Hey Murrindindi,
I really have not missed anything. I just dont look for thing in these animals that just simply do not exist. I interacted with my varanids daily and spent hours a day watching them. I am also at John As house every other day or so. (It is no secret that John is in charge of the varanid end while I am in charge of the snake end) I did not and still do not see any social behaviors. I see no emotional behaviors or complex thought processes. A man who has these animals basically living in his back yard has even backed the fact they are not social animals. I have seen similar behaviors in leopard geckos and even in some of the snake species I have kept and still keep.

Also, aside from the fact that some of the larger varanids may be capable of maintaing a body temperature, they are not mammal like at all. Give me an example of where varanids are in any way similar to mammals. Adaptation and survival mechanisms are not intelligence indicators. I would consider reptile "capable", not intelligent.

While varanids are obviously more "needy" as far as space and options go, I have not seen a huge difference in their basic behaviors from other predatory reptilian species. Ofcorse every species is different and even individuals in the same species might have slightly different preferences. They are just not hugely different. Varanids are not "super" reptiles. They are no more "special" than a day gecko. Just like any other reptile, if you keep them right, they will thrive.

I do not believe there is an actual formula to keeping them. There are other ways to do it sucessfully. I am all for high temps, deep substrates and tons options. In my opinion that is how most reptiles should be kept. I keep many of my snakes much warmer than the "experts" recommend and if leopard gecko people seen how hot I run my gecko cages and how much substrate I offer, they would have a heart attack. LOL. The fact is I keep many of my reptiles similar to how good keepers maintain varanids. John A will back this up. Colubrids use hot spots that go into the 100 degree range. Many of the expert colubrid keepers will tell you corns will die if they are kept higher than 90 degrees. Not only have I proven that theory to be wrong but it has also proven to be very beneficial to keep them with high basking spots. The hot spot in my hognose enclosers will sometimes peak over 100 degrees.

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