Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was just curious what peoples thoughts were on this subject, I always hear various growth rates on monitors, for instant a black throat monitor Ive heard people say in 2 to 3 years they get them up to or around 5ft, where as other people say that in 2 yrs they only grow up to maybe 3 ft. and so on and so forth with all the various varanids. would you say it's husbandry? maybe feeding? or a combination of both plus other care issues?
just a subject i've been interested in for awhile now.

1 is their genetic ability, what size does that species normally obtain full grown.

2 is husbandry, is one given the opportunity to have the same resources as another? Is one ating more than the other? Does one have the ability to make use of the food offered, and one is not through conditions.

3 is sex, yes, females are supposed to get and stay smaller, so comes some examples a wild nile monitor caught in a school playground bordering the river once was 7ft 11 3/4 inches long, she was female, largest example known of officially, how big can they get, who knows. There are other examples, I have one in my collection, a female, Sobek, shes going to be 5 years old in Decemeber, she was CBB by Rob Faust, a BT/WT/WT cross, she was 16 inches when I got her at 2 months old, at 1 year old she was 5ft long, at 2 years old she was 6ft long, at 3 years old she was 6ft 2 inches, a year later at 4 she was 6ft 3 inches long, now she has been 6ft 4 inches long and 31 lbs.
They do most of their growing in their first year, followed by the second, then 3rd and so on it reduces as they age. They can make up for lost opportunities and grow much later in life, I had a cape banded WT male that was 9-9.5 yrs old when he was given to me, he grew from 3-4ft in a few months time, he was passed through many hands over his first 6 years of life before a friend got him.
This is my little girl Sobek.

Now see that's what i'm talking about, everything you said i can agree with except to have a BT grow to 5ft in just a year, did you power feed it?? I would think growing that big that fast would lead to improper bone formation as well as Calcium deficiency and health problems later on in life. I've heard of 4 ft in 2 years which i've seen several times with different BT owners. I also read that for a water monitor the record growth length was 3in in one month from a hatchling. Not trying to step on anyones feet here, just really interested in this subject.