getting an ornate monitor

[Dereks-Dragons]

I'm getting an ornate monitor tommorrow, but I have a few questions about my individual. I know ornates have the capability to exeed 6+ feet.. I know of a guy whos ornate reached about 6 foot within the first 2 years...the one I'm getting is apparently 8-10 months old but only 16-18 inches. I know this may be due to te fact that he has been in a very small 2x2x2 for the past few months and as far as I know there has been no uvb( I guess there's a debate on whether monitors rele need uvb, I'm not risking it by any chance so I'm going to use uvb) but they guy said that there is no need for it so this leads me to believe that he is not using uvb. The same guy had the brother to my ornate and he is in a new home an is now a lot larger than the one im getting. I'm def. Going to try and get him to the vet is I see any signs of lbs when I get him tommorrow due to the uvb issue but he looks to be in perfect health. His brother was nasty as all **** and a few months ago, bit mines tail but it just left a scar no regeneration or missing tail. I'll try and upload pics from my phone right now if not ill upload them tonight. I can't wait to get him I love monitors and now with the building of ky own seoerate "house" just for myy reptiles, my mom doesn't rele seem to care as much with what I got, although she hates all my lizards exept my iguanas and my very first Beardie . My dad likes the tongues of my tegus so ik my dad will probbaly like the monitor too. I just love The spunk, attitude and craziness of monitors I used to have a baby savannah, although only for a week before the poor wc fella passed away, within that week I fell in love with monitors.

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The pic of the biting one is the brother to mine, you can see the size and attitude difference lol

 

[JohnMatthew]

Nice, good luck with the little one. Always liked the look of the ornates but never had the desire to deal with all that attitude. Looking forward to some pictures.

 

[hoosier]

V.ornatus can be a handful and get pretty large. do you have anyother experience besides the savannah? also what size enclosure do you have?

 

[jerobi2k]

where I live it is a constant debate on whether or not monitors need uvb, many of the local shops here will tell you one thing and then something different the next day. I figure they are outside and get UVB so why take that away? If I had room for more I would def. have a ornate as well. Its all about time and TLC with them the more effort you put into it the better the pet will most likely be.

 

[james.w]

I don't provide UVB for my monitors and they seem to be growing fine.

What are your enclosure plans for your new addition now and when he is full grown? Monitors require more specific husbandry in order to thrive.

 

[frost]

do you not provide ubv for your tegus also?

 

[james.w]

My tegu and rhino iguana both get UVB.

 

[hoosier]

UVB is a big debate and i fall on the side that says even if they dont need it they get it in the wild and its better to be safe than sorry. even in people who do not get a lot of sun mental problems can occur such as depression so i would venture to say that UVB may provide some mental aspect for reptiles as well but thats just my 2cents.
Dereks-Dragons:
one concern i have,( and i am in no way trying to be rude or a jerk im just pointing out what i see and have even been told myself and things i have found through my own experiences) if i remember right from the how old thread you are only 15 right and own tegus, beardeds and iguanas? with those as your experiencs a varanid such as V.ornatus is much much much more agressive than any of your other captives and gets much much much bigger requiring much much much more food and only eat meat such as mice, rats, turkey and the like and potentially cost much more than your other animals. also this out door house hasnt been built yet im guessing from you posting it only a few days ago. i just want to make sure you understand that this will most likely not be a "tame" animal seeing as there is no "tame" monitors especially niles and ornates and handling, especially at such a young age and experience level, can be very dangerous.
i just want to let you know my past experiences before you write me off as being mean or raining on your parade because i can see you are very excited about this and i see my past when reading your post. when i was a year or two older than you are i owned beardeds and my tegu ad was wanting to venture in a monitor such as a V.salvator or V.panoptes but when i posted about this on a monitor lizard forum i got absolutly scolded and thought everyone was just telling me not too. reasons such as my experience level, age, the fact i was still living at home, college and my future was all givin to me and i was very angry because i was excited but i decided to wait so i wouldnt be scolded again when i posted i got one. I am very glad i did this because once collage came i moved away to collage and ended up having to sell my beardeds because my parents would only take care of one animal and i choose my tegu. not having a job ment scrounging up the money to buy rats and other food for him and was stressful until i got back home to take care of him. i got lucky because my mom took great care of him but from the sounds of it you parents dont care for them much and i have to question what will come of the monitor when you move out to collage or whatever you move on and do with your life. dorms do not allow pets and such an agressive feeder can really scare parents.

im sorry if that was long winded but im not telling you to do one thing or the other. im just trying to help you make an informed decision like what was was givin to me.

-Mat Hoosier

 

[Dereks-Dragons]

the outdoor buolding is being built in a few weeks, i personally could care less if it is a tame handleable animal, it will be nice to have such a beautiful "SHOWCASE" Animal. hes hoing in a 7X2 until the new building is built then im going to buoild a massive cage, what size shoudl i go? size is no issue at all here so dont be afraid to tell me what size it rele should be in, im aware of all the costs and such and its all good. i will be using uvb btw, and when i go to college my dad is going to care for them when im away IF i go to far to care for tem myself. i dont plan on going very far For college though. my dad lieks the larger ones, my mom jsut hates the big ones lol.

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how big is yours?btw.

 

[hoosier]

i would go 8'X4' or a little bigger. they seem pretty active so the larger the better. like i said i didnt know much about your situation, i was trying to get you to think a bit before hand lol
how big is my what? enclosure?

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also thought id share their potential size. from cute little guy to:
http://www.reptileparrots.com/t294-ornate-monitor-varanus-ornatus

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the first pic especially

 

[james.w]

I would go 12x6x6.

 

[Dereks-Dragons]

12x6x6.. THATS AWSOME lol. its gonna look great. and no, how big is your ornate lol

 

[hoosier]

as stated i dont own any varanids at this time. just my tegu just until i get my own place and into a situation where i can comfortably care for one. they are alot of time space, care and money to keep lol

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when i do decide to get one i will get a V.panoptes hornii most likely. im not a big fan of the african species such as the V.ornatus or niloticus or even V.exanthematicus really. i like the australian and asian species the most. but thats not saying much as there is only 6 or so from africa i believe lol

 

[herpgirl2510]

Not to be a downer but like stated above I hope you have alot of reptile keeping experience. They are a whole different ball game than tegu. They are messier can be much more aggressive and get very big and powerful. I would have considered waiting until after college that is a big responsibilty to give to your dad especially since he does not keep reptiles.

 

[Tikikitty95]

Lol yeah my Sav is about full grown and as sweet as he can be, he has tried to take my hand off on a few occasions. Lucky for me my Blackthroat is very mild and has only ever bitten once, when he was really sick and agitated, because they can get pretty big too. I wish you luck with your monitor. I have no desire to get any more of the larger lizards except maybe a Caiman lizard.

 

[james.w]

Lol yeah my Sav is about full grown and as sweet as he can be, he has tried to take my hand off on a few occasions. Lucky for me my Blackthroat is very mild and has only ever bitten once, when he was really sick and agitated, because they can get pretty big too. I wish you luck with your monitor. I have no desire to get any more of the larger lizards except maybe a Caiman lizard.

How big are your Sav and BT? Any pics?

 

[hoosier]

Im curious, did you end up getting the V.ornatus?
V.albigularis are pretty chill from what i have heard. gorgeous monitor aslo but yeah they get pretty thick and sadly many like the savs get fat due to their rodent diet adding even more to their weight

 

[Tikikitty95]

My Sav, Goliath (original right?), is over 2 1/2 feet almost 3 and around 10 lbs. It's been a couple months since I last weighed him.. Gwazi (my blackthroat) is about 1 1/2 feet.

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Please excuse the mess in the one picture of Gwazi. Like I said he's sick at the moment and he's been going all over after the enemas I gave him. He's a lot better than he was believe me.

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Woops.. Let me fix that.
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[attachment=2968]

 

[CrankbaitJedi]

Monitors are awesome!!! That being said, there are two monitors I told my wife to bash me in the head with a skillet if I tried to bring one home...
1. Crocodile monitor
2. Nile Monitor (Ornate or Common)

I have owned Savannahs, BlackThroats, Argus, Flavi-crosses, Ackies and Waters. All of em, if they are healthy and warm are hell on wheels. Sure, when they get 6 feet and 20 plus pounds they tend to appear a little more calm but that is just to lure you in to some anthropomorphication (that a good word?) so you let them free roam and then they tail whip your teeth out. Gotta love em. Now, I know there are the statistical outliers that sleep in beds and french kiss their owners but that is not the norm and no amount of patience or nurturing is going to tame down thousands of years of hard programming. The french kisser is lucky to be in captivity because it would have been eaten in the wild...

There is a reason Nile monitors are not as pricey. They are nasty!!! And I say that with a lot of respect. Once people get em home and they get tail whipped and shat on daily, the animal all of a sudden just doesn't have as much appeal.

Good luck sir...

 

[chelvis]

I have to agree that Niles and croc monitors are off my want list. I realy want one of those sulfer water monitors! Captive breed and from tame parents odds are more on your side. I would still understand if the monitor would want nothing more than to scratch me up and tail whip me though that is the monitor.