"Of course they are not social like ants(are ants social?) or any mammal,"

This is the reason monitors are not recognized as social. In order for them to be classified as such they need to meet the definition by living in organized communities.

Ants, and meerkats are perfect examples of social behavior in animals. They live in organized societies with "rules", "jobs", they are often ... if not always found living in groups (not pairs), they have "leaders", and they care for their young.

Monitors do not do this, and because of it do not fall under the definition of social.



Don't get me wrong, I see my captive monitors basking together, sharing burrows, and some even seem to be attatched to the hip.

They too have plenty of room to get away from eachother. But just because they don't doesn't mean they are social, just that they are able to tolerate eachother a lot more than most people think they can.



Saying a monitor is social is a lot like saying you "tamed" a monitor. We all know that tame isn't the word, because monitors will never be tame ... just like we can't say monitors are social just because we see monitors tolerating eachother so well it's unbelievable to most.

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