# sand monitor not eating ?



## dilsy (Oct 28, 2012)

Hey guys 

Got my sand (gouldii) monitor yesterday and doesn't seem to be eating anything. Put some crickets and a small mouse in the viv but doesnt seem interested. Don't know if I'm just being paranoid or not. She (as we believe) has been moved enclosures and is probably still settling in but just wanting to make sure if this is normal. She is very active though and loves to dig and venture around.

Cheers Dylan


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## Monitors_R_Us (Oct 28, 2012)

dilsy said:


> Hey guys
> 
> Got my sand (gouldii) monitor yesterday and doesn't seem to be eating anything. Put some crickets and a small mouse in the viv but doesnt seem interested. Don't know if I'm just being paranoid or not. She (as we believe) has been moved enclosures and is probably still settling in but just wanting to make sure if this is normal. She is very active though and loves to dig and venture around.
> 
> Cheers Dylan


Leave it alone a few days.
Also what temps are you running, etc : cool, ambient, hot and bask?


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## dilsy (Oct 28, 2012)

in the enclosure

- - - Updated - - -

got a temp gun on the way so dont know exact temps yet. running a 40watt red/heat globe around 500mm from the floor and one end and enclosure is 1200mm long


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## Grunter023 (Oct 28, 2012)

I would imagine for a monitor a 40watt globe would not cut it. They need pretty high temps.


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## Monitors_R_Us (Oct 28, 2012)

dilsy said:


> in the enclosure
> 
> - - - Updated - - -
> 
> got a temp gun on the way so dont know exact temps yet. running a 40watt red/heat globe around 500mm from the floor and one end and enclosure is 1200mm long


Ok tomorrow as in first thing in the morning chuck that globe away. Buy at least an 120w bulb, preferably a 150w mercury vapour bulb. In future please have all your arriving animals needs thoroughly researched.

Monitors love heat and will not feed if it is too cold.


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## imported_Varanus (Oct 29, 2012)

I'd be getting a couple of smaller watt halogen floods in there, say 50W each, in a bank and raise the basking site (flat rocks are good) until you get 50c + as a hotspot. Add heaps of hides throughout, plenty of substrate to dig in and be patient (it's only small and potentially sees you as a predator). It'll eat when it feels safe. Here's what I use for Lacies. The larger bulb's a "Solar glow" UV unit which may not be necessary but I like to add "just in case". These are 300mm from bulb to the surface and I get 50-60c, depending on the ambient.Hope this is useful.


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## JasonL (Oct 29, 2012)

You need to heat monitors way above what most keepers think.... they burn up the watts. make sure their hides are heated 24/7 as juvies


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## Chris (Oct 29, 2012)

Dylan if you have him in the enclosure you had on Facebook then I imagine its because he isn't warm enough. You have no basking light, a 40w globe in that size enclosure is not doing anything except warming the air, very slightly. He needs a 50+C hot spot. This will mean you'll probably need a 75-100w basking 'flood' globe positioned about 300mm from him, the globe should be heating a flat rock or something like that. Set up something like what Richard has shown above. I've never had a monitor need time to settle in before it ate. A temp gun will also be a good investment.

He looks good too


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## crocdoc (Oct 29, 2012)

I'd go with what Richard (imported_varanus) recommended and set up a bank of two 50 watt halogens, side by side, close enough to the basking spot to give an even basking area of 50C+, with an optional UV light aiming at the basking area. 

You don't need bulbs from pet stores. You'll save yourself a lot of money and the monitors don't know whether or not the package in which the bulbs come say 'reptile' on it or not 
I'd also get something that gives off white light as well as heat, rather than one of those red bulbs. Monitors associate light with heat as they bask out in the sun.


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## dilsy (Oct 29, 2012)

OK will get a 100w globe today, does it matter if there different colours ?. Do I leave it on all the time or switch it off at night? The globe that is in there now is about 35cm from a rock/ hide


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## Monitors_R_Us (Oct 29, 2012)

dilsy said:


> OK will get a 100w globe today, does it matter if there different colours ?. Do I leave it on all the time or switch it off at night? The globe that is in there now is about 35cm from a rock/ hide


Leave on for an 8-9 hour period during the day to simulate night and day temps and no. I use a 150w mercury vapour bulb ( $30 ) which will last you 6 months to a year or you can just use bunnings 150w phillips flood lights for $8. I use the mercury just for piece of mind.


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## dilsy (Oct 29, 2012)

Ohk will get a 100w globe for the day basking and set up the 40w red globe to stay on all the time ? Do any of you guys run thermostats or is it a waste? Running a uvb 10.0 globe for day light aswell.


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## Chris (Oct 29, 2012)

I use these globes, you get them from Bunnings for about $9.00 each. Get two of them & set them up next to each other about 300mm above the basking spot. You won't need the red globe at all, he won't need any night time heat in Adelaide now. You won't need a thermostat.


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## dilsy (Oct 29, 2012)

Sweet thanks Chris. Will use the 100 until I can wire up a second socket then invest in some flood lights.


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## Albino93 (Oct 29, 2012)

imported_Varanus said:


> I'd be getting a couple of smaller watt halogen floods in there, say 50W each, in a bank and raise the basking site (flat rocks are good) until you get 50c + as a hotspot. Add heaps of hides throughout, plenty of substrate to dig in and be patient (it's only small and potentially sees you as a predator). It'll eat when it feels safe. Here's what I use for Lacies. The larger bulb's a "Solar glow" UV unit which may not be necessary but I like to add "just in case". These are 300mm from bulb to the surface and I get 50-60c, depending on the ambient.Hope this is useful.



Just wondering, what brand is ur solar glo UV light? also, do u have a seperate timer for each globe?


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## crocdoc (Oct 29, 2012)

As Chris said, use two of those 50w halogens and you'll be set. Do NOT use two different bulbs of different wattage (ie your red bulb and another) as an unevenly heated basking spot is a quick way to get burns on your monitor's skin.


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## dilsy (Oct 29, 2012)

Ohk thanks for that crocdoc. Put the 100 globe in and half hour later was chasing every single cricket down. Will use that until I can wire up a second globe socket and more then a bit closer to the ground


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## Monitors_R_Us (Oct 29, 2012)

Make sure you are monitoring how hot basking spots and the hot end is getting either with a temp gun or a thermometer. Monitors thrive in heat.


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## dilsy (Oct 29, 2012)

yeh got a inferred temp gun in the post should be here tomorrow


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## Monitors_R_Us (Oct 29, 2012)

dilsy said:


> yeh got a inferred temp gun in the post should be here tomorrow


 Glad to hear, if you are achieving the required temps with the one globe I do not see any reason to as why you would need two globes. One mercury vapor bulb does me.


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## imported_Varanus (Oct 29, 2012)

Albino93 said:


> Just wondering, what brand is ur solar glo UV light? also, do u have a seperate timer for each globe?



It's an "Exo Terra".


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## Albino93 (Oct 29, 2012)

Thought so, thanks.


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## imported_Varanus (Oct 29, 2012)

Monitors_R_Us said:


> Glad to hear, if you are achieving the required temps with the one globe I do not see any reason to as why you would need two globes. One mercury vapor bulb does me.



You run the risk off thermal burns. While the monitor warms under MV and spot bulb, one section tends to get alot hotter than the rest of the animal and it dosen't seem to register (sometimes burns can be full thickness). I think also that some species are more prone to this than others (Lacies as opposed to Spencers, for example).


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## crocdoc (Oct 30, 2012)

As imported_varanus has said, I wouldn't trust a lone UV globe, either, especially as the monitor grows. What species do you keep, Monitors_R_Us, and how large are they?


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## Chris (Oct 30, 2012)

Dylan, as crocdoc & imported_varanus have said, set up dual globes, this will spread the heat across the whole monitors body (not tail), thus eliminating the potential for one section of his body sustaining burns. Good to hear that he's now eating too.


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## Monitors_R_Us (Oct 30, 2012)

crocdoc said:


> As imported_varanus has said, I wouldn't trust a lone UV globe, either, especially as the monitor grows. What species do you keep, Monitors_R_Us, and how large are they?


At home i have kept ackies and black head's. At work I look after numerous Lace monitors and and number of other monitor species. If a single bulb is high enough and strong enough it will do the job, not saying multiple smaller globes is bad / wrong, just not my way.


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## crocdoc (Oct 30, 2012)

Monitors_R_Us said:


> If a single bulb is high enough and strong enough it will do the job, not saying multiple smaller globes is bad / wrong, just not my way.



That explains it. A single bulb with an ackie or blackhead is fine, as they're small monitors. A single bulb with an adult lace monitor (or panoptes, which the original poster keeps) is going to either be too far away and consequently not hot enough, or burn inducing. It can only heat one part of the monitor's body at a time so while part of the monitor is hot, another part is cool so the monitor keeps trying to bask to get the cool area warm enough. In cool weather this will cause burns. I have three bulbs with my adult lace monitors and have been contemplating setting up a fourth on each of the basking spots.


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## dilsy (Oct 31, 2012)

crocdoc - i have a gouldii not panoptes  i listened to everyone experinced on here(instead of shops). bought a 100w globe with a 80% beam angle so is a bit more spread out until i wire up a second socket.
but she is alot more active and hungry now ate a whole small mouse last night and moved all of the sand from one side of the viv to the other  she is not to keen on the crickets though, saw her eat a couple just likes to kill the rest but not eat them?


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## Monitors_R_Us (Oct 31, 2012)

dilsy said:


> crocdoc - i have a gouldii not panoptes  i listened to everyone experinced on here(instead of shops). bought a 100w globe with a 80% beam angle so is a bit more spread out until i wire up a second socket.
> but she is alot more active and hungry now ate a whole small mouse last night and moved all of the sand from one side of the viv to the other  she is not to keen on the crickets though, saw her eat a couple just likes to kill the rest but not eat them?



Glad to hear mate, told you just one higher light with a higher wattage would be perfect.


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