Nile Monitor

Housing : A Nile needs a considerable amount of room. If you start with a 20 gallon aquarium, it will only be adequate for about 3 months, I suggest getting the largest enclosure that you can afford, or you will spend more money by upgrading every few months.

This lizard almost requires a room of it's own! The enclosure should be at least fifteen feet in length, and tall enough (6+ feet) so that it can climb. These lizards like to swim, so a large water pool is recommended with a good filtration system and drainage for easier water changes. Supply strong branches for climbing and backing, and a good sized hiding area.


Cleaning Tips : A young monitor may not seem like too much hassle, but remember, when that baby gets a little bigger, he will be producing copious amounts of solid and liquid waste. If you are lucky, you can go for 2 to 3 days without a mess, but often times you will have to clean every other day.
If a large enough water container is provided, a Nile will almost always defecate in the water. This makes cleaning a lot easier, but care must be taken to disinfect the container before the animal is allowed to drink from it.
Use dirt as a substrate, and make it deep. Your Monitor will want to dig and burrow.

Lighting, Temperature & Humidity: You will have to provide your Nile Monitor with a very wide ranging heat gradient. The cool side of the enclosure should be around 77 degrees F, with the hot end reaching around 95 degrees F. They will also need a large basking spot, able to cover their entire body. This spot should be kept around 120 degrees F. Remember, the Nile Monitor is from Africa, it's hot there! UV lighting is not necessary for Nile Monitors to be healthy, but many people use it anyway. The main concern for these great lizards is the heat.


Feeding : A nile monitors have enormous appetites, and tend to be very aggressive feeders. It is important to keep safety in mind when feeding such an animal. Always use tongs or similar devices to offer food to your monitor, and as an additional precaution heavy leather welding gloves should be worn. Keep a spray bottle of vinegar or rum near the cage in case you are bitten. If the monitor bites you and refuses to release, a squirt of vinegar in the mouth is a safe effective way to make it let go. If you are feeding a particularly large and/or aggressive monitor have someone else near by in case of an emergency.

Only offer food items that are smaller than the diameter of your monitor lizard's head. It is much easier for a monitor to consume several small items than a single large one. Monitor lizards can not "un-hinge" their jaws in order to accommodate a huge meal the way a snake does. If your monitor seems to be having difficulty swallowing the item, or makes attempts to tear it apart with it's claws, it is probably too large. A juvenile should be fed every two to three days. As it gets older, feeding can slow down to twice a week or less. However, this is only acceptable for healthy adult monitors at least 2½ to 3 years old.

Use calcium supplement and multi vitamin supplement twice a week. Any supplements from a reputable company designed specifically for carnivorous reptiles should be adequate.

Try to provide your monitor with as much variety in their diet as possible. In the wild, nile monitors are opportunistic feeders and will eat just about anything they can find or catch. Adding different food items to a monitor's diet will provide it with different nutrients as well as keeping it from becoming tired of the same old thing The biggest part of a monitors diet should still be whole prey items, such as fish, GALs, rodents or birds. Be creative with meals but do not give him processed food such as cat or dog food. These products have entirely too fatty and full of additives that can be harmful to your pet. The basic idea is to provide a diet similar to that of a wild nile monitor.

When you feed your nile monitor rodents make sure that you only use pre-killed rodents. Never feed live food to a nile monitor or any other carnivorous reptile apart from insects (crickets, silkworms, grasshoppers, roaches, etc) or GALs of course.

How to hande : The first thing to consider about handling a Nile monitor is that they do not like to be handled. Our goal is to learn how to handle a monitor without injury to ourselves or the lizard.

Wear a pair of leather welding gloves when attending to your monitor or when you go into the enclosure. The gloves will not stop the crushing power of his jaws, but it will take some of the pain out of being smacked by his tail. You may not think you need gloves when your monitor is young, but it is a good idea to familiarize him with the gloves so they will not agitate him later on when you really need them. When necessity compels you to pick up your large monitor, remember to watch out for the tail. When a Nile monitor turns his body sideways, puffs himself full of air and raises his body up high, this is a warning sign that your monitor is on the offensive. This is body language for "back off, or I'm gonna kick your ass." If you don't listen to the warning and get closer to the angry monitor.

Before you attempt to grab the monitor, try throwing a towel over his head as a distraction. With the towel in place, take hold of the base of his tail and his neck at the same time. Prepare for a battle as he squirms his body, thrashes his tail, and tries to hook his claws into your arms. Try to pin his tail between your legs and keep holding on to his neck. Use your free hand to wrap the towel around his body, trapping his legs down against his side. Be careful not to use too much pressure or body weight, your monitor may seem incredibly strong, but you can still cause injury while attempting to restrain him.

With the towel wrapped around his body you should be able to move him around or examine him with less chance of being scratched or bitten. If you are planning to trim the toe nails on a large monitor, don't try to do it by yourself. One person should hold the monitor, while the other person carefully pulls one leg at a time from under the towel. Just like cutting the claws of a cat or dog, be careful not to cut too short and cause bleeding. If you are not comfortable with the idea of trimming the claws yourself, either leave them alone or seek the help of your veterinarian.

The more you work with them while they are young, the better your chances are for having a manageable adult monitor. Some monitors will never get accustomed to being handled, and are better off left alone. If you find yourself with this type of monitor, just take him for what he is and use utmost caution when you have to handle him.