New member from south east of France

[jmdupuyoo]

Dear all members,
My name is Jean-Michel. I live in south east of France not far from Toulon and Saint-Tropez. I am working in a zoological garden that present large collection of tropical birds and few primates. Not reptils so far but this is in project. We plan to introduice in the near future Geochelone sulcata in outside enclosure and maybe after Tupinambis sp. and/or Varanus albigularis albigularis. I would like to obtain advises from anyone who have an idea for me.
Sincerely.
Jean-Michel

[barb1]

Hi Jean Michael,

Welcome to the forum. Lots of people keep Sucata Tortoises over here. They grow very large and need very strong compound.

The monitors I believe are large. How do you aim to keep them?

[fluxlizard]

Hello and welcome!

I keep sulcata outdoors in the summer here in Virginia now and for the past several years.

I bring them out in the springtime when night temps remain above 10 and day temps are mostly above 20 and they remain out until fall when night temps again drop below 10. They do very well here although it is more wet and humid than their natural range. If there is a long spell of several days where day temps do not reach 20 in the spring or fall I will temporarily bring them indoors. Long periods of cold and wet invite respiratory infections, but I have never had one with this by taking this precaution.

Average day temperature most of the summer here 30-35 degrees.
Average night temperatures most of the summer here are 15-20.

Late last summer my male dug a long burrow maybe 2 meters long and a meter deep, angled so the afternoon sun would shine all the way to the bottom and warm it. It took him several days and I think he did this in response to the cool night temperatures as fall approached.

Maybe where you live it is not so cold in the winter and you can use a heated shed at night and let them out most days. Maybe in the summer it is not so hot and you might want to make a big cold frame or a heating station that they can warm up in when they want. (indoors I use warm lights for a basking area and big electric pig heating pads for sleeping on or warming up without light)

I think the varanids would need something similar- most varanids I have kept dislike cool temperatures and outdoors would need heat at night and some way to find very hot basking surfaces to warm themselves- here in America most who are successful at breeding them provide basking sites with surface temperatures of 48 degrees or more! (surface temperature, not air temperature which is lower). Outdoors, a large cold frame within the enclosure itself that the lizard could move in and out of could provide this. (Got this idea from Barb with her lacertas). Maybe a slab of concrete or ceramic could do this also...