Yes, my idea is more in the field of Ethology. I should have been more professional in the original post and been more delicate with my wording to avoid confusion.

I want to use new techniques that show the problem solving capabilities that monitors have evolved in order to be such a dominant species. This envelope has already been opened by many others but I really believe we haven't even begun to come close to understanding how brilliant they truly are.

Which takes me back to my original question. Before we start anything we have to choose a species to work with. V. ornatus, V. indicus, and V. salvator have already been ruled out since my original post. Why would you choose V. panoptes over V. timorensis and V. exanthematicus?

My reasons would be that V. timorensis is possibly to shy to study using our methods in captivity. I have never personally worked with them though. That is just what I have read from several different sources. If the few V. exanthematicus I have kept compared to the wild ones I worked with in Ghana then I would have no problem choosing this species. I realize they were wild and so of course they are going to be different but they were completely different lizards. It was beyond cool to work with them in the field and dig them up from termite mounds. The only beneficial side I see to using either of these species is there size. If we were able to work with 2 or 3 our results would be backed by multiple individuals. I would also love to see if monitors can learn from one another by imitation which of course would require at least two.

There is nothing more that I love than to watch a V. panoptes tripod and would love for this to be the monitor we work with. Is it though the best option? I would love to hear more of your thoughts FR and from anyone else who has some input.

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