Thought I would talk about these guys a little bit. Ive been ackie happy lately since I got that clutch going. But I cant forget about these guys!

I have a trio of them. They are two years old. I love'em to tears. Fascinating monitors. They dont "lumber" like a lot of monitors do. They move kinda like geckos. Very graceful and quick. Lightning fast when they wanna be.

They have a reputation of being shy. Mine are pretty good. They will take foods from my hand and the male will even climb onto my arm. But they do NOT like being grasped. They flip out. If you want to move them the best way is to just cradle them in your hand without restraining them. Regardless, this is still not a species that appreciates a lot of handle. More of a look only touch when necessary.

Ive had 3 clutches from them but so far no babies. Hatching Kimmies is notoriously difficult. Just getting them to nest right is a challenge. Quite a few keepers have lost females due to eggbinding. If you dont provide a nest site they like they wont just drop the eggs randomly. Well, they might, but more often than not they will die. Scary, huh? The first nesting was in the nest box I provided but the medium was too wet and eggs went south. Huge bummer. Second nesting was from the other female in the cage itself under some cork bark. Got 5 eggs and they cooked for a month before they went to pieces. Third time I missed it. The first female (I believe) layed a small clutch only 3 eggs and I didnt get to it in time. They are tricky. They are so freakin' flat its sometimes hard to tell when they are gravid. And secretive. Ive never seen them breed. Ackies and argus will breed on your living room floor. Not these guys. At least not mine.

One of the keys to keeping these guys alive and well is snug hides. And I mean snug. I use Retes stacks (All Hail) and I make them tight enough so the lizards have to wiggle in. They loooooooooove this. It kinda mimics the crevices they would live in out in the wild. They also seem to like a finer substrate than some other monitors. I use a mix of sand, soil and coco husk and they dig it. Literally. Took me a little while to get there. They are picky, picky, picky!

They really like to climb. I hesitate to call them arboreal as they are not strictly tree dwellers like say a green iguana but they do enjoy climbing. And MAN are they good at it.

When I got them as hatchlings I found them to be a bit more delicate than your average monitor. A little fussy about eating and as babies they do NOT like intrusions. They will run and hide if something approaches their cage. I got them going on fresh ground turkey. Not my #1 choice as a staple but better that than nothing. I also use small amounts of scrambled egg. I used a trick I learned from Frank Retes. The babies are loathe to leave their hides so I started putting their little food dishes under cover and that worked like a charm. I tried small crickets and gradually they started to munch on them. Also started adding chopped pinkies to the turkey and over time weaned them off turkey and onto just pinks.

Now the adults eat roaches and fuzzies. They do not eat crickets. They just decided one day "We dont want crickets no mo' " and that was that. I dont feed them turkey because I dont wanna start that nonsense again. Now that I have them on steady roaches/rodents thats where they're gonna stay.

As usual, Im a horrible photog but here's a pic of a gravid female:


http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg239/Varanus99/013.jpg

I understand monitors as a whole are pretty difficult to keep. Each species needing a specific set of rules and regs as far as living conditions, hides , soil types and depths, AND sucessful breeding. And most need more room than many people realize. Once you get it down I'm sure it's very rewarding. I've always wanted at least a sav (or a KOMODO)LOL. Maybe one day I'll get the sav though. I like most things prehistoric looking. Good luck with those.

Quig

Hey Quig,

You make interesting points Id like to address.

Monitors across the board actually have very similar needs. Each specific species just needs a little tweaking. With the exception of certain ones like the green trees which of course require much taller enclosures than the ground dwellers. But overall, what works for a sav will work for an ackie will work for an argus. With just some tweaking. But they all enjoy high basking temps, good hides and most will burrow if given the chance.

Yes they require more space than people think to really thrive. As I often say, its not a ball python you cant keep it in a drawer. The bare minimum is 2x the animals total lenth long but 1x its length deep. Height will depend on species. So for a 3' monitor you are looking at a 6' long by 3' deep cage and even that is BARELY what the animal needs. What makes them shine is when you give them more space. Then they REALLY act like monitors. Nothing sadder than a big monitor in a small cage. It just sits there.

Savs are a decent monitor to start with. They have a lot of good qualities. They are very tolerant of keeper mistakes. They eat anything. Given the right temps and some soil to dig in they are sturdy critters. Usually quite docile. Some are downright friendly dare I say. Their one drawback is their size. They are a medium sized monitor but still can easily hit the 4' mark which makes caging them a daunting task for some folks. But if you have the space not a bad choice at all.

I'll take one of those Komodos if you have extras. Ill rent it an apartment if I have to. :)

Kimberly's have always been one of my favorites. Such cool little ones, and the little part always attracted me to them.

I hope you can get a viable clutch from them sometime soon and we can do some wheeling and dealing....even though I swore off the heat lights and mercury bulbs but they would be well worth it in a cool display set up....

I will produce baby Kimmies if its the last thing I do.

They are an AWESOME display animal. Most of my animals are in troughs but I just HAD to set these guys up in a display cage so I can actually see them!

Thanks for the info. I really love Kimberly's, and plan to get some more monitor species once I move into a larger house. I used to have several monitors and tegus, but since I moved to PA I had to give them up. Now I just keep 1 green tree. They sure are wonderful animals to keep. My green tree decided a couple weeks ago that he refuses to eat roaches anymore, so now he will only eat mice, crickets and super worms. I really wish he'd go back the the roaches, since it's so much easier to feed a couple roaches rather than a dozen or more crickets at a time.

Good luck with your breeding project.

Fan-freaking-tastic info V.. Nice tight hides.. Yup damn good info

Hey Quig,



I'll take one of those Komodos if you have extras. Ill rent it an apartment if I have to. :)


Unfortunately, as you probably well know, they are next to impossible to get unless you're a friggin' zoo. I think you'd have to house them in at least a full sized basement LOL.

Unfortunately, as you probably well know, they are next to impossible to get unless you're a friggin' zoo. I think you'd have to house them in at least a full sized basement LOL.

Oh true true. I was just foolin' around. Honestly I wouldnt take one of those suckers even if I had the chance. Not fair to the animal. A Komodo doesnt belong in a house. Not to mention it could easily eat the neighbors cat. Or the neighbor. Or both.

Not to mention it could easily eat the neighbors cat. Or the neighbor. Or both.

Uhhh , YUP!!!:lol:

Thanks for the info. I really love Kimberly's, and plan to get some more monitor species once I move into a larger house. I used to have several monitors and tegus, but since I moved to PA I had to give them up. Now I just keep 1 green tree. They sure are wonderful animals to keep. My green tree decided a couple weeks ago that he refuses to eat roaches anymore, so now he will only eat mice, crickets and super worms. I really wish he'd go back the the roaches, since it's so much easier to feed a couple roaches rather than a dozen or more crickets at a time.

Good luck with your breeding project.

Thanks.

Thats still a damn good diet for a green tree. Crickets, worms and rodents sounds great. Its funny how some of the smaller species of varanid just decide out of the blue they dont want a certain prey item any more. Like a 3 year old.

"I dun want roaches no mo''"

But you always liked roaches I dont understand...

"No no no no no no"

FINE! EAT WHATEVER YOU WANT!!!!!!!
:machinegun:

I agree about monitors shining with space. My blackthroat is magnificent in the outdoor pen, with bright sunshine, and space to roam and glare at the entire world. When she's inside, she sits and sulks a lot, only perking up when I let her out to roam the house.
I loved the Kimberlys when I first saw them online.. I wish you the BEST of luck, since i really want to see some babys crawling out of eggs.

Those are SWEET little monitors, and unfortunately don't seem all that common. I know I saw a male posted on KS not too long ago for sale... least to say I was definitely tempted!

Post more pictures if you've got em'!

Yes they can be hard to come by.

I have seen a few adult males posted for sale. Its possible that someone bought a trio and ended up with 2.1 and is selling off the extra male. That is not uncommon among monitors. Its also possible someone bought a pair and the female died to due egg laying issues. Very common.

Once they get out of their delicate hatchling stage they are not difficult to keep. Or breed for that matter. The challenge is getting the females to nest right and even more challenging getting those damn eggs to hatch. Only a handful of people have been sucessful.

I think Ive got most of the puzzle put together. I have healthy adults that eat well. They do breed and produce viable eggs. I have to fine tune the nesting a little (I got ideas) and then kneel down in front of the incubator and pray a lot during the long, long cooking process.

Sadly Ive seen more pics online of fully formed baby kimmies who died in the egg than Ive seen hatchlings. Hopefully that will change as we learn more about them. Remember it wasnt all that long ago that monitor breeding of any kind was considered all but impossible. We are still in our infancy when it comes to monitor breeding in the private sector.

Final note Id be cautious of buying a lone male. Unless you are just looking for a display animal. If you are interested in perhaps breeding them finding a female to pair him up with will be like the labors of Hercules. Nobody is giving up their females.

I agree about monitors shining with space. My blackthroat is magnificent in the outdoor pen, with bright sunshine, and space to roam and glare at the entire world. When she's inside, she sits and sulks a lot, only perking up when I let her out to roam the house.
I loved the Kimberlys when I first saw them online.. I wish you the BEST of luck, since i really want to see some babys crawling out of eggs.


Its great you can give your blackthroat an outdoor pen. Those are magnificent lizards no doubt but beyond the reach of most keepers myself included. I only have one large monitor and do not have the room any more. And what I have for the croc is just barely acceptable. And its only temporary. Plus, I like trios and I certainly could not properly house a trio of blackthroats! Holy Moley that would be a big cage! So I stick with the smaller species which I can keep indoors and still give them a good amount of space.

Ill say it again: Nothing sadder than a big monitor in a small cage. I wish I had a nickel for every savannah Ive seen languishing away in a 55 gallon tank.

I'll have to pick your brain about how to intregate another blackthroat in with Moggie. I'm afriad that she(?) would kill the other lizard or vice versa.
I love owning my home. I can build pens, not worrying about them being permament or not.

Thats a tough one.

The sort answer is it's hit or miss. Sometimes they will get along sometimes they wont.

When breeding monitors its always best to aquire a small group of 3-4 and raise them from hatchlings. That gives you your best chance of getting a compatible pair. And once the group is established and getting along its unlikely that they will just wake up one day and decide to destroy each other. But when you introduce a new guy it can sometimes cause problems.

First thing you need to do is determine if you have a male or female for sure. Adult BTs arent that tough. Males have much larger heads,a more stout neck and hemipenal bulges near the base of their tail. But sometimes its hard to compare/contrast head and neck size unless you're looking at more than one animal. The bulges are a better clue. On large monitors like your guy they are pretty pronounced. Also, males will sometimes evert their hemipenes and drag it around the cage to mark territory. If your albig is 4-5 years old and you've never noticed this behavior than you MIGHT have a female. They will also sometimes evert when defecating. But females can also evert their hemiclitoris and to the untrained eye it can be hard to distinquish that from a hemipienes. Finally, a partially everted hemipenes could easily be mistaken for a hemiclitoris. A fully everted hemipenes is easier. It "flowers" at the end while the female sex organ is smooth. Damn, dont you wish we could just pop or probe them? :)

Ok, lets assume you have a female and have found a similar sized male and want to introduce the happy couple. There is no surefire way to do this. It really depends on the animals they are all different. However you can take some steps to help your chances.

You dont want to just drop a new monitor into another monitors cage. Thats like ringing the bell at a boxing match. I mean, you could get very, very lucky but that would be your best chance of a fight. Monitors are smart. They know their territory. They know and recognize the other animals living in their territory. When a new animal shows up they know about. So to help your chances remove your established animal from the cage and move some stuff around. Put in some new hides, clean the cage of any fecal matter since that has a strong scent, confuse'em a little. Then put them together and WATCH them. The first few days are going to be key. Watch how they behave around one another. And prepared to break them up should things get ugly. You will probably have to have another enclosure ready to house the male if they dont get along. Thats the chance we take when introducing adults, its risky. You have a large cage so that helps.

They may start tongue flicking and smelling each other. Checking each other out. Walking around each other in circles. If he is a sexually mature male he may be very interested in the female and follow her around a little. Im not talkng about courtship just general interest. If the female tail whips a little or puffs up that doesnt necessarily mean they arent compatible. They could just mean "leave me alone right now". If she hisses, strikes, shakes or hides constantly then you gonna worry. Non-compatibility doesnt always mean out and out war. It could also be dominance. Usually a male dominating a female but some females will dominate other females or even a male. If the female hides all the time, refuses to eat, etc she could be in trouble even if she shows no outward signs of fighting. Once again if that happens you have to seperate them or your female will slowly decline.

Ok, lets assume (we're assuming a lot today) they dont fight and dont seem to mind each other. Another thing you have to watch for is an overly aggressive male. Some males will be interested in breeding the females (Yea!) but they are too rough. They bite deep, constantly harrass the females and tear them up in the process. This is especially true of the larger monitors like your guy. A male breeder like this will eventually kill the female in his quest to reproduce. And sometimes there's nothing you can do. I have one male like this. He does not get along with others so I have to keep him alone for life. He is now my "pet" and not part of any breeding groups. Hes a great animal, great eater and a strong breeder. A bit too strong.

Then you have the potential of a pair of animals who dont fight but dont seem interested in each other at all. They just ignore each other and may never breed. It happens. They just arent compatible. Why? Only they know.

Finally...I gotta end with sometime positive...you COULD get lucky and find a pair that dont fight and actually like each other and will breed for you.

Breeding monitors is hard. Thats why the market isnt flooded with monitor babies. I mean look at leopard geckos. Right now I could order 1000 baby normal leopard geckos if I wanted to. They are easy to produce as far as lizards go. But I couldnt do that with any CAPTIVE BRED monitors even if I had unlimited funds. They just dont exist. They are available in limited numbers. Even the "easy" ones like ackies are only available here and there. Monitors arent like snakes. Its much more involved. Its rewarding and fascinating but tough.

Monitors arent like snakes. Its much more involved. Its rewarding and fascinating but tough.

And they wouldn't be as much fun if they were any different.

Good luck on finding that compatible male for her. I don't envy the position you're in. Though, I'm sure I will have a much harder time finding a suitable mate for my green tree male.

Man that girl looks like she's about to explode!