That is essentially the plan, though I will most likely just go with three, as the chances of getting all males or all females is slim.
My Little Monsters
- Thread starter Wiggles92
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They're all growing pretty fast except for the smallest one. That one is growing a bit slower than the rest, so I am going to move it to its own enclosure soon and will power-feed it in order to get it to catch up to the others. The others are growing at or above the proper growth rate for young monitors and have already put on an inch or two as well as a decent bit of weight; they don't look skinny any more and have a nice filled-out look to them.
Note to self: Do not feed them whole fish while sharing a room with their enclosure. It's not bad when it goes in, but it's downright awful when they make "fishy poo stew" in their water bowl while I'm away for the day...
I've named the newer two monitors. The larger one is Chester which is short for Chester the Molester; "he" has a habit of mounting any monitor that "he" is in with (no biting, just mounting). The smaller one is Dinky because it's so much smaller than the rest.
I put them all in the same tub for a size comparison and noticed that there was a decent size difference between the four monitors; Chomper & Chester are pretty close in size while Zippy is closer in size to Dinky than it's to the other two. As such, I put Chomper & Chester together and moved Zippy & Dinky together; everything seems to be going fine thus far besides Chester still living up to his name even with a new roommate.
Just you wait until you have a monitor that does it to you. It makes clean-up a breeze, but the smell takes a little longer to get rid of (gone now thankfully).
I put them all in the same tub for a size comparison and noticed that there was a decent size difference between the four monitors; Chomper & Chester are pretty close in size while Zippy is closer in size to Dinky than it's to the other two. As such, I put Chomper & Chester together and moved Zippy & Dinky together; everything seems to be going fine thus far besides Chester still living up to his name even with a new roommate.
Just you wait until you have a monitor that does it to you. It makes clean-up a breeze, but the smell takes a little longer to get rid of (gone now thankfully).
Chester's going to be a big male, and the most brave and mean one of the bunch. Mark my words..
What you are seeing is him asserting his dominance, it's perfectly normal and nothing to worry about. He is essentially saying "I'm bigger than you, don't get in my way, I eat first, blah blah blah." One of the wonderful things about monitors and the main reason keeping them together works even for multiple males is that they will establish a hierarchy instead of killing one another outright. The same is true for adults and babies, but the reason it is often ill-advised to put two unsocialized adults together is that until the chain of command is established, they need to be able to get well away from each other, and as adults, it's hard to provide a cage that big. Babies simply work out the chain of command as they grow, making it much easier.
Oh I know all about the messes monitors and any other reptiles will make in their water bowls. Fish and crustaceans are okay as staples for niles, and in fact they eat more of them in the wild than they do rodents. One of the main reasons rodents are a much preferred staple though is that they have fur, whereas fish and crustaceans.. Not so much, as you just found out.
Chester's going to be a big male, and the most brave and mean one of the bunch. Mark my words..
What you are seeing is him asserting his dominance, it's perfectly normal and nothing to worry about. He is essentially saying "I'm bigger than you, don't get in my way, I eat first, blah blah blah." One of the wonderful things about monitors and the main reason keeping them together works even for multiple males is that they will establish a hierarchy instead of killing one another outright. The same is true for adults and babies, but the reason it is often ill-advised to put two unsocialized adults together is that until the chain of command is established, they need to be able to get well away from each other, and as adults, it's hard to provide a cage that big. Babies simply work out the chain of command as they grow, making it much easier.
Oh I know all about the messes monitors and any other reptiles will make in their water bowls. Fish and crustaceans are okay as staples for niles, and in fact they eat more of them in the wild than they do rodents. One of the main reasons rodents are a much preferred staple though is that they have fur, whereas fish and crustaceans.. Not so much, as you just found out.
I guess we'll find out "his" gender for sure around Christmas if their growth progresses properly. "He" definitely seems to be growing the fastest and is now the largest one despite being smaller than the original two when I got "him" & Dinky. My main concern was if "he" took the whole mounting deal a bit too far and started giving "love bites" while "he" was at it.
"He" also does this weird head jerk thing when "he" mounts the others. Any idea if that's of any significance because I can't find a thing on it?
I did realize that fish & crustaceans were healthier, but they'll just be getting crustaceans (mainly scallops) as their seafood for now until I determine a way to minimize the smell; their scallop poo isn't as bad as their fishy poo.
He shouldn't, and if he does it means they need a bigger cage. Dominance displays do not normally include biting, and nor do mating rituals. It happens sometimes during the latter, but often that's essentially because the male is doing a little date rape since the female can't escape. Again, the meaning is that they need a bigger cage. A healthy breeding should not involve biting.
What breeding does involve a lot of is a head twitching motion by the male as he courts the female. If the female is receptive, she will usually join in the head twitching.
What breeding does involve a lot of is a head twitching motion by the male as he courts the female. If the female is receptive, she will usually join in the head twitching.
Jeez, I guess more than just people these days start with the whole copulation deal at a fairly young age... I haven't noticed any biting or injuries, so I'll let him continue for now.
