varanus melinus Breeding - Page 3

mo9e64 · 05-06-12, 08:07 AM

I can't find where you said you changed to 50w bulbs,if so that's a bit better.And sorry if i am wrong but maybe i had the wrong impression that your new top still has quite a bit of ventilation.
Substrate is very important if it's deep and too cold,it's not useable,low eighties is useable.When i said your cage is harder to control,there are things you can do to make it better.Like Jarich said get a deeper substrate ,lower the bulbs to heat the substrate-you will still have useable space up top-like many have mentioned heat rises.
I know people think i'm rude,but really i'm trying to help,i've raised these types of monitors.Trust me the babies are the easy part.

rullom · 05-06-12, 08:54 AM

No i didn't think you were rude...I was generally confused because its hard to tell if posts arnwer other posts or the one preceding it. Thanks a lot.

mo9e64 · 05-06-12, 09:27 AM

infernalis · 05-06-12, 09:33 AM

I tried to fix your picture, but there is not enough information inside the [img] brackets to even get at the picture. Sorry,......

mo9e64 · 05-06-12, 09:35 AM

no problem-thought i'd try

rullom · 05-07-12, 02:27 PM

Can anyone confirm the following...i don't know if every monitor species is the same but I was doing some more reading on sexual maturation and it seems like the articles that I read all mentioned maturation around 3-4 years of age. I of course only care about Melinus but can't find anything specific for that species. My 'motive' is to avoid egg bound females. Can anyone verify or agree/disagree with this 3+year idea. I always thought it was 1.5years but I am wrong I think and I don't want to run into avoidable problems.
Thanks in advance

bodiddleyitis · 05-08-12, 12:21 AM

There isn't anything specific to Varanus melinus because virtually nothing is known about its ecology and captive breeding has been very limited. How quickly monitors grow/mature depends entirely on the conditions they experience. It's usually more useful to know the approximate snout-vent length they mature at, rather than their age. For animals in captivity 3+ years is very slow for almost all species. Your best option would be to buy a group of babies too young to sex and raise them together. But you also might want to consider that melinus is a small island endemic species and there are grave concerns about the effect of pet trade harvesting on their conservation status.

mo9e64 · 05-08-12, 06:13 AM

Greg mentioned in another post it's important to give them many nesting options,fatalities occur due to improper nesting choices and improper husbandry.

Gregg M · 05-08-12, 06:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rullom

Can anyone confirm the following...i don't know if every monitor species is the same but I was doing some more reading on sexual maturation and it seems like the articles that I read all mentioned maturation around 3-4 years of age. I of course only care about Melinus but can't find anything specific for that species. My 'motive' is to avoid egg bound females. Can anyone verify or agree/disagree with this 3+year idea. I always thought it was 1.5years but I am wrong I think and I don't want to run into avoidable problems.
Thanks in advance

It all depends on the species to be honest. I would say that 3 to 4 years would be extreme for most species. Even the larger common species like V. salvator and V. albigularis are ready to breed in 2 years or less. We have have V. pilbara females lay fertile eggs at 9 months old.

The least of my worries would be egg binding. Egg binding has very little to do with age. With reptiles, egg size at laying depends on the actual size of the female. Generally a smaller female will lay smaller eggs, larger females will lay larger eggs.

What does cause female varanids to become eggbound is improper nesting options, sub par husbandry, and poor health.

mo9e64 · 05-08-12, 06:46 AM

Alot of these threads are about things that you should worry about later,why not start at the beginning and work to the end.The beginning is having a cage setup properly,second is picking a apparently healthy monitor,third is supporting it properly-the rest like breeding and longevity are the result of doing the first steps.As simple as that seems,to me anyway-it's the least practiced.Taming and breeding can be a natural progression.If you do things right ,realize these monitors live quite long,you have time.

rullom · 05-08-12, 06:47 AM

ok thanks. If anyone comes across sexual maturity or age of first egg deposition for 'melinus' please let me know. I'll keep looking in the internet.

mo9e64 · 05-09-12, 06:52 AM

That's because there is no answer,it's based on how they are raised.And since you picked the worst type of monitor,where 99.9% die,you won't find stats of a quantative amount to tell you that info.If you raise them properly they breed alot quicker than you'd think,i'd guess a little over a year.That's just based on similar type monitor on my interpretation of what i've read.For example many of the breedings,egglaying have occured from wild caught individuals,unknown age-i am not sure of any breeding from individual raised since hatchlings.And if so it would be based on the conditions they have and could change under a different keepers conditions.

rullom · 05-09-12, 07:02 AM

lol why do you say 99.9% die? That is quite discouraging! Do you mean offspring? I don't mean to be argumentative but if you are referring to "melinus pets" where are you getting this information? And I am NOT being argumentative I just want some facts because if 99.9% die I am not keeping it.

rullom · 05-09-12, 07:04 AM

Sorry I also meant to thank you for your insight on the egg bounding and maturity. Thank you
Mike

mo9e64 · 05-09-12, 07:40 AM

I know i can't prove it's 99.9% LOL ,that's more for effect that the mortality rate is very very high.
You seem to have a fairly healthy baby,it is not hard to get it out of that state-but you have to be serious about getting setup properly.This site doesn't really have many members with this type of monitor search for one that does.I'm just a beginner myself who has been lucky to get my monitors through the juvie stage.
Whether you keep your Melinus is up to you,it's just normally these types of monitors are discouraging to keep because of 'empty cage syndrome'.But monitors are individuals plus if you get conditions right Melinus has been described as more outgoing-it's a crapshoot.That's why many encourage starting with Ackies,smaller size outgoing personality,little more margin for error in care.I knew the risks when i got my Bluetails,and sometimes i get discouraged,they are definitely not for everyone.