Ridge Tail Monitors Breeding?

[Cobra100]

Hey guys....was wondering if anyone has ever bred these lizards. I've had them for almost 2 years now and regularly see them mating but nothing more than that. They're realy amazing and would love to see some babies!

[Buck Rogers]

They have been bred before, contact Tyrone at Dragon Fire I think he has done it quite regularly. But the main thing with breeding monitor lizards is their environment, if you set the environment up correctly it should happen quite easily.

Is the female the one on the bottom in the last pic? Have you been supplying them with calcium?

[Cobra100]

Yes..the one at the bottom is the female. I give calsium every second feeding and they are fed only fuzzy mice. They have plenty of hiding spots and a moist box wich they really enjoy.

[Buck Rogers]

First advise that I can give is to lose the carpet on the bottom of the cage, I have never kept ackies before but NO lizard should have carpet as a substrate. Once you have seen a monitor lizard pull a toe nail out after getting hooked on carpets you will understand why, also if they get caught on the carpet they can panic and twist or break a leg.

Your female does definitely look "full" is she always so round or is this happened recently?

[Cobra100]

She's been like that since the begining, i think their just well fed! I've got about 10 different lizzard species all on carpet but i keep the nails clipped because of that problem. So far non of them has ever been caught on the carpet. There is a large moist box with peat in the cage for them to dig and lay eggs. Maybe they just wasn't right.....maybe this year i'll have some better luck.

[JeffG]

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

[Cobra100]

Hey...thanks Jeff, i have had them on deep soil before but they dig burrows and disapear for weeks...even months and then they don't eat and don't grow. I've had them on peat but then they swollow the peat and regurgerate their food. Since i've had them on carpet their always active, always eating and exploring very inquisitive, when i open the cage they come to me hoping for food. All i'm saying is that i'm afraid that if i put them on deep substrate again they will disapear for months again, lose weight and i can't see how thats going to help them?

Lets say i try the deep substrate again...with the basking and uv lights. Would you use night lights and heat pads as adisional heat?

[JeffG]

Hi Cobra100,

With a substrate they can burrow in you can leave your basking lights on 24/7 as they will have somewhere to hide away from light or you could use high wattage infra-reg lights. Maybe you could try gradually increasing the substrate depth so that they dont just hide straight away, add a few centimetres at a time. if they are not afraid of you then you shouldn't have a problem with them ducking it.

Alternatively you could have moderately deep substrate say about 8 or 9cm and then just pile one corner up really deep so they have a slope to dig into rather than just going down, this way if they don't come out to eat for awhile you will know where to dig them out to feed them.

Just a suggestion from my side but to each their own,
Thanks,
Jeff

[Cobra100]

Well i guess your right...although they seem perfectly happy as it is right now! I'll give the substrate another try...but what would you recomend as substrate?

[JeffG]

Hi Cobra100,

I am not trying to force you to do anything with your animals that you don't want to i am merely suggesting what i would and did do.

I would use a mixture similar as what i use for Bosc's (topsoil/potting soil and playpen sand) but i would mix it about 70% playpen sand and 30% potting or topsoil. wet it down every now and again to keep the humidity at desired level and also to keep the dirt firm enough to hold a decent burrow.

Thanks,
Jeff

[Carpetpythons]

Have you ever kept this specie Jeff? They are not like bosc monitors in any way. I have kept and bred them for years now. You can not keep their lights on the whole day. They only need day heat and a hot spot somewhere in the cage. 40-50 degrees should be fine. They dont need night heating at all unless you live in england and it gets to below freezing at night. Use slate tiles stacked on top of each other for hiding places. They will breed if you keep them this way. Males eat the eggs if they are kept together. You could also have two animals of the same sex.

[JeffG]

Hi Carpetpythons,

i have infact kept this species. If you have bred them successfully then he should rather take your advice, i was merely stating the basics for varanid husbandary, which in my opinion would have been better than sticking to carpet, this is merely an opinion and whether or not you have the same opinion is up to you.

Cobra100, as carpetpythons suggested you could then have two males. I have read somewhere, i can't put my finger on were though, of a dominant male actauly penetrating a subordinate male. This could be the case aswell.

Good Luck,
Jeff

[Cobra100]

Thanks guys....i've got some new idea's to what i think i should do. The stacked slate tiles is a great idea....they're always squising into the smallest spaces! As far as i know its almost imosible to sex these lizzards?

Carpetpythons......what do you use as nesting material?

[Buck Rogers]

I have to agree with carpet python with regard to the slate tiles but Jeff does have a point about the soil for laying. I admit that I have never kept this species before and don't know about the breeding of them but I am skeptical about using a laybox would work, but as I said I have no experience with this species.

Carpet python - how have yours laid eggs in the past?

[Carpetpythons]

Desert sand.