New Dumeril's Monitor
 

I bought a dumerils monitor from chicago reptile house about 5 days ago. Its feeding response is very week it is also extremely flighty. Im almost positive i have all the temps and humidity right. right now im keeping it in a 4ft long cage for about two weeks then im building a much larger enclosure. The lizard is approximately 2.5 to 3 feet in length. the lizard seems to be petrified of me and its hard to do simple cage maintenance with out it freaking out. i just want to know if all this is normal and if this lizard will calm down eventually.

moved it

William, it would probably be helpful if you could post a photo of your set up?

Details would be more helpful than a pic. While he may be right, "Im almost positive i have all the temps and humidity right" doesn't help us assess the issue. It also may be related to expectations. Flighty is nothing unusual for an exposed monitor...weak feeding response is, but dumerils have their own style. Monitor size/age, prey item, and presentation will all affect feeding habits (along with temperature)

Ok I will get some pics. But humidity never drops below 70% and never over 85%. Temps at night are in the upper 70's low 80's. day the ambient is 90, basking is 120. Ill upload pics later

I've offered him dubia roaches and he wouldn't take them. I have given him a small mouse and he ate it but it was like he wasn't trying. I feed him mostly shrimp he seems to like that the best.

Monitors will use basking spots in excess of 150 F. The generally agreed upon minimum basking temperature is 130 F.

Does the cage have a heat gradient? Being able to cool down is almost as important as being able to heat up.

How many feet deep is the soil you have in the enclosure? Monitors typically need to burrow for health and safety reasons.

I corrected the temperature. And the soil is 6inches deep