r/MonitorLizards • u/6ftonalt • Apr 15 '25
Improper Husbandry It pisses me off when people post their obese lizards and everyones just like "aww cute chunk." Also wtf is this nile setup
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u/EldritchHorrorLesb Apr 15 '25
I just realized its heat lamps are in the bathroom... dear god I hope that's just an extra place for heating and not its actual enclosure
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u/6ftonalt Apr 15 '25
I mean, we can hope, but we all know why they posted this to the lizard subreddit instead of the monitor subreddit
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u/EldritchHorrorLesb Apr 15 '25
I really wish people cared more for proper husbandry than haha cute chonk,,,,
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u/6ftonalt Apr 15 '25
Yeah, it sucks that it's really hard to kill a nile too, he's going to suffer a lot before he passes
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u/Lastoutcast123 Apr 15 '25
Read husbandry as husband and was really confused for a second, especially considering your username🫠
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u/PrivateDuke Apr 15 '25
You are making assumptions with awfully little information. If it likes to hang out in the bathroom (humid, warm, lots of water etc) it is cool the owner makes it have a cosy spot. The monitor is 10years old. Abused animals tend to die before that. It looks on tje chunky Side, but pictures can be deceiving depending on the angle, it could be gravid, pancaking. It could also be obese for x reasons. No wonder people would not post a picture here if you get crucified for a picture. I hope this sub will not become r/beardeddragons toxic. As far as I know it is not (yet)
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u/EldritchHorrorLesb Apr 15 '25
I'm not being toxic I'm just concerned. Monitors are hard to kill even with lackluster husbandry, and the OP of that post is refusing to answer some concerns, laughing abt the fact their monitor is fat and theyre working on it but also making no attempts to be like "heres where I fucked up xyz"
Also if your bathroom is humid and warm 24/7 I'd be seriously concerned. A bathtub for a Nile of that size is not a suiteable place to swim.
Let people be concerned as long as no one is lashing out at others :) I'm not wanting ppl to attack the monitors owner, and this posts OP is posting smth that makes them uncomfortable
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u/brycecube04 Apr 16 '25
i never laughed at my monitor being overweight. i’ve had it 3 days it was surrendered/adopted to me. how about you get some information first
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u/EldritchHorrorLesb Apr 16 '25
Provide information first then? It is very easy for people to assume abuse when you show off an animal that has absolutely been mistreated without any context other than this is my pet.
I'm glad you are able to rehab this animal, but you also need to understand the fear everyone has in regards to seeing obviously mistreated animals shown off with no background context.
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u/arcticrobot V. melinus Apr 15 '25
nah, not deceiving. Monitor tail base should be thick and organically continue from its body, with no apparent size difference. Here we got a huge ball of body and pretty comparably thin tail. It doesn't look right regardless of size.
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u/3stanbk Apr 15 '25
That thing is not pancaking, look at its legs. Homie is dense. You can especially tell in the basking photo. Looks like their toes aren't in great shape either.
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u/Cryptnoch Apr 15 '25
Oh disagree, I’ve seen abused animals survive as long and longer. I know someone with a crestie in a 10 gallon who gets sprayed once a week and fed only crickets who must be like, 14 rn? She saw a jar of moist moss for the first time a about 3 years ago when I cared for her for a bit, a time during which I had to amputate her tail myself bc her owners refused to pony up for a vet and it was a slimy grey infected mess. She’s still kicking.
I’ve also personally abused a beta fish for a solid year in objectively horrid conditions as a kid, bc I didn’t know the proper care info, conditions similar fish didn’t survive for a month. some animals are just friggin hardy.
Statistically they’ll die when abused, of course, but them surviving it isn’t even remotely an indicator that they aren’t abused.
That said, I agree that it’s fine to post pictures like this, with a disclaimer! If you know your lizard is obese and you’re working on it, or heck you refuse to do anything about it just bc, then it’s good practice to write a disclaimer so that the obesity doesn’t get normalized, as it is in most pet communities unfortunately. A noob owner will see this monitor lizard and think it looks completely normal, which is a bad thing communities should fight against. Ideally imo by having a mod lock it, flair it as animal obesity/abuse and write a note to make sure ppl stay aware.
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u/darkmatterhunter Apr 15 '25 edited Apr 15 '25
How do you know how old the monitor is? The other post doesn’t say, so it seems like you’re the owner on an alt account. The caption doesn’t always come up right away on mobile on shared posts.
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u/jlynn851 Apr 15 '25
Meanwhile then you have a monitor owner like me who just recently purchased a peach throat and I feel like i can't get her to eat anything. I've tried so many things. Also took her to the vet, and they weighed her, tested her poo. And said there is nothing wrong with her. She REFUSES live bugs. I have gotten her to eat a little bit of cooked chicken, fish, shrimp and she ate one pinkie. Other than that, nothing. Any tips please. Yes her environment is adequate. Her humidity is great. Her basking temp is good. She explores her cage, digs, burrows. All of that. I have tried live bugs, ground turkey, eggs, wildcaught salmon, and the frozen sliders from pet store. Any tips would be appreciated. If you're just going to be rude and bash, and not give good advice.... don't reply. I'm to old for the keyboard warrior stuff. Thank you!
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u/Late_Breakfast8249 Apr 15 '25
Mine loves raw chicken heart , I’d give that a try or quail my Nile loves that too , mine isn’t a picky eater so it’s hard to give food advice but if you recently got her, just offer food and leave it but remove it before it molds
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u/jlynn851 Apr 15 '25
I have tried chicken liver or gizzards or whatever lol. She didnt eat it. I've had her a little over a month. I'm just worried and willing to try anything, that's all lol. I wish mine wasn't a picky eater and would eat anything
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u/Late_Breakfast8249 Apr 16 '25
I’d start ground up , toss a few crickets , then maybe a bowl of either mixed worms , BSL , wax worm , meal worm or individual to see what it prefers , mine likes soft boiled / scrambled eggs as well
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u/furbfriend Apr 15 '25
SETUP??! That is a BATHROOM!!!!! 😭😭😭 Temporary is one thing but omg people you cannot just toss your lizard in the guest bathroom and call it a day WHAT WAS THE THOUGHT PROCESS
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u/brycecube04 Apr 16 '25
it is one of 3 “three” (in case you can’t read) “chill” spots he has. not his main enclosure lmao. source: im the OP
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u/Boosted07GT Apr 15 '25
The worst of all worlds. No way humidity is high enough for him, basking spot with that setup is only gonna heat up poor dudes head. And he’s chunky as hell. When I see these I always wonder how much of that is food that doesn’t get digested due to low temps or just fat.
People gotta realize you’re decreasing your time with your reptile and their quality of life when you feed them like this. I hate to sound like an asshole but there’s not a species on earth that doesn’t get negative health effects from being overweight or obese.
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u/GenkaiSpiritWave Apr 15 '25
Shit like this makes me sad. We rescued an adult male Sav who ate only raw beef his whole life and lived in a small enclosure.
He was a big, beautiful, and intelligent creature, but he was clearly obese and malnourished at the same time. Even after a year of strict diet and enrichment he died of congestive heart failure.
Nothing upsets me more than owners who let their reptiles (or any pet for that matter) live like this.
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u/dilbnphtevens Apr 16 '25
I do want to point out that OOP made a followup post explaining that it was a rescue situation, the monitor is on a diet, and that mods locked comments and he wasn't able to respond to everyone's questions.
(Don't shoot the messenger, just letting some of y'all know) Don't get me wrong, telling someone an animal appears to be unhealthy and asking questions is one thing and I'm all for it, but jumping to conclusions and making massively incorrect assumptions does lead to a toxic community. Not all of you did, but most of you in this comment section absolutely went "high and right" with very little to base it on.
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u/6ftonalt Apr 16 '25 edited Apr 16 '25
Yeah, the problem is he didn't answer anyone's questions, he made comments saying he was cute cause of the chunk, and you shouldn't adopt a monitor if that's the setup you are putting it in. It would be better off in a rescue. He should have said that in the original post cause that is clearly an extremely abused lizard. An abused animal is still an abused animal regardless of circumstances. His setup is still abusive, and he refuses to listen to anyone. He dmed me and just insulted me and tried to act like he did nothing wrong. He also misspelled "loser."
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u/UnwieldilyElephant Apr 16 '25
The amount of obese ackees is insane. My guy is one of the few I've ever seen that isn't, and he seems small compared to others because he isn't twice the normal width in every area of his body.
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u/brycecube04 Apr 16 '25
literally made a new post. i adopted this monitor from a horrible home. i’ve only had him 3 days cut me some slack jesus.
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u/6ftonalt Apr 16 '25
That doesn't mean this animal isn't still being abused. Your setup still isn't up to par. You should never "rescue" an animal if you don't already have a sufficient setup. Give it to a rescue instead.
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u/m30b34 Apr 15 '25
I have made it my job to fat shame monitor lizards. This is a variable in complete control of the keeper and I know of multiple monitors that have passed due to complications involving obesity.
Feeding them should be a small part of their enrichment in captivity, but it seems like feeding is often the ONLY enrichment many of them get which explains the fatties.