ammounts to just a very few minutes, not hours and hours (I`m not sure if he meant that had something to do with digestion)?
You asked earlier whether the OP`s monitor would have problems digesting if the temps were lowered for a short time, the answer is possibly yes, especially if digestion hadn`t yet started when the body cooled down. I`m not sure if the temps were somewhat lower for any length of time (days rather than a few hours)?
I did notice the OP mentioning flooding in the burrows.

Okay! I get that. Thanks for taking the time to explain.

[crocdoc]

I'm going to add my two cents worth. I've skimmed over many of the replies here, so I apologise if I repeat anything anyone else has said.

In my experience with my lace monitors, there are two circumstances under which they will bloat after a meal (despite having very hot basking spots).

1. The first circumstance is a new food item. One of the posters mentioned gut bacteria and I agree with them that may be at least part of the issue. Although monitors are capable of digesting all sorts of things, there is a bit of gut 'training' involved. For example, wild lace monitors can eat the most rancid of road-killed carrion, but if someone tried to feed that same rotting flesh to a captive that had never been exposed to it before, they'd bloat to the point that they'd have to regurgitate it. After a couple of exposures they develop the right gut flora to deal with it and are better able to cope.

2. The second circumstance is food items with a thick skin or exoskeleton. Occasionally I'll get old, ex-breeder rats and feed them to my adult male lace monitor. The first time I did this he bloated up a fair bit and I realised that it took a while for his digestive juices to cut through the skin of the rat (if any of you have tried to dissect a 800-900 gram rat, you'll know how thick their skin is) and in the interim the rat started to rot. It was also a new food item the first time I tried this, so the lace monitor got the double-whammy of thick skinned prey and unfamiliar item for his digestive tract. After that I got into the practice of cutting slices into the skin of dead rats, particularly into the gut cavity of the rat, so that the monitor's digestive juices can go straight in. The bloating stopped.

In the OP's situation, the questions I'd ask would be: are any of the items new prey items? Squid is soft bodied and would probably only be an issue if it were new. Crayfish have an indigestible exoskeleton, so it may take a while for the monitor's digestive juices to cut through to the digestible bits inside. The rats' skin may be a barrier for the monitor.

Try killing the crayfish and cutting them up, or cutting slices into the rats and see if that makes a difference. Even small rats have much thicker skin than mice of a similar size.

[jarich]

Originally Posted by crocdoc

Crayfish have an indigestible exoskeleton, so it may take a while for the monitor's digestive juices to cut through to the digestible bits inside.

Sorry Dave, I have to disagree with you on just that one point. They digest the exoskeleton quite readily.

Also, concinnus, simple surface to volume is not the only thing that matters with varanids. There are very many factors that play into the rate at which varanids cool, even within the same species. For instance, microhabitat is one of those things, as is hunting strategy. They have active control over their cooling, its not just passive decay.

[MDT]

Originally Posted by KORBIN5895

First off I pooted.

and you feel better for it, don't you?