Montresor: A Tail After The Great Edgar Allan Poe

Here he is, Day 1


This was right after coming out of the box!
(Baby Montresor was Received on: 07/23/2014; Hatch Date 04/20/2014)

If you want to see the unboxing click here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0nYLUXBagc&feature=youtu.be

Montresor was named for Edgar Allan Poe, His uncle that he never got to know. He passed earlier this year in May. The name actually came from the human Poe's story "The Cask of Amontillado" (sometimes spelled "The Casque of Amontillado"). I found it fitting since he wasn't blood but still a tie between them, in my mind of course, ha.


Poe, Nov 2013


This is his home for the next couple of months.
(Temps Avg: 80-85 Cool - 100-115 Basking. Humidity Avg: 30-50%)

You can follow his feeding and many more stats at
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Da2pmixKq88D1ZrYC23O6PjiAQ2gmO8ro7q9v_1nU6I/edit?usp=sharing
I use Reptistat for my recording needs, I just found it recently and though I would like to see more on it, it is a great asset

Listing of what consists of his home

Tank:
1 - 30L x 12D x 18H

Lights:
1 - 24" HO T5 Double Bulb Fixture
1 - Arcadia 6%
1 - ReptiSun 10.0 HO T5
1 - 75 watt clear light bulb(53 watt version) Housed in a small metal dome

Other things inside/outside the tank:
1 - Sheet of paper towels long enough for flooring
1 - Basking Rock with Hide
1 - Basking Platform with Stairs and Hide
1 - Plastic food dish
3 - Sheets of paper towel to minimize reflections
1 - AcuRite Indoor Humidity Monitor (00613A1)
1 - Small Lasko fan to cool off the basking bulb, Clipped on and angled right at the housing
1 - Crummy ZooMed Thermometer Humidity Gauge
2 - Dome Stands
2 - Pieces of wood to hoist the dual bulb fixture, 12" away from floor to blub not 12" from floor to fixture.
4 - Small Chain Links, connected to the fixture securely and looped into hole in the wood pieces. These links then have a stopper pushed through to achieve the correct height desired and placement against the "back" of the tank.
1 - 24 Hour timer, 2 Day and Night outlets

Tools used to measure
1 - PE2 Tempgun
1 - Zilla MT100 Digital Temp Gun
1 - HDE Temp Gun
*1 - Solarmeter 6.5 (This is not yet purchased, coming soon)

Items used on Montresor or his feeders/greens
1 - Herptivite
1 - Udder Balm unscented (This is mixed with water in a 8 ounce spray bottle, around a teaspoon)
1 - Zoo Med Repti-Calcium with DO-3
1 - Zilla Vitamin Supplement Spray(for his food and to make Gel Cubes)
1 - Zilla Calcium Supplement Spray(for his food and to make Gel Cubes)
1 - 3 lbs of "Soil Moist" to make Gel Cubes

Current Feeders/Greens
Collard Greens
Escarole
Mustard Greens
Bok Choy
Crickets (1/2" to 5/8")
Phoniex Worms/Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL)
Dubia Roaches(Starting to make a colony now/Not yet feeding)

Extras for the cold months
1 - 60 watt Ceramic Bulb, In a good safe not plastic socket dome
1- 100 watt Ceramic Bulb, In a good safe not plastic socket dome


Once he is all grown up and ready to move into a bigger tank, I am building one out of a very solid built dresser.

Right now its gutted and waiting a friend to help me with the build

So far he has been a little scared of course of his new home, But he has been eating his greens(Collard and Escarole Mixture). And has been kind of eating his crickets, Both chasing them down and being hand fed.


Here he is trying to already escape on day one!

Thanks for reading !

And a big thank you to:
Tracie (Drache613), Todd (Venutus1), Heather (Fairytail Dragons LLC), and the many others that I have gained knowledge from on these great little creatures!

 

[Mephsito]

So only a couple days in and he already is eating like a little piggy!



Here he is right after munching getting some sun.

37 Crickets today in one sitting, the most he has eaten here at his new home!

He is already starting to trust me and hung out on the bed for a while(of course trying to test his limits but all in all he was good about me catching him before he went to close to the edges :mrgreen:

He also tried to crawl into my girlfriends hair and then went straight to sleep. He must already be trusting us

His shed is starting to kick in on his body/head, Can't wait to see his true colors and I will post a couple pics of him when hes all bright and red!

 

[brandymulvaine]

What a pretty boy! You've sure done your homework. I can't wait to see the new viv, I want to do a custom one someday!

 

[Mephsito]

Hey Brandy, Thanks much for the kind words!

The custom I think is the way to go either you can go cheap and build something still amazing or go overboard and get exactly what you and what the little guys/gals need(or at least we tell ourselves that). Not having the tools does hurt my progress though, ha! I love to surf the other forums and other sites(of non beardie realms) for the custom viv's and some people are just amazing in what they design and create.

Update on Montresor(nickname is now Monster after last feeding!)



He has grown a bit(about a 10g gain) and is settling in quite quick. He likes his baths 1/4 of the time, though still he refuses to poop in the water. Today he ate(morning feeding) a total of about 50+ crickets in 5 minutes or less and being that he had eaten 40 the night before in a normal timed feeding session(15 minutes), that's obviously why he is now nicknamed Monster!

He is now cool with sleeping on my girlfriend or myself, though only when he has completely exhausted himself for the day.



He had a full back, head and tummy shed today, around the eyes seems next. His color is just great and very bright red. He is steady gaining weight, eating his greens gladly and almost done dancing with the glass. Though those glass pushups keep him great shape!


Top view right after shed.


Here he is at the end of a run on the bed.


Here he is at the end of a run on the bed take 2!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Wow, Montresor is so beautiful!
He has really grown too. You are doing a great job with him also! It sounds like he is eating you out of house & home, too. LOL

Tracie

 

[brandymulvaine]

Sounds like that's gonna be one heck of a growth spurt!

 

[Esther19]

He's a beautiful, happy looking boy!

 

[Mephsito]

Thanks Tracie ! He is thankfully! I have many, many, more crickets for him to eat, Still haven't started my dubia colony. I can pretty much deal with any animal/critter/bug out there, minus roaches so it might take a little while for me to get "used" to the idea of them breeding in my house on purpose, ha!

I remember growing up in florida and those dang things flying to get you or so much as to chase you, one even landed on my face as a child and lets just say I took my mothers ideals when it comes to roaches since that day.

Yeah Brandy, I am going to fatten him up real good (of course within reason :wink: )

Thanks as well Esther!

Also, Montresor thanks you all as well and asked you'd care for a chocolate dipped cricket!

I took him out today for the first time just outside the house(only about 15-20 minutes) and I have to say he only tried to dart off once and well there was a big truck passing so who can blame him. But he did really good with all the noises and smells.

He already is developing a character though, He refuses to eat his crickets anywhere but his cage, and once done unless I take them out in 1 second flat he runs around like a mad man till I catch and remove the last one of those he decided not to eat.

 

[Mephsito]

Here he is in the morning hiding after I woke him up 1 1/2 hours after the lights when on. He immediately jumped off his basking spot and went under the other "rock". Talk about lazy!


First time on the bedroom floor, and he only tried to dart through the door gap once, Ha.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is hilarious, he wont eat anywhere but his tank! That makes more work for you chasing the crickets down to get them out.
He sure has a long tail, he is definitely growing!
It sounds like he had a good time outside too other than the scary vehicles going by.
Are you talking about those huge flying roaches?? Yeah, I lived in south florida for 7 years so I know how that goes.

Tracie

 

[Mushupork]

Woah, that's a very red beardie with a very long tail. Montresor is very handsome. How old is he?

 

[Mephsito]

Hey Mushupork, Montresor ran around in circles to say thanks! He is now going to be 4 months on the 20th. I have to thank Fairy Tail Dragons, his red coloring is just amazing and judging by his tail he is going to be one big boy when he grows up.

Hey Tracie, Yeah those monster palmetto roaches I miss them not one bit! luckily when I visit home, I stay at my mothers, of which she has 3 cats who just love to kill them! Its not too bad at catching the crickets actually, I think of it as muscle response training, ha. I keep taking him outside in little spurts till he settles into it, I mean he's a NYC lizard now so he needs to get used to the loud noises, lol.

Montresor is now eating a little bit bigger crickets and has already gone through the first order of 1000 crickets. Just bought some reptiworms along with the crickets this time, so its the moment to see if he loves worms or crickets more.

More pictures and updates this weekend

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Yeah, I don't miss those palmetto roaches either! LOL Your mom's cat likes to chase & kill them?
He is definitely growing fast now. I am glad he is eating so well & is so active too.
So he went through all of those crickets already? Did he like the reptiworms also?
It will take a little time for him to get used to the noise but he eventually will.

Tracie

 

[Mephsito]

Hey Hey !

Yeah her cats love them(has 3 of all different ages). Even her male cat who is the biggest wimp in the world, He literally has run from his own shadow, but roaches are enemy number 1, Ha.

As for Montresor, He is kinda liking the worms, I left about 60+ this morning in with his greens(of which he avoided every worm to eat a tons of greens). But when I came back home from work today about half of the worms are gone( and not just hidden under his rug ). I then fed him another 25ish crickets as it seemed he had enough of the worms lol. There were more crickets but he just ran at me with a look of "get them out now!".

He has relaxed more on the crickets being in there with him and no longer runs around like a dummy when i am scooping up the ones he didn't want.

 

[Mephsito]

So here he is waking up in his "hide" and stayed there for a good 30 minutes before finally fully moving out, I should mention he does not sleep that way he goes deep into the "rock" for the night.