# new bells lace monitor



## BennyA (Jan 16, 2011)

hey guys just thought id take some quick pics, this is my first lace monitor, its a bell phase around 15 months old, his still a little huffy and puffy but is getting better everyday, his in a 7 foot lond by 5 foot high enclosre and sits on top of my gillens set up, he loves his massive hide and his basking branch, also loves swinging off the light cage, his got a temp background towel for now he shreds up and hopefully foaming and grouting his new background tomoz.
What uz think.


----------



## Damiieen (Jan 16, 2011)

Im Jealous i want one


----------



## Dannyboi (Jan 16, 2011)

I want one but cannot get one as my room is too full of frogs and other enclosures. The second I have my own place oh I just can't wait.


----------



## JAS101 (Jan 16, 2011)

nice lacey , the bells phase is next on my list .


----------



## BennyA (Jan 16, 2011)

I've tried near everything geckos, gillens monitors, pythons and the lacie is sensational always doin stuff highly recommend one (so far)


----------



## fishunter (Jan 16, 2011)

Hahaha he looks very happy, good stuff


----------



## cadwallader (Jan 16, 2011)

love his pattens make sure you post pics of the background once done


----------



## richardsc (Jan 18, 2011)

looks small for 15 months of age,nice looking bells though,just be careful at feeding time,as they can be a handful when they get used to the hand that feeds them


----------



## BennyA (Jan 18, 2011)

I have welding gloves and tonges to feed him, so far everytime he takes his food so so gently, licks it and turns his head and so slowly takes it from the tongs it's strange how gentle he is my beardie hits his food harder, he won't let me pat him yet though


----------



## Guest (Jan 18, 2011)

wait till he's bigger lol 
I only feed mine in his bowl
I try not to associate my hands with food as best i can
i do sit with him as he eats but i dont hand feed him or feed him from tongs 
as he gets bigger you will understand why 
he is very nice though, great score


----------



## crocdoc (Jan 22, 2011)

BennyA said:


> so far everytime he takes his food so so gently, licks it and turns his head and so slowly takes it from the tongs it's strange how gentle he is


 Sounds a bit on the cold side. What's the basking temperature?

Nice looking bells.


----------



## Gusbus (Jan 22, 2011)

mine is on its way


----------



## BennyA (Jan 23, 2011)

crocdoc said:


> Sounds a bit on the cold side. What's the basking temperature?
> 
> It ranges from 30-37 on the basking log around 22-27 in the enclosure and hollow log and his hide is heated from the light below to 33 and cools off at night a little.
> Are these ok or bump up the light globe.
> ...


----------



## seanjbkorbett (Jan 23, 2011)

Farma said:


> wait till he's bigger lol
> I only feed mine in his bowl
> I try not to associate my hands with food as best i can
> i do sit with him as he eats but i dont hand feed him or feed him from tongs
> ...


 
..haha yeah wait till he gets bigger..  .also your basking temp should be around 45-55 degrees,Monitors love their heat...then you should see some speed when feeding time is on!.lol. Enjoy  they awsome animals.


----------



## imported_Varanus (Jan 23, 2011)

Nice Bell's,

I'd be inclined to go 55-65c (using a bank of floods to avoid burns) and offer food more regularly and stick with whole or chopped rats,mice, chicks,quail; forget the meat products and insects. Just leave the food in a bowl if the animal's a bit shy or try offering with tongs. I'd give the light cage a flick too, incase he becomes stuck and gets burns.

Some damp substrait would be good also (I use coco peat), rather than the fake grass, your aiming for 20cm or so, if possible to avoid dehydration.

Cheers


----------



## crocdoc (Jan 23, 2011)

BennyA said:


> It ranges from 30-37 on the basking log


 That explains his gentle feeding habits. That's way too cool. As Sean said, the surface temperature of the basking spot should be 45-50C for a young monitor, hotter for an older one. They have a preferred body temperature of 36C, so when your basking spot is running at 30C your monitor can't achieve that temperature and when it's running at 37C it would have to spend all day basking just to maintain that temperature. They like a hot basking spot so they can heat up quickly, move around, bask again, move around...

Drop the chicken neck from the diet and replace it with another hopper.

You may also want to think about replacing the astroturf with some sort of substrate, to hold humidity.


----------



## BennyA (Jan 23, 2011)

Yep done just put a 150w in now it's 48 and climbing a lil bit at a time his flattened himself out and soaking it all up, oh yeah


----------



## xxMelissaxx (Jan 23, 2011)

That's good the temps are now correct Benny - lucky you happened to post on here and a clued-up member sensed an issue and asked about your temperatures.

I suggest you get stuck into some good reading material, as these things (temps, diet, general husbandry etc.) should really have been known to you _before _purchasing such an animal - get researching.


----------



## JAS101 (Jan 23, 2011)

xxMelissaxx said:


> That's good the temps are now correct Benny - lucky you happened to post on here and a clued-up member sensed an issue and asked about your temperatures.
> 
> I suggest you get stuck into some good reading material, as these things (temps, diet, general husbandry etc.) should really have been known to you _before _purchasing such an animal - get researching.


 dont be so quick to judge that research hasnt been done , when researching for my lace i found a whole heap of conflicting info out in good old www land .


----------



## xxMelissaxx (Jan 23, 2011)

JAS101 said:


> dont be so quick to judge that research hasnt been done , when researching for my lace i found a whole heap of conflicting info out in good old www land .


 
Fair enough, but the internet shouldn't be the only source of information when researching.

Also, I can't imagine many websites stating that a basking temp of 30 degrees is adequate for a Lacie..


----------



## Laghairt (Jan 23, 2011)

Don't be so sure, there is a whole lot of crap out there.


----------



## BennyA (Jan 23, 2011)

It gets confusing as some forums say put them outside with no heat and they are fine then some say 120 degrees so I thought high 30s would be fine


----------



## seanjbkorbett (Jan 23, 2011)

nah actually..there are no proper care sheets for lacy's on the internet (well ANY i would follow)..you can obtain them from the breeder most times..or even better,get on the phone and have a long chat (find some one friendly..cos thats really hard to find in some reptile breeders) to some one who has had years of experiencing breeding and observing this magnificent lizards  BOOOYAAH!!!


----------



## BennyA (Jan 23, 2011)

Also he can jump up to the light cage and hang from it where it's around 60ish he does it occasionally, I tried wood shavings from the pet shop but the smell was a bit overpowering I think so went to the AstroTurf, I have geckos so mist the enclosures slightly daily


----------



## crocdoc (Jan 23, 2011)

Sorry, Richard (imported_varanus), I hadn't seen your post as you had posted while I was typing my post. I pretty much repeated what you'd said.

Benny, the reason outside with no heat is okay is the heat of the sun trumps any basking light humans can create. Get a temperature gun and measure the surface temperature of a rock on a sunny day and you'll see that it far exceeds high 30s. As for the substrate, you're making the same mistake a lot of people seem to make. They try one item, which doesn't work, and then throw out the entire concept. Wood shavings are not the only substrate out there and misting is a band-aid.


----------



## Dukz13 (Mar 22, 2011)

you finished that backround yet benny??? hows ya lil fella going?


----------



## BennyA (Mar 23, 2011)

Hey mate, nah sold him to a great chick that has 3 others, I did the acl in my knee so will be out for a month or 2 and won't be able to give him the time he deserves and need to pay for the op also, I made a castle n temple for the beardies instead,
Thanks


----------



## Dukz13 (Mar 24, 2011)

oh bugger i done me acl few years back prik of an injury ay any pics of ya castle and temple?


----------

