# Mitchell's Water Monitors



## Simon_Archibald (Apr 25, 2004)

Hi all,
Just wondering if anyone has any husbandry info on the Mitchell's Water Monitors? Anyone know any breeders? I'll be looking for a pair close to the end of the year, trying to organise the husbandry requirements now so I can have an enclosure built/tested and ready to go.

Thanks,
Simon Archibald


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## basketcase (Apr 25, 2004)

no idea  top monitors tho, i can see why u want some


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## AGAMIDAE (Apr 26, 2004)

checkout herptrader there was a trio or a pair forsale, I know someone who keeps them and the entire substrate is water with logs and hide suspended above it and they need to be reall hot, so in colder areas best kept inside..


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## Robert (Apr 26, 2004)

Sweet sound interesting.
I saw a doco a while back on the island and they had some footage of wild specimans they looked pretty special.
Good luck Simon sounds like a great little project.


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## Simon_Archibald (Apr 26, 2004)

Thanks heaps guys - I'll see what I can find.

The plan was to take up half of the garage, use a water container (like a pool type setup) and then have a raised piece of land aswell. Sides will probably be something like 25mm Plywood, with a perspex window and a door. I wasn't going to have a roof, but if they need it that hot, I'll definately put a roof on it.

The garage doesn't get too cold, but cold enough to need plenty of extra heating to keep these guys healthy. This will be done with about 3 or 4 reflector globes at one end, one or 2 others scattered around and some heat cords running through rocks, etc to heat some floor aswell.

Apart from all that, the biggest issue is security so nothing will be done before that is sorted out.

Thanks again,
Simon Archibald


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## Robert (Apr 26, 2004)

Security would be a must on something like i reckon good call Simon.But that souns awesome.Maybe if you can insulate the garage a bit may cost a little but you can still get out of it fairly cheaply.Is it a concrete floor.Like you said a some floor would be the go aswell.
Would they be a similar set-up to a Mertens you think.
I think after much debat with myself my wants and the fact that i want everything i think Mertens are now on the next to get list.
Seen 1 up the shops where "Dreamtime" where doing a talk and display.


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## Simon_Archibald (Apr 26, 2004)

Yeah it's a concrete floor Robert, so really needs the cord heaters for that. I'm thinking that it really shouldn't be too bad, especially with a roof as a fully enclosed unit. Especially with all those reflector globes (each being about 150watts), it should work out OK.

As far as Mertens, I'd assume it would be a similar setup. They were also another option for this enclosure, but since Mitchell's are smaller I think the space would better suit them.

If it all fails for the water monitors, something simple like some Heath Monitors would be OK too - I always planned to get them in the future anyway. They are a much more drab looking monitor, but quite interesting none the less.

Simon Archibald


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## saikrett (Apr 26, 2004)

i know a guy that has mertins and i recon they're great, I think he's planing to use a bathtub for there water, which would be easy to clean cause you can just unplug it


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## Simon_Archibald (Apr 26, 2004)

Hey Scott,
Where does that guy live? What sort of enclosure has he got for them? What size enclosure for adults? What temps? Inside or outside?

Simon Archibald


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## saikrett (Apr 26, 2004)

not sure, he olny got them a few days befor i saw them so he didnt have anything major set up. I did help him unload 3 house windows, the type with a big window in the middle with a siding one either side. about 3m by 2m, so its a large project,
Next time i see him i'll ask for some more details. Hopefully i'll be getting a nice lace monitor off him the start of next yearr


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## Simon_Archibald (Apr 26, 2004)

Thanks mate - would love to know the details. I should be gettin' some lacies at the end of the year too - from Andrew Melrose.

Simon Archibald


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## saikrett (Apr 26, 2004)

thats the guy!! 
he picked them up a few months ago, along with a piar of mangrove monitor


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## Ricko (Apr 26, 2004)

mangrove monitors are awesome, a guy did a big talk on them at a vhs meeting a while ago. he is situated up there and catches them and releaases them for science or sumtin


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## Springherp (Apr 26, 2004)

Andrew Melrose did a great talk on monitor husbandry at the Australian herp society last friday. I can't wait to get some money to buy myself as many monitors as possible


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## saikrett (Apr 26, 2004)

have you seen his place?


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## Springherp (Apr 26, 2004)

who me? or Simon?


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## Ricko (Apr 26, 2004)

anyone know where i can see pics of these mitchels monitors?


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## Springherp (Apr 26, 2004)

http://images.google.com.au/images?q=mitchell's+monitor&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&hl=en


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## Ricko (Apr 26, 2004)

they sort of look like a mertons from the pics i can see. do they grow as big as mertons?


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## Springherp (Apr 26, 2004)

Mitchells are alot smaller and slender-bodied compared to the heavy-bodied mertens water monitor. But both have relatively the same colouring. But i really don't know alot about either monitors.


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## Guest (Apr 26, 2004)

Mitchells are very rare in captivity and can be hard to find in the wild. I could find mertens in twenty minutes no worries. Simon I will talk to a bloke I know who has bred them before and get back to you, saturday night most likely.
Cheers


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## Hickson (Apr 26, 2004)

Springherp said:


> Andrew Melrose did a great talk on monitor husbandry at the Australian herp society last friday.



Did you travel all the way from Springwood to the city for the meeting?


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## Ricko (May 4, 2004)

there are mitchels water monitors on the herptrader for sale juvies $550 each and they have 2.


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## Simon_Archibald (May 4, 2004)

I have seen Andrew's house - top setup for all the lacies and the pit for the dragons/skinks/turts.

He's also an absolute top bloke. Lovely animals and all round champion.

Simon Archibald


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## sobrien (Aug 1, 2004)

Hey Simon, did you end up getting any? I am really keen on getting some mertens water monitors and was wondering where I could get a big glass aquarium built up for cheap.
Also any important info you found out would be great!
Cheers, Simon


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## Simon_Archibald (Aug 1, 2004)

Simon,
Haven't got any water monitors yet, but when I do it will be Mitchell's I look for instead of Mertens. URS currently has adult and sub-adult pairs for sale.

I wouldn't go to the expense of buying a big aquarium for them, rather get a plastic container like a square solid pond liner and have rocks / branches coming out of that. Build up a plywood (or other suitable material) wall around it and install heating in a roof.

Simon Archibald


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## bigguy (Aug 1, 2004)

Baritji, Mitchells are very easy to find if you look in the right places. Ask your boss Marshall about the cool spots we found them in.


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## Guest (Aug 1, 2004)

yeah I know now hehe, I have been talking to Sam Sweet a lot lately and he told me how to get them, I still find them hard to catch by myself though....


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## bigguy (Aug 1, 2004)

Baritji, I never said they were easy to catch, I stated they are easy to find. There is a huge difference there specially with these monitors :wink:


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## sobrien (Aug 1, 2004)

Cool thanks guys.
Simon,
I thought it would have been much easier and cheaper to have an aquarium as I will need a water heater aswell as a filter. Wouldn't it be far more difficult/messy to keep them in a wooden enclosure?


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## bigguy (Aug 1, 2004)

Sobrien, I kept them for years in a wooden enclosure with no problems at all. Gave them a few hollow logs and a large water dish.


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## sobrien (Aug 1, 2004)

Alright thanks bigguy. Did you heat their water? Also what was their main food items? I know they prefer yabbies, crabs and fish however what types and how often?
Thanks a lot for help,
Simon O'Brien


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## bigguy (Aug 1, 2004)

Simon, The water was only heated by the cages temperature. As for their food, mine would eat good sized mice, Jellymeat, Turkey Mince, and gresshoppers. They rarely entered the water. They just acted like anyother small monitor.


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## sobrien (Aug 1, 2004)

cool, thanks again. 
Simon


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## bigguy (Aug 1, 2004)

Your welcome


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## sobrien (Aug 14, 2004)

Hey guys,
Quick question on their size(Varanus Mertensi). I have read maximum length from anywhere between 90cm and 180cm. How big do they average and what would be the minimum enclosure size to keep one/two?
Cheers, Simon


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## dobermanmick (Aug 14, 2004)

Has anyone got any pics of enclosures that they are kept in ?


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## hugsta (Aug 15, 2004)

Thanks for asking all those questions Sobrien, Helps me a lot as well. I'm hoping to eventually get some Mertens Water Monitors as well. But may be next year before I can.
I beleive their average size is around 4ft TL. As for enclosure size I would also like to know.


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## sobrien (Aug 15, 2004)

No worries hugsta,
I am seriously in love with these guys. It will probably be a year plus before I get any either.

Simon


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## hugsta (Aug 15, 2004)

I know what you mean Simon, I saw a fair few in February this yr down in Adelaide. I saw the ones URS at and also the ones at Gully Reptile Centre. Even my missus fell in love with them, so that's always a good thing.

I just need to know how big an enclosure they need and I'll build one, then the hunt will be on to find a trio.


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## Simon_Archibald (Aug 15, 2004)

You'd probably want an enclosure between 8-10ft long x 3ft wide x 3ft tall. I'm told they are very active lizards. This is for Merten's I'm talking about, not the Mitchell's.

It's also suggested not to have a substrate that is likely to fill up the water vessel as the substrate will constantly be dragged in by the monitors

Simon Archibald


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## Sdaji (Aug 15, 2004)

I wish I had the space for merten's! They'd be second on my monitor dream-wish list!


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## Magpie (Aug 15, 2004)

> I beleive their average size is around 4ft TL.



Dunno about average, but the ones I have seen were bigger than that. And yes, they were very very active, chasing each other round and round, thru the water, over the logs etc.


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## Ricko (Aug 15, 2004)

yeah i have seen a few adult mertens and they are absolutely awesome monitors. very big bodied the ones i have seen. (only seen adults no juvies)


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## Sdaji (Aug 15, 2004)

Never seen a juvie mertens? I've seen heaps, but very few big ones. People I've spoken to who keep them always say they have so much personality, even more than most monitors, which is a very bold claim!


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## Ricko (Aug 16, 2004)

a mate has a big male that has a tonne of personality and is the calmest monitor i have encountered, then he has another one a female that just hisses and tries to tailwhip you if you go near her very beautiful monitors though.


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## URS (Aug 16, 2004)

G day, we have been keeping and breeding Mertens water monitors here for about 7 years now and yes these monitor would have the best personality by a long way. 
We keep in the same enclosure 2 males & 3 females, 1 male & 2 female water dragons and they all get along fine. Our biggest male would be about 130cm long.

We have a number of pictures of adult and hatchling Mertens in our picture gallery if you want to take a look http://reptile.senet.com.au/monitor.html
We keep them all in a large enclosure that has a 2000ltr pond that is heated to 26c they all so have access to an lagre out side enclosure were they will spend there time when every they want.

I will try and find sometime this week amd take some pic's for you all.

Yes Mertens are by far our favorite monitors here and get spoiled rotten.

Regards URS


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## sobrien (Aug 16, 2004)

Thanks for all your help.
It seems they require bigger captive areas than I thought.
Raspberries, Oh well, one day!
P.S. Thanks Tim, pics would help out a lot!


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## hugsta (Aug 16, 2004)

mmmm, will have to work on that one to sobrien. Will have them one day though. No questions asked.


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## Fuscus (Aug 16, 2004)

When URS showed me through his place, I watched him give the big male an affectionate scratch on the back. A really spectacular and well-kept monitor.


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