# Sand Monitor Info



## mr burrito = god (Mar 16, 2007)

G'Day
I am just curiuos as to who has kept this beautiful species, and what are your experiences with them?
Cheers,
Chad (real name is Matt, but Chad is cooler)


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## mr burrito = god (Mar 16, 2007)

bump...


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## mr burrito = god (Mar 17, 2007)

bump


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## Aslan (Mar 17, 2007)

I have never kept them, however was at Featherdale Wildlife Park yesterday and they had one on display, I was VERY impressed by the look and personality and might start looking into them as a possible avenue somewhere down the line...


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## mr burrito = god (Mar 17, 2007)

Yeah, I have liked them for a while and am interested in getting one in the long run, I'm just trying to get as much info as possible in order to make sure I can care for it correctly and give it the best life possible.


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## Dan123 (Mar 17, 2007)

ive worked with a few and three things i notice is>
they are extreamly inteligent as soon as they go into a cage they know how to open it and will sit for hours trying to open a sliding glass door.
they will eat forever. you can put a food item in its cage any time and it will not go uneaten
Temper. ive herd of nice ones but never actually met one. some will give u typical monitor show hiss's but most will take it further.
hope this helps in some way


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## mr burrito = god (Mar 17, 2007)

Cheers mate, helps alot.


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## mr burrito = god (Mar 17, 2007)

bump


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## mr burrito = god (Mar 17, 2007)

mr burrito = god said:


> bump



l


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## mr burrito = god (Mar 17, 2007)

theres got to be someboby


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## Snake Catcher Victoria (Mar 17, 2007)

All i have is some pics, I was so shattered when this guy (Rufus) died I told my self I wouldnt get another. I know i probably will though.
This one was a mothers day present for the Mrs so it sort of became part of the family pretty quick. 
They are my favourite monitor to keep,they love lots of sand,lots of space and very very hot spot





.


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## mr burrito = god (Mar 17, 2007)

mate that is so cute, im sorry for your loss. love the name rufus


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## Kratos (Mar 17, 2007)

I have been keeping 1 for about 1 and half years now and I think there awesome. Lots of personality, and its true about there appetites will eat anything you give them at any time. I handle mine a fair bit so its seems tame, You just have to make sure you dont smell like food. He hasnt bitten YET but im allways cortious as these monitors can get to a decent size. He's about 70-80cm and i feed him every 2nd to 3rd day with 3 adult mice. I think i have some pics in my gallery if your interested,

Cheers,

Jason


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## mr burrito = god (Mar 17, 2007)

believe it or not mate i was just looking at yours before , do you have any pics of his enclosure


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## Kratos (Mar 17, 2007)

Nah but ill get some over the next couple of days. He lives in an avairy 3mL x 2.5mW x 1.8mH


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## mr burrito = god (Mar 17, 2007)

cheers that would be great, does he live outside or inside


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## Kratos (Mar 17, 2007)

I kept him inside up until last month now his outside. Here is a recent shot of him


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## mr burrito = god (Mar 17, 2007)

wow, stunning mate, how does it cope outside in sydney is he a flavi?


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## Kratos (Mar 17, 2007)

Well he was sold to me as a flavi but im not too sure. This will be his 1st year outside so i hope he will be allright. The avairy is set up so i can prity much close the whole thing off from the outside world. Im also going to install some heating to make sure he doesnt get too cold


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## mr burrito = god (Mar 17, 2007)

he beutiful eitherway, thats cool well i hope all goes well


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## mr burrito = god (Mar 18, 2007)

bump


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## mr burrito = god (Mar 18, 2007)

bump


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## mr burrito = god (Mar 19, 2007)

bump


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## mr burrito = god (Mar 19, 2007)

Also any yellow spotteds


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## Rocket (Mar 19, 2007)

URS has some for sale with some very impressive colours.


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## cris (Mar 19, 2007)

mr burrito = god said:


> Also any yellow spotteds


 
yeah i got some, http://www.aussiepythons.com/showthread.php?t=40326
definately maybe my favorite reptile, i cant really pick one but if i could that would be it :lol:


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## mr burrito = god (Mar 19, 2007)

cheers rocket, and cris mate i love them i was looking at that thread earlier today they are just so rad, what size enclosure are they in if you dont mind me asking


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## cris (Mar 20, 2007)

mr burrito = god said:


> cheers rocket, and cris mate i love them i was looking at that thread earlier today they are just so rad, what size enclosure are they in if you dont mind me asking



Currently in a 4x1m avairy but they are only about 30cm(snout-vent), as adults they will be in a 4x4m avairy that i hope to extend another 6 square meters or more in the future. Its not fair IMO to skimp on the size of the enclosre and even that is smaller than what i would consider ideal. They like to climb, dig and also take a dip occasionally so the enclosure should also allow for that.

They are awesome animals and IMO make good captives aslong as you dont want to hug them or anything like that. They may bite if given a reason but generally OK to handle if you need too, no where near as bitey as a typical lacy but they can bite and a 15kg male would do considerable damage.


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## mr burrito = god (Mar 20, 2007)

cheers mate do you happen to have any photos of their avairy (or anybodys monitor enclosures)


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## OuZo (Mar 20, 2007)

We have a 6 month old little Sandy called Achilles . No fantastic pics of him cos he hates me and usually when I go in there he cracks it and runs away lol. Will try and see how he is tonight to see if I can get some newer ones.


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## Goannas1 (Mar 20, 2007)

thay are a great animal but can be a hand full


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## mr burrito = god (Mar 20, 2007)

hes adorable cheers that would be great could you possibly get any of the enclosure


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## OuZo (Mar 20, 2007)

At the moment all he's in is a 4x2x2 melamine enclosure that's kept pretty bare as the breeder said we shouldn't give him places to hide as that's all he'd do and would never become tame. So it's just got sand, a basking brick and a water bowl...nuthin interesting


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## cris (Mar 20, 2007)

OuZo said:


> At the moment all he's in is a 4x2x2 melamine enclosure that's kept pretty bare as the breeder said we shouldn't give him places to hide as that's all he'd do and would never become tame. So it's just got sand, a basking brick and a water bowl...nuthin interesting



Sounds like a good way to stress the little dude out to me :?


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## OuZo (Mar 20, 2007)

He's not stressed until you open the cage door lol. He even comes up to the glass when I put my fingers there to see if they're food...as soon as I open the door he's off though. Don't argue with me anyway, argue with the guy who's been breeding them for years!  :lol:


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## cris (Mar 20, 2007)

I wasnt having a go at you or trying to argue it just doesnt sound like a good idea to me, i read that the breeder told you to do it in you last post. Its also heaps easier to pick them up if they are in a hide(unless its a burrow obviously)


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## mr burrito = god (Mar 20, 2007)

In the wild the have plenty of hides, why shouldn't it be the same in captivity? The objective to keeping a reptile is to mimmick there natural environment, and if you are not doing that you really should be despite what the breeder says. The point is to make it feel comfortable, not to keep it for your own selfish reasons.


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## OuZo (Mar 20, 2007)

Hey, all I'm trying to do is achieve a happy non stressed animal that I can handle without stressing him or me. I trust the breeder and think he's a good guy who cares very much about his animals. It felt weird to me to not give him a hide either but he's a happy monitor who doesn't seem stressed at all unless you go near him. I had the same situation with a young snake once who wasn't feeding...I had hides all through his tank with shredded paper so he felt secure etc etc. An experienced herper/breeder saw the setup and told me to rip it all out and just give him one hide as "he had to get used to us being around or he'd constantly stress". No offence but I'd trust people who have been successfully keeping and breeding these animals for years over someone who's never had one...sorry!

The fact is, he's 100% happy running around his cage...the only difference a hide would make would be to give him a place to run to whenever we walked up to him. He's never going to get used to people being around if he doesn't have to! Which was exactly the breeder's point.


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## mr burrito = god (Mar 20, 2007)

Just put yourself in this animals position. How would you liked to be put in a box, no where to hide, and be looked at and poked at and forcebly handled by some one bigger than you, just because they want a handle-able pet. They break your will by having no escape for you, no where to hide when a potential preditor comes by. You obviously don't care about the animal, and only care about yourself and being able to handle it. And if he seems fine until you aproach him, this method is so obviously not working. One word comes to mind: SELFISH!


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## OuZo (Mar 20, 2007)

I don't forcibly handle him, I move towards him slowly and sometimes he lets me touch him. When he runs I never chase him (except when I've had to clean his cage and I have to catch him which you'd be doing even if they had a hide in that case). I don't poke or prod him and if he's happy cruising around his cage even when I'm standing there and he sees me how does that tell you he's stressed? If you give your monitor a place to hide and never touch him do you think it's going to run up and give you a big kiss when you open the cage? If I care so much about myself why do I never hassle him or pressure him? Get over it sweet pea...pull your head in and stop trying to reach the top of the little turd list on aps.


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## cris (Mar 20, 2007)

Grow up ouzo, atleast he seems to be thinking of the animals well being rather than making a pet out of a reptile.


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## OuZo (Mar 20, 2007)

Well I hope you don't handle your snakes ever then Cris. Cos it's certainly not benefiting them at all. A snake wants nothing more than to be left the hell alone so if you handle your snakes then surely that's in YOUR best interests because you enjoy them and want to be able to interact with them. I see nothing wrong with wanting to be able to handle my animals...and I rarely do that anyway. In terms of handling animals I see it 2 ways: you either handle them regularly so that when they get used to it things like cleaning cages etc are as least stressful as possible, or you never handle them and they absolutely crap themselves when you have to chase and catch the poor buggers just to do cage maintenance...which is better? And anyway, why should I sit back here and have some little kid lecture me about a species he's never kept when I'm doing nothing but going by the advice I was given by a reptubale breeder?


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## liasis (Mar 20, 2007)

i have one little guy he is about 7 months old and he is the coolest thing i have they have so much personality i find if you get monitors really young and handle them they calm down i get him out for 5 to 10 mins a day while i watch tv and he falls asleep on me while i pat him they are a must have


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## cris (Mar 20, 2007)

Please stop the abusive pms :lol:


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## mr burrito = god (Mar 20, 2007)

OuZo, I am not saying that you shouldn't handle your animals, it's just you are going about it the wrong way. Monitors are smart creatures, they learn trust over time. 
Cheers for the info Liasis.


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## OuZo (Mar 21, 2007)

cris said:


> Please stop the abusive pms :lol:


 
Lmao get over yourself!

My point mr burrito was that if you've never kept them how can you tell an experienced breeder that he's going about it the wrong way?


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## Chimera (Mar 21, 2007)

OuZo said:


> It felt weird to me to not give him a hide either



Your saying yourself that this approach goes against the norm. Fact is this is a different approach so expect some criticism. Basic principles suggest that this approach may cause serious stress to the animal. However what hasn't been explicitly states (only suggested) is that the enclosure is far from any high traffic areas which substantially reduces the potential stress to the animal.

By publishing anything (and by that I mean write anything down) you can expect your fair share of criticism and compliments. At the moment you've only presented an idea without results, an idea that is different to many basic principles of reptile keeping. If you comment down the track that this approach has worked wonders I'll be the first to sing your praises as challenging the norm is how the hobby grows. But at the moment you have not proved your approach so expect criticism like all those that came before you.


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## cris (Mar 21, 2007)

Ouzo, even if it does work to tame the animal its bordering on cruelty IMO, im sure if you check the laws it probably could be seen as illegal to deprive an animal in such a way. Its is illegal in Qld anyway, as it should be.

What Mr Buttito said was basic common sence and im sure the majority of monitor keepers would agree with what he has said regardless of how long they have or havnt been keeping.

There is nothing wrong with making him lose fear of you, its the means that i have an issue with.


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## beknluke (Mar 21, 2007)

cris said:


> Ouzo, even if it does work to tame the animal its bordering on cruelty IMO, im sure if you check the laws it probably could be seen as illegal to deprive an animal in such a way. Its is illegal in Qld anyway, as it should be.



Oh spare me :lol:

That's it, the next newbie that I see on here asking 'how do I tame my snake' who gets responses from people on here like 'just handle it for a few minutes every day' etc etc will get a flaming :lol:

Do you handle your snakes Cris? You never answered her Q. Because that could be causing unnecessary stress on the snake! Isn't it weird when someone flips the mirror on you 

From what I have learned from watching my herps over the years, if one is stressed it will go off it's food, get ill and eventually die if the owner doesn't open their eyes to the problem.

OuZo - is your monitor eating and behaving normally? If if's not, then go buy it a hide, but if it IS acting perfectly normally and has a healthy appetite then I think that you must be doing something right and the reputable breeder that you bought him from obviously has some idea what he's talking about. Funny that, he manages to breed them ey?? :lol:

As for this 'cruelty' crap, gee that's rich when people go on about killing cats bacuse guess what?? They're not a herp!! :lol:

I'm calling it! DOUBLE STANDARDS!!!

Thanks for the laugh boys 

Bex


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## cris (Mar 21, 2007)

beknluke said:


> Do you handle your snakes Cris? You never answered her Q. Because that could be causing unnecessary stress on the snake! Isn't it weird when someone flips the mirror on you  Actually i dont play with my snakes like they are toys, i only handle them when required, the reason i didnt reply earlier is because its not relevant to the thread.
> 
> From what I have learned from watching my herps over the years, if one is stressed it will go off it's food, get ill and eventually die if the owner doesn't open their eyes to the problem. Way off the mark, if a monitor goes off its food when unexpected it would only be because of a serious problem.
> 
> ...



Anyway this is Mr Burrito's(aka a turd by Ouzo) thread, its supposed to be about monitors not ppl having a go at each other because they cant take constructive criticism without taking it as a personal attack.


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## Tristis (Mar 21, 2007)

how can he have a choice of temps with a bare cage, monitors need to hide its part of what they do as being monitors. 
sand monitors dig. deep under ground its dark ,cool and humid in a barrow.
your cage offers none of those.
it looks small for its age.


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## OuZo (Mar 21, 2007)

Cris,

For starters, nobody's playing with anything like a "toy" as you put it. I'm not even saying you shouldn't handle snakes but if you're going to say that reptiles shouldn't be treated like pets then I would have expected that you never handle them unless absolutely necessary. Ease up a bit - you've just pretty much accused everyone who handles their snakes of not treating their animals properly.

Your second comment is confusing...a monitor will only go off it's food if there's a SERIOUS problem? As in an incredibly stressed poorly and cruelly treated animal without a hide wouldn't be enough to stop it eating, gaining weight and growing?

Yes, he's digging, running around the cage and hiding around his brick and water bowl occasionally. Would you like me to let the breeder know that you think he's being irresponsible by giving out information on how best to cruelly treat a goanna? And I mean that as a serious question...


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## OuZo (Mar 21, 2007)

That photo was taken a fair while ago Tristis


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## Chimera (Mar 21, 2007)

OuZo said:


> hiding around his brick and water bowl



I think many people have the wrong impression about your cage setup Ouzo, if your monitor can hide between a brick and a melmine wall (based on your pic) then essentially there is a hide in the enclosure.

I think a lot of the reaction was to a bare enclosure with nout but a waterbowl. Which you would probably agree wouldn't be in the best interest of a Sand Monitor.


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## cris (Mar 21, 2007)

OuZo said:


> Cris,
> 
> For starters, nobody's playing with anything like a "toy" as you put it Some ppl do IMO i wasnt talking about you. I'm not even saying you shouldn't handle snakes but if you're going to say that reptiles shouldn't be treated like pets then I would have expected that you never handle them unless absolutely necessary. Ease up a bit - you've just pretty much accused everyone who handles their snakes of not treating their animals properly. The post where i said "making a pet out of a reptile" was a poor choice of words(i edited most of it out because i responded to you calling Mr burrito a turd and it wasnt any benifit to the thread), it just seemed that you are putting taming infront of proper care, you were doing it under what you considered good advice, i just have a differant opinion
> 
> ...



Also I dont doubt you have the best intentions for your monitor. Maybe the enclosure isnt as bad as the impression you have given. I think its time to calm down


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## richardsc (Apr 8, 2007)

i have to agree on the giving of hide areas,especially for monitors,i find that monitors r alot happier when they have the security of hide areas,all mine have multible hides of varying temps through out there cages,from pygmy mulgas up to lacies ,and they can still tame up if they have a hide area,but each to there own,just my 2 cents


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## mr burrito = god (Apr 8, 2007)

gday richard what kinda monitors do you keep if you dont mind me asking


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## richardsc (Apr 9, 2007)

hi mr burrito,i keep lacies,mertons,ridgeys,storrs and pygmy mulgas at the moment,am getting some spencers as we speak,lol,and others to come when i have the coin to purchase,im a big fan of monitors,but can say that about all lizards,loland partial to pythons to,but only have a few of those,so far anyways,u could say im addicted,have been since i had my first bluey at 5 years old


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## mr burrito = god (Apr 9, 2007)

i too am obsessed with monitors and hope too build up my collection soon would you happen too have any photos of the lacies or mertons by any chance


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## grimbeny (Apr 9, 2007)

Photos of all of them would be good  !!


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## -=Surflifesaver=- (Apr 13, 2007)

how long can a sand monitor go without eating on large feed for its size?


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