Where on Earth did this animosity between captive husbandry and scientific study come from? I reread Sam's post several times and I can't find anywhere in it that he states monitors DON'T scent mark. Actually the last paragraph talks about scents and how they can become over whelming in an enclosure (I am guessing from less natural washing away of these scents). Gives me something to think about with my husbandry. How will it effect it overall, I have not a clue yet.



Just because someone like Sam or Mark or etc etc etc doesn't show the husbandry experience that someone like Frank has, does not mean the scientific information should be disregarded. It should be treated like everything when dealing with monitors, take away what helps with your monitors and store aside the other stuff. I can't imagine even someone like Frank who has gobs of experience started off strictly winging it. He observed monitors in the wild, probably read some of the scientific stuff, talked with people, and took what he new about other reptiles that he had been working with. The stuff that worked he used, the stuff that didn't he changed. He talks about this in most of his posts. Thanks to people like him we know things we didn't twenty (or even two) years ago. But his husbandry and methods have changed since he first began, as has the science of monitors.



Just because scientists said thirty years ago that monitors needed a basking temp of 90 degrees does not mean what they have learned since then is wrong (and even some of what they knew then still holds true). We take what works for us in our husbandry and set aside the rest. It's a continually learning experience and for anyone to comepletely disregard any little tidbit of information that they can grab hold of is just plain stupid in my book.



So thank you for that post Sam (and the three below). And thank you Frank for starting this debate.



And my last little thing. Monitors are diurnal. It is a scientific label. Period. It means that the majority of their activity and their evolutionary biology is designed primarily for daytime activity. Are they active at night? Yes. But as active as they are during the day? No. Can they be forced to be active at night by things like night feedings etc? Yes. Does forcing them to do so make them nocturnal? No. Is it helpful to understand that they are infact active at night? Yes. How much will it effect my husbandry? No clue yet, but every little tidbit helps.
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-Andrew

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