| Author, Copyr.1993 Melissa Kaplan. A brief species overview for the prospective
first-time monitor buyer....
I'd say that to start out, you might want to stay away from the
"giant" monitors: Nile V. niloticus niloticus and V. n. ornatus),
reaching 7-10', very wary and aggressive, requiring lots of time
and respect--most Nile owners end up trying to get rid of them by
the time they reach 5 feet); the Salvador or Crocodile monitor
(V. salvadorii, second in size only to the Komodo dragon [9+'],
largely arboreal, eats birds and eggs [not store-bought infertile
eggs which cause biotin deficiencies) and the Water or Asian
Water Monitor (V. salvator, similar in appearance to the Nile, 7
feet, highly aquatic.
Beware of stores mismarking the Salvador and the Water monitors!
Due to the similarity in Latin name, the Water monitors are often
called Salvadors, and vice versa. Aside from the fact that these
monitors need an extraordinary amount of room (to move around in,
to swim in and for you to be able to get in and clean up) and
that they grow quickly (many owners are surprised at just how
fast the Nile reaches 5 feet), they have crushingly powerful jaws
and bites can result in your getting to know the emergency room
staff and a plastic surgeon quite well.
Many people have been turning to the above monitors to get
something "different" from all the people buying Savanna
monitors, just like the popularity of Savannas can be tied to all
the people who wanted to be different and not get an iguana.
Other questionable monitors include the Mangrove (V. indicus, 5',
semi-aquatic, vertebrates and crabs, "skittish" and rarely fully
tameable as all specimens are wild-caught adults, spend most of
their time hiding, frequently defecates when handled, very
powerful and very fast),
Savannas (V. exanthematicus exanthematicus, V. e. microstictus,
V. e. angolensis and V. e. albigularis [white throated], 4', dry
but needs pool to soak, temps 85-90 F/day, 75-80 F/night) and
Dumeril's monitors (sometimes called the gray rough-neck monitor
in the trade rather than Dumeril's monitor, V. dumerilii
heterophilis and V. d. dumerilli, 4', arboreal (thick strong
branches) and loves to soak (need tub big enough to soak),
rainforest species (humid, temps 85-95 F/day, 74 F/night, very
long claws) are two of the monitors which become--with
work!--quite tame. The Savannas are widely available and
generally cost somewhere under $100. Dumeril's were becoming more
difficult to obtain a couple of years ago (it may have changed
now) and so are quite a bit more expensive.
The Green Tree Monitor (V. prasinus) (2.5 feet, arboreal,
spending most of their time in the high canopy in the vine,
monsoon, palm, rain and and mangrove forests - they like it
humid!, prehensile tail, feed mostly on arthropods, lizards,
small birds, and need lots of room), despite its relatively small
size, may not be a lizard for beginners, especially if one has
not checked out local availability of food for them, and the
amount of room they need is much more than one would think, and
it must be arboreal (lots of height).
The Black Rough-Necked Monitor (V. rudicolli, 4', arboreal, like
to soak, social [two may be better than one]) can be tamed pretty
well. Like all tree monitors, they have very long claws. Most
adults do not survive in captivity - they are all wild caught and
the stress and parasite load proves too much for them; younger
specimens often do well, especially when treated immediately for
parasites and protozoans.
That being said, what you need to know is there there is very
little breeding of monitors being done outside of zoos, and they
aren't real active about it. (Many people buy the large monitors
claiming that they are going to breed them...despite the fact
that they live in small houses or apartments and the only
successful breeding of Niles, for example, took place in an
enclosure 18 ft x 20 ft!) Assume that any monitor you buy from a
pet store or through an ad in the paper from from a herp dealer
will be a wild caught one. This means to choose carefully - both
the type you get and the actual lizard you select. And have a
reptile vet -- an experienced reptile vet -- lined up ahead of
time and, for some of them, sources of food. While many will
cheerfully eat rodents in captivity, many of the smaller
monitors' wild diets consist heavily on invertebrates, lizards,
frogs, birds and eggs and may require such in captivity or be
difficult to convert. And, speaking from experience, it is very
difficult to open a monitor's mouth to stick a feeding tube down
it when it doesn't want to open its mouth!
Remember that tame is as tame does. I was boarding a lovely 4',
10 lb Savanna - totally tame, a real sweetie. I was holding him
one day (like a baby or an iguana, head up at my left shoulder,
arms cradling and supporting his body) when I felt him nosing
around my neck. Just as I reached up to feel what he was doing,
he grabbed me by the throat. Fortunately, he was just as confused
about having done that as I was, as, had he wanted to, he could
easily have ripped my neck apart. As it was, I remained as still
as possible, moving with him only as he twisted and bit harder. I
was also fortunate in that I was not alone when this happened;
with two arms supporting the monitor, it would have been
interesting trying to get to the bottle of rum or vinegar (used
to get him to let go) had I been on my own. As soon as he was
off, he was just as placid as before. My neck did not bleed much
at all (though my chin did, being sliced by his teeth as he flung
his head away from my neck when the vinegar was applied), but I
had a brilliant red circle of teeth marks visible on my throat
for several days, disappearing only after a week or so.
There is a varanid society - the Varanix Information Exchange,
8726D S. Sepulveda Blvd #243, Los Angeles, CA 90045. They produce
an excellent bi-monthly newsletter (write to find out the current
subscription rate), covering natural history, design of
enclosures, etc. Michael Balsai is a frequent contributor to the
VaraNews, as well as writes articles for the various herp
magazines; you might want to do a literature search and get
copies of his and Robert Sprackland's articles and books on
monitors (Sprackland also wrote Giant Lizards, published by TFH
which includes descriptions and some excellent photographs of
the monitor species.) |
