Let's see your Varanids

Not enough monitor lizards on this forum. Let’s see your well kept varanids.
Above, CB’15 Varanus panoptes horni. One of many monitors we have here.

Anyone else remember the old sssnakesss, varanusnet, kingsnake forum days?

Good times were had.

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I absolutely love Argus monitors… I don’t know if I’ll ever own a lizard but I really love minors. They all are just miniature velociraptors to me. Maybe one day a varanus acanthurus…
If you have more pictures, it’s always always appreciated to post them, at least by me…I love awesome pictures of reptiles :lizard::snake:

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Lumpy, thanks. If we post here more often, well, expect to see a lot of monitors.

Maybe one day a varanus acanthurus…

Excellent choice. Reasonable size, hardy as nails, breed well and very rewarding little dwarves.

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What’s the care like for the Varanus acanthurus? I’ve been thinking about getting one for a little while now. Also do you know anything about the Varanus kingorum and their care?

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Here is a pretty good video on them. All monitors require a lot more room, work, attention, and socializing through things that build trust than other lizards. That means no forcing handling via picking them up when they don’t want it. From what I know ackies aren’t usually bitey though. If they do bite you will bleed a good bit. As for the kings dwarf, I have no info on them since they are rare.

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Bit of a loaded question. Haha. We keep ackies in 4 x 2 x 2’ (121cm x 60cm x 60cm) metal galvanized troughs, with a modified lid. Front opening enclosures can also work well. All varanids commonly bred in captivity, such as V. acanthurus and V. kingorum, are more or less the same: they require a lot of substrate, wide and usable thermal-gradients (>75°-150°F+), whole prey items, hi-frequency of feeding, security etc. Socialization isn’t really something we do here (and a bit of a marketing ploy, IMO.) Most CBB varanids come around just fine given ample time.

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I have a question :raising_hand_man:!!

What does your feeding frequency, and variety look like, roughly?
Because I don’t know what it is but I find a lot of monitors are fat in captivity but that might just be me never owning a monitor

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Its a great question.

Frequency is entirely dependent on the species, size (age) and individual. For example, reproductive females, neonates (hatchlings), juveniles, etc., > all fed every day, sometimes 2x per day. Remember, with very hot temperatures, also equates to a highly efficient metabolic rate. The hotter you keep them, the more mammal-like they become. All of this energy is obtained for linear growth, or in the case of reproductive females, developing healthy ova and rebounding after laying a clutch.

Some species we feed less often, say, Varanus exanthematicus.

I can’t say we offer much in terms of variety. I suppose I never quite saw the need for it, and the monitors don’t seem to acknowledge it either. Occasionally I’ll offer new prey items, but overall rodents are relished and have proven to be a great staple item. V. acanthurus kept on mostly invertebrates and mice.

As for fat… I think obesity in captive varanids is correlated with too low temperatures, not allowing for an efficient metabolic rate. Notice all this talk about temperatures? Its everything to captive herps, but in this case, especially monitors.

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Thank you so much definitely answered my question. Gotta make sure I get hot enough temps to support their intake of calories, so that they use them affectively.

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Peach throat monitor. CBCB by NERD

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Your tank looks absolutely incredible!!

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Thanks, when he outgrows it I have a 4x2x2 (it will expand to a 4x2x8) I plan to make him a waterfall and since he’s shredded most of the live plants, I’ll add a few silk too.
However I did make a mistake; I need to socialize little Danny and he’s tunneled and made himself a really good hiding spot.

I need him to stay out where he can see me until he gets used to me. This weekend I’m going to get some aquarium fabric so I can lay it down over the dirt and put his climbing and hides back so he’s got a place to hide and see if that helps with the socialization.

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How big do Peach Throats get?

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my young ackie
He has a 5x3x3 enclosure from one of the expensive name brand cage companies but it came to me looking used and dirty (despite paying over 1K for it) so I need to figure out how to get the scratches out of the the PVC…every panel has scratches in them) and clean it up before I put it together. My monitor eats whole prey items mostly but he loves eggs and ground turkey or buffalo as a treat once in while.

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Varanus jobiensis up to 4 ft including tail. They are a medium monitor, about the size of a big Tegu . A big lizard but not as big as a water monitor.

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I have heard they are a bit more flighty and high-strung compared to some monitors and taming is more difficult. Is that true?

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A lot of them are wild caught/farm raised. I’m hoping it’s like the blood python,wild caught were difficult and captive born/bred a lot better.Danny is CBCB from NERD.

This is my first peach throat so I guess I’ll find out. I can post updates as I try to socialise him.(or her)

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I owned a CH jobiensis, and she was nervous and challenging to tame, but we got there. Literally took years.

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Could you please share tips. Was she CBCB or farmed/wild caught?
How big/old when you started and what techniques did you use?

I would appreciate any advice you could share.

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