Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[Rickeezee]

Can someone please describe the ideal viv for a green tree monitor please? Precise detail would be great.

Thanks
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www.rickslivefood.co.uk

[baloo]

check out bobs site, treemonitors.com for some good enclosures
great ideas there m8
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ULI

[Rickeezee]

Will do have had a quick glance, and will take some time out tomoz lock the door block my ears and not come out till I have abosrbed as much as poss.
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www.rickslivefood.co.uk

[baloo]

building aboreal enclosures is fairly simple if u use a showertray for drainage.
on livefoods someone posted pix of such a project they build for their cham.
looks real good and will last forever if its propperly sealed
and it sure looks ilke it is
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ULI

[Rickeezee]

[arborgoanna]

There are many suitable techniques for housing tree monitors. Many different setups have attributed to the successful keeping and breeding of these animals. A barrage of different sizes, dimensions, etc. have worked, although being the tree denizens that they are, I would focus the emphasis on height, provided we will never be able to accommodate the height that they truly need and use out bush.

Some other aspects which I believe are important, is high humidity (ventilation is a no-no, in my opinion), suitable hiding areas (tight fitting crevices/hollows), and thick, vertically oriented tree trunks. Due to the elongate body plan of these animals, as well as their long limbs, it is likely that these animals utilize thick trunks and limbs in their daily activities. Smaller, narrower branches for an animal with long spindly legs would be difficult to navigate on, and would easily get tripped up while navigating through the trees. If given the opportunity to do so, you will also find that tree monitors seem to prefer hanging/resting in a vertical position on cage walls/tree trunks, etc.

One of the biggest things that I try to articulate on in my enclosures is space maximization. This technique I learned from several European keepers, and I began kicking myself for not thinking of this on my own. If one was to cover every wall of the enclosure with a climbable material such as cork bark, Cork tiles, cork sheet, vinyl hardware cloth, burlap, etc., you will increase the total amount of surface area available to the monitor by at least threefold. With an arboreal species, such as a tree monitor, cage walls are a valuable plot of real estate, which often goes unused. For such an active lizard species, they will make use of every square inch of the enclosure, if they are allowed to do so.

There are some various photographs of tree monitor enclosures posted on my website, which can give you some ideas for an enclosure of your own. I myself am currently working on a display enclosure for a lone male prasinus that I have (more or less my "pet"), that is not paired up at the moment. While I do not expect to complete this enclosure anytime soon, I will be sure to post photos of it here, as well as in my photo gallery.

I hope this helps, these are my thoughts on housing the Varanus prasinus complex. Like I said, there are many ways of keeping them successfully, one of the best ways of deciphering what's best, is testing new ideas and variables out yourself, and seeing how your animals respond to them. That is one of the fun parts of reptile keeping, nothing is static.

Take care and have a wonderful day,

Bob

http://treemonitors.com/photoenclosures.htm

[Rickeezee]

Very informative Bob, thank you. Your right yes, trying out variations is the best way forward once the basic parameters have been taken care of, the fine tuning / tweaking comes later. Spot on about utilising all the available wall space, very logical!

Thanks again.

Rick
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www.rickslivefood.co.uk

[Rickeezee]

Bob, great website, I have started to read through it and digest as much as I can. I could not link onto the misconceptions articles though?

A lot of time and effort has been put into this site, it is well written and highly informative. I am looking forward to reading more from the site.

Highly recommended, thanks Bob.
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www.rickslivefood.co.uk