Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[Eddie]

Hello,

We got two Bosc Monitors on Sunday, the female is about 40 cm long and the male about 90 cm. They both settled in well and have been very active exploring their vivarium and the rest of the room. They both fed on Monday and appeared to have very healthy appetites!!

Since Monday the smaller female has become very listless and spends most of her time asleep under the basking light. I have just fed them and the smaller female was not interested in food at all – she didn’t even get up to have a look (a complete contrast to Monday). The larger monitor is still very active and fed well.

Do you think she is just taking longer to settle in or could this be something more serious? Any advice would be appreciated.

[Scott W]

Check your temps, spending all it's time basking is not a good sign, either very poor health or too low temperatures.
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[Eddie]

Thanks Scott, I have just put another spot in the viv on a stat to go with the basking spot. I checked her over and she shows no physical signs of illness. Will keep a close eye on her and see if raising the temp helps.

Cheers

[arborgoanna]

I don't think an additional spotlamp is necessary, all you need to do is increase the basking spot's temperatures. This is usually achieved by raising the basking platform/branch/etc. closer to the bulb. Another alternative, which may incidentally increase the ambient temperatures within the enclosure, is to increase the wattage of the bulb.

Depending on the size of the enclosure, adding an additional basking lamp can diminish the temperature gradient which a monitor lizard needs.

Good luck, if it is sick, a hotter basking temperature will allow it to boost its metabolism, and thus strengthen its immune system to fight off whatever it may be afflicted with. However, I do feel that the symptoms you have described are the product of an insufficient basking temperature, where the animal is unable to achieve preferred body temperatures, and thus sits under the basking spot frequently/for long durations.

Cheers,

Bob

[Eddie]

Thanks for all your advice, after increasing the ambient temp she seems a lot happier and ate well yesterday!!