just bought my first monitor....

as my never ending reptile addicition continues ive manged to snag a nile monitor who couldnt be more then a foot or so. I was discouraged in the fact that i read this wasnt a good starter monitor and they were quite nasty. I dont know about the first one but the second one is far from the truth, this guy is great from what i can tell, and i managed to get him for 70. In the pet store they said he ate a scorpion but the clerk pulled it out before he ate the stinger. from what they said there seemed to be no problem as it happened a week ago. He is currently housed in a ten gallo tank (Temporary, i know how big this thing will get.) with a hide box he LOVES and a heat pad under neath the tank and a 60 wat black lite bulb on to for basking needs subtrate is an "add water and you have subtrate" type. I was told he eats crickets and when i put them in the cage he lunged but couldnt catch them, yet i hand fed him one and then he ate another dead one i dropped in the cage (I use live crickets but i heard these guys are garbage disposals). Payday has yet to come so pinkies will have to wait. any advice for past present or future is greatly appreciated. thank you

This sounds like a sick little Nile monitor. A healthy Nile hatchling should be able to catch crickets just fine. A healthy Nile hatchling should also be extremely concerned about its personal security and do whatever it takes to protect itself from giant hands desending from the sky to grab it.

Note that with age, some Niles will mellow out. I have had one relatively trusting Nile, but many that were unhandleable without a major fight.

Advice? First, get it to a vet. Second, make sure the temperature is appropriate (45 to 55 degrees C basking spot, 25 degrees C ambient). Give it a substrate that it can burrow in - a monitor burrow should provide security, humidity, and protection from temperature extremes. Rob Faust's book on Nile monitors is good (although it focuses more on ornate monitors than the true Niles). You can also visit my website at http://pizards.com/hbd/nile.html where I have a page written about this species.

Good luck,

Luke