Hey Actionplant,

You haven't actually mentioned what sort of courting behaviours you observed. Could you describe them in detail? If it was the male chasing the female around, don't get too excited. That's usually not mating related.

When monitors are ready to mate, the female is a willing participant, often even initiating the process. Regardless, she'll be receptive and there will be no chasing.

To get the female into that condition, forget about dropping temperatures or initiating a rainy season (by the way, the rainy season is the warm time of the year there, not the cool). Feed the female up very well and she'll undergo vitellogenesis (yolking and developing mature follicles). If her favourite food is roaches, then feed her lots of roaches (you mentioned that she'd dropped in weight after you stopped giving her roaches). Talk to Bob over at treemonitor.com, he's had plenty of experience getting them to mate.

He'll also tell you that it's easy getting them to mate, it's the rest that's tricky (don't mean to rain on your parade).

Getting back to food, rat and mouse hair will not bother them if they have a hot basking spot and can pass their food normally. It just comes out with the faeces. So you needn't fret about hairless mice or rats.

I wouldn't worry about bacterial replacement supplements, either, after a carnivore has regurgitated. Herbivores have gut flora to help them digest cellulose, carnivores neither need them, nor lose them when they regurgitate. Even with herbivores, those bacterial replacement supplements are for animals that have undergone an antibiotic treatment, which indiscriminately kills off both good and bad bacteria.

Cheers,

David

Thanks for the input crocdoc, this is all sorta virgin territory for most of the rest of us treemonitor folks. We learn as we go and try to share what we can. Everything I'd seen about mating prior to this indicated that it happened during the rainy season, so when I induced a rainy season and the male suddenly got EXTREMELY interested in the female (they ignore each other the rest of the time) I got excited.

Now I'm focusing exclusively on health. If it happens, and I hope it does, I want the animals to be fully healthy through the process.

I have talked with bob off and on since the onset of the whole thing, he and the crew over there have been extremely helpful.

I've got both of them switched over entirely to rat pups now. Initially the female would refuse F/T rat pups, now she eats them like popcorn and is looking much more fit. She'd also been dehydrated; the male regularly swims in the pool, but the female prefers the treetops and as such doesn't get as much water. I've take to watering her by hand three times a day and it's made a significant difference. Granted she's spoiled, but until I get a watering system that works how I want I'm not going to trust her to get the water she needs, she's proven otherwise.

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1.4.0 cornsnakes
2.0.3 firebelly toads
1.2.0 redfoot tortoises
3.2.0 ball pythons
1.2.0 beardies
1.0.0 asian water monitor
1.1.0 burmese pythons
1.1.0 basilisks
0.1.0 black tree monitor
1.0.0 Green Iguana
0.1.0 chinese water dragon
2.2.0 redtail boas
1.0.0 CA rock python
1.0.0 emperor scorpion
1.2.0 leopard geckos

actionplant.com

Update:

The female has been losing weight rapidly for about a week now, getting dehydrated as well. Got her into the vet today and, while I hadn't noticed anything, he said she had a very, very early stage of mouth rot. He found minor sores deep in her mouth that he said probably hurt quite a bit, which explained why she'd quit eating. I usually feed her myself but a couple of times Meg fed her when I couldn't be home, and reported that the monitor had been hitting the tongs pretty hard to take the food. She always eats very gently for me, but everyone seems to think now that she must have chipped a tooth or lacerated the inside of her mouth somehow on those tongs.

Anyway, a couple of shots there and he sent a couple of shots home with me, she should be back up to her happy perky self in a week or two.

__________________
1.4.0 cornsnakes
2.0.3 firebelly toads
1.2.0 redfoot tortoises
3.2.0 ball pythons
1.2.0 beardies
1.0.0 asian water monitor
1.1.0 burmese pythons
1.1.0 basilisks
0.1.0 black tree monitor
1.0.0 Green Iguana
0.1.0 chinese water dragon
2.2.0 redtail boas
1.0.0 CA rock python
1.0.0 emperor scorpion
1.2.0 leopard geckos

actionplant.com

I'd be surprised if grabbing the tongs hard gave a monitor mouth rot. Usually their immune system has to be fairly compromised as they are surprisingly tough critters when it comes to avoiding infections.

Thanks for the info Crocdoc. We really appreciate your input.

Damon- If anyone can pull this off, it's you. Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing the experience with the rest of us.

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Regards,
Dominick
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"Do you watch too much television? Did you do so as a toddler? Evidence tonight that it could be the cause of learning disorders, like attention deficit and hyperact-Ooooh, a kitty!" - Keith Olbermann

Awww sorry to hear that Damon, please make sure you keep us posted, I know she is in good hands. Best of luck.

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MARSHA

:D I'm smiling because I have no idea whats going on!

I would have thought the same thing...but then, there it is. The vet diagnosed it (and he's a good vet, been a herper for two decades longer than me and knew the scientific term for it off the top of his head...kinda caught me off-guard) and chatted for a while, his closest guess was a combination of chipping a tooth and possibly dirty water. I did not at that time have filtration for their pond and would just change the water out periodically, however it sat in warm temps...so who knows. She handles very well now, but maybe it's possible that stress from getting used to being handled had an impact on her immune system, and all the factors worked together.

Either way, he's been our family's vet for ten years; he interned in Kansas City and had experience with their zoo's tree monitors, that had to be a good twenty or thirty years ago but he still managed to give very similar information to me that I've heard from Bob so I trusted him with her.

Anyway, she's looking much, much better today. I'm relieved.

__________________
1.4.0 cornsnakes
2.0.3 firebelly toads
1.2.0 redfoot tortoises
3.2.0 ball pythons
1.2.0 beardies
1.0.0 asian water monitor
1.1.0 burmese pythons
1.1.0 basilisks
0.1.0 black tree monitor
1.0.0 Green Iguana
0.1.0 chinese water dragon
2.2.0 redtail boas
1.0.0 CA rock python
1.0.0 emperor scorpion
1.2.0 leopard geckos

actionplant.com

Good luck with your female Actionplant. I hope all goes well with them both for you