Ornate Monitor, Asian Water Monitor Care

Some basic advise on caring for the African Ornate monitor, and Asian Water monitors in captivity.

Caring for the Ornate monitor (Varanus ornatus), from Tropical West Africa, and the Asian Water monitor (V. salvator spp), in captivity can be one of the most rewarding experiences you will ever undertake with a reptile. Unfortunately, so many of these lizards die/ get given away within their first year or so, due to the misinformation that abounds on their captive care... These are NOT "beginner" reptiles, and should never be bought on impulse. They may be relatively cheap to buy, but need LOTS of hard work, are expensive to care for, and that will be for many, many years....

Housing:

In my opinion, the bigger the better; there's really no such thing as a "large enclosure" here in captivity, compared to their wild home ranges, we keep them in "shoe boxes".
The babies grow extremely quickly under optimum conditions, I feel it's therefore less stressful to keep them in the same enclosure as long as possible.
The minimum size I would recommend for hatchlings would be approx 4L x 2.5W x 3H (feet)... (120 x 75 x 90cm). That height will enable a fairly deep substrate (12 inches is good, more if possible/required), which enables the animal/s to burrow, and it will also help with the humidity, and that size of tank also allows a good temperature gradient (most important).
A solid wooden cage with a glass front is good. All glass fish tanks are NOT suitable for the keeping of varanids, more especially with a screen lid; impossible to stabilise both temps and humidity, not to mention, they offer the animal/s no privacy....
Make sure there are lots of hiding places, they are extremely nervous and defensive by nature, everything that moves is a perceived threat... Stress is unhealthy, in extreme cases, it's also a killer...

Substrate:

Either a soil or sand/soil mix, consistent enough so that there's no chance it could collapse on the monitor/s when they tunnel. I've also used Orchid bark (or similar), with some success.

Water and cage furnishings:

As these are semi aquatic monitors, a pool/water dish is required, large enough so they can soak, but not too deep for the youngsters, make sure they can get in and out easily. They will probably use the water bowl as a toilet, so change daily. I have a large pond with an external filter which helps keep the water clean, it's heated to approx 85f (30c).
Strong, firmly fixed branches for climbing. They spend much of their time in trees for the first year or so (in the wild), and they have a semi-prehensile tail as youngsters, and are good climbers (even as adults).

Heat:

ALL varanid species need heat, and lots of it. Their activity metabolism can exceed that of a resting mammal of similar size, which also means they need to consume relatively large amounts of food in comparison to most other reptiles, in order to fuel their high energy consumption.
I recommend daytime ambient (air), temperatures of between approx 75f (24c) on the cool side, to approx 120 to 140f (50 to 60c), in the basking spot (the basking spot is a SURFACE temp), the babies/juveniles heat up very quickly. Nigh time, no lower than 75f (24c). Without those relatively high basking temps, they cannot function efficiently, and they will not thrive, or show their natural behaviours.
So many new keepers (and not-so-new), keep them under-metabolised. whilst they may linger for fairly long periods, they usually die long before their potential life expectancy...
A digital hygrometer/thermometer is a must in my opinion, the analogue types can be very inaccurate...

Humidity:

Both these species should have a fairly high humidity (between aprox 60 to 90%), although obviously, this will be lower around the basking area, which is quite acceptable.

Lighting/Heating bulbs:

I prefer to use some supplementary lighting, mainly because my enclosures are relatively large, and I find with just the basking area bulbs, the rest of the tank can be quite dark. A normal household fluorescent tube emits some UVA (not UVB), and is usually much cheaper than the "reptile" type.

Most people these days are using the halogen light bulbs for the basking area, these can be fixed in a row of 2 or 3, to offer the animal heat over it's whole body. They can be used in fairly low wattages (40 or 50w), and positioned fairly close to the monitor, this also means they don't dry out/overheat the rest of the enclosure, and of course, much cheaper than the high wattage type (mercury vapour lamps).. Either an infrared bulb or ceramic heat emitter can be used during the night if required.
Although I'm presently using the high UVB/heat mercury vapour lamps (Megaray), I have now been convinced that providing these animals are kept at optimum temp levels etc, and offered WHOLE animal prey (even almost exclusively rodents), they remain in good health, and productive for many years, without the use of the UVB emitting lamps.

So while there is absolutely no evidence to suggest UVB lamps are harmful when used according to the manufacturers instructions, it seems clear they are not needed in captivity with varanids when ALL the other parameters are met...

Foods and feeding:

I offer the babies/juveniles insects (dusted with a vitamin/mineral), small whole fish, other sea foods, snails, rodents (pinky mice are not very nutritious, very little protein, the skeleton isn't formed), I cut up fuzzies while still frozen, not too messy (cut in half, just slice along the length), or f/k. Feed hatchlings/juveniles daily (their metabolism is at it's highest), as much as they will eat.

Reduce feeding frequency as they come into adulthood, bearing in mind the amount of exercise they're getting, which compared to their wild counterparts, is extremely small.
Important: Lean meats, your own recipe turkey diets etc, are NOT what's best!


Finally:

Please be aware of the wounds these animals can inflict (even accidently), and remember; they are NOT "aggressive", just defensive.......
If you cannot afford to properly house, feed, provide enough heat, medical treatment if needed, etc, etc, don't get them in the first place.
Enjoy them for what they are; just amazingly beautiful, highly intelligent, sophisticated animals, who just want to be monitors.
They deserve our utmost respect, it's never about "luck", it's what you actually DO to support them in every way that brings success....
By murrindindi...