Pertaining to your posts:



Yes, agreed, monitors are creatures of opportunity, as are many predators. Wild diets do not always equate to what they should be given in captivity. Some things in nature should not be mimicked, such as V. salvator consumes carrion in the wild as part of its diet, which for many reasons I would never feed them in captivity: smell, bacteria, pathogens, and later the possibility of receiving a highly infectious bite (people die here from wild V. salvator bites). That being said, I would not deny my V. dumerilii crabs, when their jaws and teeth have evolved for that purpose. Nor would I deny others whole food items which are a significant and important part of their diet in the wild, i.e. fish to V. indicus complex or insects to V. bengalensis.



Also agreed is that the diet in captivity is all important. For the new keeper, a simple standard whole animal diet is a good idea and safe until they gain more knowledge of their particular species. I know that many new keepers buy their monitor knowing little or not knowing anything about it, which is terrible. Bird-rodent-cricket diets are easily obtainable in the US. I am also terribly opposed to feeding of just meat, liver and heart- it goes back to the nutrient issue.



Mostly you confirmed what I had written and I thank you for that. You named a number of other good food sources. Varied diet does not necessarily mean a smorgasbord of items fed in a haphazard manner; that would be problematic. In the context that I used it, I meant amphibians, mammals, insects, fish, crustaceans and reptiles (and you mentioned birds, which I failed to mention) all have important and different nutrients for monitors, not that all monitors would eat all of these food items or that vertebrates should not make up the staple part of the diet. You must admit, that even a good insect/larvae only diet should be supplemented with vitamins and minerals. Even bird only diets, with their weak and porous skeletal structure, fail to provide enough calcium for most young growing reptiles.



I am not just an academic or one that throws around theories. I was also around during the days when little to nothing was known about husbandry, when many of us were learning the hard way of what works and does not work. Over the years, I have worked with many types of reptiles, monitors being a favorite. As you may have noticed, I am rather new to this forum or any forum for that matter, but not at all new in the study of herpetology or the “art” of herpetoculture.



What I have noticed from these forums are some have an unshakable and uncompromising system of beliefs and are either unwilling or unable to make a paradigm shift or only their way is the correct way. Aren’t these forums supposed to be for the exchange of ideas? I have learned some interesting points of view that have changed the way I look at things from the available forums. Where would the world be without the consideration of different ideas? We probably would be rubbing two sticks together trying to make fire in order to cook a monitor lizard rather than be discussing how to care for them.



Success should not just be measured solely in accordance with fastest maturation and growth. Understandably, you measure success in that manner, since that is what you strive for. It is your business to breed captive reptiles, so faster growth and maturation is to your benefit and financial gain; however, it does not lead necessarily lead to greater longevity in Varanus species. To the contrary, accelerated growth rates and maturation have been shown to shorten the longevity of many types of reptiles, most notably Boids. If your experience shows differently, please publish your results! It would be a first in reptile husbandry.



Your other measure of success, a healthy monitor, is a measure that I can agree with 100%. According to your posts, you have been very successful breeding monitors and I applaud you for that; the more monitors being bred in the US (the largest consumer of monitors), the fewer that are being taken from the wild and that means less pressure being exerted on those species targeted for the pet trade. Keep up the good work.



Cheers,



Michael

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