by JeffG » Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:59 pm
Hi Cobra100,
I have kept Ridge Tails before but never bred them, but from my experience your best shot at getting eggs would be to get your cage better set up for Ridge tails. Carpet is a big NO-NO in monitor husbandary and in my opnion lizard husbandary in general.
Being a terrestrial species they lay eggs underground, about 15cm of burrowable dirt is required not only for egg deposition but also for the ability to thermoregulate properly, they need burrows to escape the heat of the day and to feel secure in the knowledge that the have an area to escape ''threats'', like you and me. They also need an extremely hot hotspot, just an area were they can bask of about 40-45'C.
Monitors are by nature foragers and need to be able to carry out their daily activities as they would in nature, a substrate they can dig in and adequate hotspots area must have.
if a female does not find an adequate nesting site she will either reabsorb the eggs or if already shelled she may hold onto them become egg bound and die. Another aspect that could be causing her to stress and reabsorb eggs could the stress of being removed from her environment and having her nails clipped or handling stress, but i don't know how ofen you handle them. I mean know offence to you and im sure you are a dedicated reptile keeper but your cage set up sounds alot like something you would expect for geckos (i am merely assuming this as i have never kept geckos). Varanids require a different sort of environment and won't lay in a box of peat moss. If you follow some of the pointers here you will be well on your way to getting some nice eggs!
I must congratulate you on your diet it is awesome to hear of people feeding their monitors whole prey items, the way to go in my opinion!
Good luck. I look forward to hearing about your future successes,
Jeff