Django the Nile Monitor - Page 8

Vegasarah · 05-11-13, 11:18 AM

And I love taking pictures of him, honestly. He's a very handsome boy in my opinion! I put pictures of him on my facebook and instagram and everyone just loves him to death lol.

murrindindi · 05-11-13, 11:33 AM

We would all love to see some updated photos of him, can you put a few up here? (We won`t tell anyone, honest we won`t)!

Vegasarah · 05-11-13, 02:20 PM

I'm going to take some tonight for sure, all the pictures I have of him are at least a month old. Which means he's about 4 inches longer than he was then anyway lol.

I really think he's getting to a good size and temperament to possibly take him out of his enclosure. I'm going to need to do so this week in order to build and 'addition' on to his current enclosure. I'm going to keep the tank but modify it and make it twice as tall so it will be 8x2x4 instead of just 2 feet tall. Fill the whole bottom tank (2") with substrate and make a 'living space' above it by attaching a separate enclosure to the top. Almost like a lid? And I was even thinking of making a ramp into a 55 gallon (long and wide, not tall) fish tank I got that has a hole cut in the bottom for a drain. It might look a little like a giant hamster cage when I'm done with it, but I'm working with what I have! And if he's happy and healthy then I'm willing to try anything

smy_749 · 05-11-13, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vegasarah

I'm going to take some tonight for sure, all the pictures I have of him are at least a month old. Which means he's about 4 inches longer than he was then anyway lol.

I really think he's getting to a good size and temperament to possibly take him out of his enclosure. I'm going to need to do so this week in order to build and 'addition' on to his current enclosure. I'm going to keep the tank but modify it and make it twice as tall so it will be 8x2x4 instead of just 2 feet tall. Fill the whole bottom tank (2") with substrate and make a 'living space' above it by attaching a separate enclosure to the top. Almost like a lid? And I was even thinking of making a ramp into a 55 gallon (long and wide, not tall) fish tank I got that has a hole cut in the bottom for a drain. It might look a little like a giant hamster cage when I'm done with it, but I'm working with what I have! And if he's happy and healthy then I'm willing to try anything

Just make sure its sturdy enough that he won't knock the top off the bottom piece. 2 feet deep (front to back) is a bit narrow, especially since he would prefer the width instead of added height. Oh, and I'm sure you meant 2' (feet) and not 2" (inches) deep

. Best of luck, we await the pics !

Vegasarah · 05-11-13, 02:59 PM

Yes, I meant 2 feet! Haha oops. And I know, 4 feet wide would be really ideal, but he' only a couple months old, he's not even 2 feet long s to v yet. I've got to start the adult build over the summer and have it totally finished by this fall. I'm going to try for 10x4x6, because I think that's as big as I can go with the space I have. I might be able to push it to 12 feet long but that leave the problem that when I move, I won't be able to transport it anywhere. My thinking was the average size of a truck bed is 5 feet long, if I make my enclosure 10 feet long I can make it in two parts so that it can be taken apart and moved when the time comes. When we get into the 12 foot range, we start to have transportation problems and possibly even space issues in my own home. I hope to give him and entire bedroom some day, but I am working as hard as I can to try and give him what he needs.
Though in reality, I'm going to be putting an 'addition' on to the 10x4x6 when he gets bigger with a bathtub as a water feature. It will be attached to the enclosure, but not part of it's structure. So I guess if you include the bathtub it will be 12 feet long

Vegasarah · 05-13-13, 06:04 PM

So If I make this new enclosure 6 feet tall, how much of that should be substrate? Could I start out with less while he is still a baby and then change it as he gets older? Like have only 2 feet of substrate and 4 feet of living space, but more hides and more branches to climb around on? I know when they are young they like to climb more. Then as he grows I could take out some of the branches and log and add more substrate. Or should I just set it up like I would for an adult and then leave it that way? (3 feet dirt, 3 feet living space)

Pirarucu · 05-13-13, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vegasarah

So If I make this new enclosure 6 feet tall, how much of that should be substrate? Could I start out with less while he is still a baby and then change it as he gets older? Like have only 2 feet of substrate and 4 feet of living space, but more hides and more branches to climb around on? I know when they are young they like to climb more. Then as he grows I could take out some of the branches and log and add more substrate. Or should I just set it up like I would for an adult and then leave it that way? (3 feet dirt, 3 feet living space)

Either way would be good, it's up to you. I personally would give him two feet of substrate at first just because it would give him more useable space, as he would probably not use a full three feet.

Vegasarah · 08-27-13, 06:34 PM

I did a thing...

Haha I recently bought this 350 gallon tank because, well, it was cheap as heck and I love it. I put my dogs in it as a point of reference lol. It's 8x4x3!

The main man Django is doing well but will appreciate this upgrade, I'm sure.

AND here's a video from last night, just an action shot showing how confident he has become

Django feeding - YouTube

murrindindi · 08-28-13, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vegasarah

I did a thing...

Haha I recently bought this 350 gallon tank because, well, it was cheap as heck and I love it. I put my dogs in it as a point of reference lol. It's 8x4x3!

The main man Django is doing well but will appreciate this upgrade, I'm sure.

AND here's a video from last night, just an action shot showing how confident he has become

Hi, in the relatively very, very short time I saw him he seemed to look good, a longer video/some photos may help determine if I`m correct....

It`s good to hear you`re both doing o.k.

Vegasarah · 08-29-13, 01:50 PM

Here's one from the other day. He was under the impression that I had food, and then when he realized i was just cleaning the tank/ adding more substrate he just sat on top of that hide and GLARED at me lol. This picture makes it look like he lives in a tub or something, but it's actually a custom glass enclosure that is just FILTHY from his constant digging and burrowing

smy_749 · 08-29-13, 02:02 PM

He looks evil... you must be doing it right

Lankyrob · 08-29-13, 02:03 PM

I would have kept the dogs in the viv and let the monitor run loose

Vegasarah · 08-29-13, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smy_749

He looks evil... you must be doing it right

He can be very evil when he wants to be. That feeding response can be downright scary sometimes, honestly. Haha I love him!

Vegasarah · 08-29-13, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lankyrob

I would have kept the dogs in the viv and let the monitor run loose

If I didn't live in a desert with single-digit humidity all year long I would also love to let him run loose! Short trips outside the enclosure are okay but I never let him out for more than an hour or two at the most. I'm very careful with providing high humidity at all times!

Pirarucu · 08-29-13, 07:30 PM

Wow, he's gotten big.