WELCOME TO THE KEI ISLAND MONITOR WORLD!
(Can be considered professional experience needed, or just mediocre with a lot of research.)
On this page, we will go over the care of your monitor! I have owned reptiles since I was six years old and deeply fascinated with monitors. I have had years of researching, reptile-common-sense, and experience to debunk the false care info and put together a care sheet to meet your reptile’s needs and enrich their lives.
What to buy from Amazon:
- Thermostat with probe is essential to regulate the correct temperatures.
- Dual Lamp to be able to provide a UVB and Heat bulb.
- Depending on cage size the heat bulb wattage can vary, your options are 25w, 50w, 75w, 100w, or 150w. The thermostat will protect the reptile from burning, but if you purchase a weak bulb you wont be able to heat the enclosure properly.
- Digital Thermostat and Hygrometer to monitor.
- Variety of substrates are available, but we recommend soil and play sand.
- A water bowl that allows them to be able to lay in it.
- Hides and decor for the reptiles comfort.
- Here’s a starter enclosure for a baby, but if you are looking for something different there are these.
- Tongs for tong feeding and a worm dish to keep insects in a bowl for feeding.
- Calcium Powder without d3 or with d3
What to consider before purchasing a new buddy:
Additional Info:
Varanus colei
They also go by the name Colei monitor. They get around 3.5ft to almost 4ft! This monitor loves to climb, burrow, and swim. Colei Monitors are tameable but will take patience. Never forcefully handle any monitor, and don’t approach with your hand fast and above them. There are a lot of different ways to tame your monitor; one way doesn’t fit all. Taming is more accessible when the enclosure is perfect for their needs and eating well. When you first get your monitor, assuming it’s a baby, It is a safety caution to leave them alone for 7-14 days besides cleaning their water and enclosure. After this waiting period, they should have settled in enough to accept food. Offer via tongs first, but if they do not accept, leave a dish out of the food. Tong feeding is a widespread way to tame your monitor, so if they accept that way of eating, you are getting a great start.
Enclosure:
Babies can live comfortably in a 2 ft x1 ft x 1ft. enclosure with added climbing decor, but you can go more significantly as long as hides are added. Monitors grow fast and would need an immediate upgrade. The economic idea is to upgrade yearlings to adult enclosures that are 4ftLx2ftWx2ft tall. Add a lot of substrate in any of their enclosures to allow them to burrow. This would be their final cage upgrade, but if you want to go bigger, you can. Just add a lot of clutter accordingly. You want them to be able to hide, to feel more secure.
Substrate(Flooring):
These monitors are at optimal health and happiness if they can burrow in their enclosures. It is of utmost importance that you allow a large enough layer of substrate for this species to burrow. Cypress mulch, play sand, and coco fiber mixes would do great. You can also substitute the cypress mulch with organic toRepti Bark tends to dye the water, so we avoid it.
Décor:
These monitors can climb, swim, and dig. Giving your monitor all those options in their enclosure setups is vital. You can add climbing décor by screwing in logs to the sides of the enclosure. You also must add a tile on an elevated space for basking. Include a giant water bowl(they must be able to swim) on the cold side (reduces bacteria), and you can put a hide on the hot and cold side. Add a bunch of clutter. Refrain from cardboard. It molds super fast! Add décor that allows them to climb; from adults to babies, they love to climb. The tallest part of your cage should be a basking spot. Younger monitors are more agile, but as they get bigger, they lessen the more challenging climbing décor because they can fall.
Cohabbing long-term isn’t a good idea. You can put them in for breeding SUPERVISED. If you have no experience and haven’t researched this topic heavily, do not put them together. Pet stores can quickly put baby Kei Island Monitors together because there isn’t competition or breeding at their early stages of life.
Humidity & Temps:
75-80% Humidity. 80-85° Cage ambient with a 100° Basking spot (Basking). Night temp can drop to 76°. Always have a basking light on a thermostat for accurate temp control. Heating pads are never sufficient for lizard heating. You should ensure they have a dry area in their enclosure to prevent a foot infection that occurs when they cannot dry their feet out.
Handling:
They can be flighty in the beginning. Always approach a monitor slowly and low with your hand when you want to interact with them. Do not force a handling session with your monitor. It does not speed up the taming process. Let your monitor choose when they want to walk on you. Let them walk on your hand. If you grab them, it will terrify them and make the taming process last longer than necessary. The first step to taming your monitor is tong-feeding your monitor. If you can get your monitor relaxed enough in your presence to tong-feed, with some days or weeks of feeding like this, the monitor will eventually be curious enough to climb onto you. You can make them more comfortable by hanging around their cage doing your usual home tasks and slowly putting your hand out without forcing it on them. Stop pushing yourself on the monitor after their first tail whip or bite. I have made progress by slowly putting my hand out to them even while they are in a defensive position (puff out, tailback). Suppose they walk away, retreat. It is all about patience and dedication, but it is gratifying once you get them to trust you.
Feeding:
Feed babies small meals daily, juveniles get food every other day, and adults once a week to twice a week. I usually do it every three days on what to feed your monitor through the stages of their lives. Babies will feed on insects like well-fed crickets, waxworms, mealworms, earthworms, super worms, silkworms, grasshoppers, roaches, and canned insects. If you have a picky eater that won’t accept their bugs, bringing them straight to meat and eggs is no adverse effect. VARIETY IS KEY! Juveniles and adults can move to a more meaty diet. Juveniles and adults can still enjoy bugs. They can eat Meat: WHOLE PREY fish, shrimp, chicks/chickens, quail, and dusted with calcium: ground Turkey, Boiled egg, and chicken parts. Avoid feeding them liver parts, ground beef, mice/rats, and steak since they are either high fat or aren’t good for the reptile. WHOLE PREY IS KEY WHOLE PREY IS IMPORTANT. Those cheap chicken legs are convenient but shouldn’t be fed as much as you provide them other meats of entire prey. Fish is an essential key in their diet because of their natural habitat.
Vitamins:
A light dusting of calcium if it is not a total prey item.
Cleaning:
WATER IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO KEEP CLEAN. Please clean your monitor’s poops & pees once you see them; they can get sick if you don’t! F10 vet cleanser is an excellent method in getting the worse stains out and cleans glass just as well. Every six months, deep clean of enclosure & replace the substrate.
Taming:
To elaborate on taming your monitor, taking their hides out does not always work. So it would be a good start to give them somewhere to hide during this tame process; even giving them the proper big enclosure could aid in taming your monitors. Every monitor is different; there is no exact science, so starting with the most basic rule is safe. Please give them the correct enclosure without anything missing. Try taming your monitor with the standard tong-feeding method. If they do not take tong feeding, let them fatten up a little by giving them private feedings until they get adjusted to the feeding schedule. Then slowly start introducing yourself to the feeding by sitting there. If that works out, you can bring out the tongs and offer food like that. It’s a timely process, especially with most imports. Some come out the egg ready to eat off the tong, though! I have had those myself.
ALL FEEDERS:
List of all the insects
Duba, Hisser, DuskyCave, Lobster, Headlamp, Ivoryhead, Peruvian Cave, RedHead, RedGoblin, and Red Runner ROACHES
Florida OWNERS: Discoid, Australian, Green Banana, Suriname, Horseshoe crab, Oriental, Palid, Death Head, Florida Skunk ROACHES
Locust, Crickets, Grasshoppers, Silkworms, Superworms, Mantis, Earthworm, European/African/Canadian Nightcrawlers, Alabama Jumper, Black Soldier Fly Larva/BSFL/Phoenix Worms/Calci Worm, Butter Worms, Wax Worms, Hornworms, Shrimp, Crabs, Crayfish, Mussels, Snails, Giant African land snails, Helix Aspersa, Helix Vermiculata, Otala Lactea, Theba Pisana LAND SNAILS, Apple/Mystery Snails, Nerites, Ramshorns, Trumpets, Japanese Trapdoor AQUATIC SNAILS.
List of whole prey
salt water and fresh water fish, rabbit (rarely), chicken, quail, piglets, shrimp, crab, rats/mice (rat and mice not recommended to feed a lot because of their fat content), frogs(not poisonous), birds, and snakes.