caudolineatus advice please :)

[friendlyvaranus]

Hi all just wondering if I could get some advice on setting up a varanus caudolineatus enclosure I've got a few large sticks for climbing and such but on the ground I've only got some small rocks also trying to find someone to buy from too (prefering captive bred young ones hopefully). any general advice is greatly appreciated too

 

[Chris]

I've never kept them but I imagine they're not too different to tristis, storri etc. Hollow logs suspended at varying heights, loose bark as hides, nice hot basking spot. I always used cocopeat as substrate for small monitors & raising larger monitors from hatchlings.

 

[friendlyvaranus]

Hi thanks chris sorry for the late reply. Ive got red desert sand for the substrate want to go for the natural look, how would i go about getting those hollows not sure where i could get them from (dont wanna take away habitat from the wild you know) also how would you go about cleaning them?

 

[Chris]

I got my hollows from the wild, some local scrub near the river. They won't need cleaning, I just dust them off or wash them depending on where they've come from & use them straight away. The red sand will be fine.

 

[BigWillieStyles]

I have never kept varanus caudolineatus, but they are basically Gillen's monitors with a different marking pattern. Here is my Gillen's enclosure.

 

[friendlyvaranus]

Ahhhk should be easy enough then cheers chris. Thanks big looks like all i need is a good hollow and a few more climbing branches. How big is your enclosure? Also can gillens suffer from respiratory infections the same as caudos can?

 

[BigWillieStyles]

Regarding the respiratory infections, I think it is limited to the caudos. But I have read if your keep your enclosure bone dry and free from moisture build up, you should be fine. I would love you caudos but they are just too expensive over here in the east.

My enclosure is a standard Zoomed setup - about 65cm tall. My gillens are Alice Springs locale which is a bit smaller than the WA varieties. At this stage, its been a perfect sized setup.

 

[friendlyvaranus]

Ok I see how would you go about water unless they get enough moisture from there food?

I've got an exo terra 60cm tall by 45cm all around still waiting to see if a can get the right heat yet (waiting on a lamp hanger to come in).

Still trying to find someone to buy off too I know of a couple over east but dont know how that work getting them here will get one eventually.

 

[BigWillieStyles]

Ok I see how would you go about water unless they get enough moisture from there food?

I've got an exo terra 60cm tall by 45cm all around still waiting to see if a can get the right heat yet (waiting on a lamp hanger to come in).

Still trying to find someone to buy off too I know of a couple over east but dont know how that work getting them here will get one eventually.

I have the exact same sized enclosure. I dont offer a water dish to my monitors (although you could). Instead, I mist the enclosure a couple of times a week and they drink the water drops from the glass or from the branches.

 

[friendlyvaranus]

Ahh yep I'm goin to post some pictures of the set up once I find out I I can do that via phone if not it will be some time tomorrow. I've finally got the basking spot at around 55 its creeping up but very slowly let me know if I looks a little crowded the bark is there as a temporary hide until I find a suitable log hopefully by the end if the week hahah

 

[Aussie_monitors]

Keep them hot and dry! You can buy cork bark logs from most good aquariums or even try nurseries or garden shops. For water I use a small bottle cap, I place it in the enclosure filled with a bit of water, and just leave it for a week or so. Let it dry out. That's how I was told to keep them, so far so good for mine.

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[friendlyvaranus]

ill keep an eye out dont know of many aquariums in my area though. ahhk k yeah i was told if you do give em water make shure the bowl hasnt got to much of a surface area. also the picture or something you updated doesnt seem to work (or im doing something wrong.

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well they're on the side but yeah that's the set up for now as i said the bark will be replaced with something much nicer and cosy.

 

[Aussie_monitors]

I can't see your pics either, I must have done something wrong. It was a pic of my young caudo's. How do I post pics like BigWillieStyles did? I'm still new to this haha

 

[friendlyvaranus]

haha me too ill try see if i can do an attachment

 

[Aussie_monitors]

 

[friendlyvaranus]

Awww wow would you mind if I asked how much you got them for?

 

[Aussie_monitors]

I'd rather not say, sorry. But I've seen them go from $300 up to $600. A standard price would be around $350 each.

 

[friendlyvaranus]

all good, i think they go around 250 and up over here not completely sure about that though

 

[Aussie_monitors]

Oh yup, are you from WA? They are cheaper there because they come from there. That's why they cost more elsewhere, it's expensive importing from WA

 

[friendlyvaranus]

yeah i am hahah, makes sense. im trying to find some captive bred ones over here but not much luck so might be getting them from over east which means paying that transfer thing and shipment yay haha