return to main index

  mobile - desktop
follow us on facebook follow us on twitter follow us on YouTube link to us on LinkedIn
International Reptile Conservation Foundation  
click here for Rodent Pro
Mice, Rats, Rabbits, Chicks, Quail
Available Now at RodentPro.com!
Locate a business by name: click to list your business
search the classifieds. buy an account
events by zip code list an event
Search the forums             Search in:
News & Events: Herp Photo of the Day: Happy Rattlesnake Friday! . . . . . . . . . .  Herp Photo of the Day: Garter Snake . . . . . . . . . .  Tucson Herpetological Society Meeting - Nov 25, 2024 . . . . . . . . . .  Greater Cincinnati Herp Society Meeting - Dec 04, 2024 . . . . . . . . . .  Calusa Herp Society Meeting - Dec 05, 2024 . . . . . . . . . .  Southwestern Herp Society Meeting - Dec 07, 2024 . . . . . . . . . .  Kentucky Reptile Expo - Dec. 07, 2024 . . . . . . . . . .  St. Louis Herpetological Society - Dec 08, 2024 . . . . . . . . . .  Chicago Herpetological Society Meeting - Dec 15, 2024 . . . . . . . . . .  San Diego Herp Society Meeting - Dec 17, 2024 . . . . . . . . . .  Colorado Herp Society Meeting - Dec 21, 2024 . . . . . . . . . .  Bay Area Herpetological Society Meeting - Dec 27, 2024 . . . . . . . . . . 
Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research
full banner - advertise here .50¢/1000 views
click here for Rodent Pro
$50 banner pool - click here

RE: For bsartin: Any update on (gravid?) Sav

[ Login ] [ User Prefs ] [ Search Forums ] [ Back to Main Page ] [ Back to Monitors ] [ Reply To This Message ]
[ Register to Post ]

Posted by: crocdoc2 at Fri Jan 20 18:45:40 2012  [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by crocdoc2 ]  
   

I've seen Komodo dragons nesting on the side of a hill where the sun hits at certain time...so the mound is at certain temperature. I think the mounds were made by certain type of birds...
'Seen', or 'seen on TV'? They're not quite the same. Often the latter is heavily manipulated and edited to tell a story, so it's not quite the same as seeing it yourself.

As it happens, in this instance the dragons have been known to show a preference for nesting in scrubfowl mounds and, as your program described, they do go for nests exposed to the sun. If you're interested, you can read about it here: Paper on Komodo dragon nesting by Jessop et al

Scrubfowl are a type of megapode, a group of Australasian birds that nest in the ground and use the temperature of the sun and/or composted material rather than sitting on the eggs and using their own body heat. Orange-footed scrubfowl, the species that occurs on Flores, Rinca and Komodo (and which also occurs in northern Australia), are known for making huge mounds. Those mounds are certainly a ready source of large amounts of diggable dirt.

I don't think monitors like a 'cave' feel or pre-dug holes for anything other than hide-spots, certainly not for nesting. A nest is something they dig out themselves so the eggs aren't exposed to potentially drying, open air for long after laying.

Here's a photograph of what's left of a dragon's nest burrow after the young have emerged. Not much of a shot because the whole mound was in disarray - it was late May and all of the young dragons had dispersed. I suspect the birds have long since stopped maintaining the mound.

By way of comparison, here's a cave-like hide used by a dragon during the cooler parts of the dry season.




   

[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Show Entire Thread ]


>> Next Message:  RE: For bsartin: Any update on (gravid?) Sav - FR, Sat Jan 21 07:05:41 2012

<< Previous Message:  RE: For bsartin: Any update on (gravid?) Sav - Paradon, Fri Jan 20 02:48:31 2012