>>I just can't buy that argument about the price of the

>>imported ones vs the cost of producing the captives. What

>>about the other popular argument, they are not so colorful

>>and fun to keep for the advanced varanids breeders,



There is something to be said for this. Having kept savannas, argus, and flavies, I have to say that the argus and flavis are more fun than the savannas. So, if I am going to dedicate limited space, time, and money to a new group of medium-sized monitors I am going to go with argus or flavis. Others may have different ideas of what makes a lizard fun, though.



Color in monitors is somewhat over-rated, I think. Timors are absolutely beautiful lizards, but they spend all their time hiding so you never see them. This makes them not fun compared to drab monitors that you can watch do stuff.



>>c'mon... I think the exanthematicus is still a challenge,

>>maybe one of the most dificult lizard to work with, and

>>that's the only reason they are not succesfully breed in

>>captivity (except few accidental clutches here and there)



I don't see savannas being any more of a challenge than any other mid-sized monitor. The reason we don't see more hobbyist breeding is that most people who get savannas get them because they only cost $50 at PetSmart and they don't realize how much work and expense it is to keep a large lizard like this in a manner that will let it thrive, and so most savannas languish in too dry too cold too small enclosures. For example, Niles are the other monitor that is readily available for cheap and purchased in large numbers, and I know of more breeding of savannas than of Niles. Certainly, Niles are hardy and have a fairly typical ecology for a large varanid, so since savannas are apparently easier to breed than Niles they can't be that much of a challenge compared to other monitors.



Luke

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