Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How long have monitors been kept in captivity in the private sector or in zoos? I see a lot of people wanting a lot of information on monitors, and there is not a lot out there in cyberspace or even in books. I know that FR says that different monitors need to be kept basically the same. This makes a lot of sense. I am sure that most people will agree that the needs of different monitors will vary, even in the same type. Even the same "species" there are different locals that live in slightly different habitats.

I guess my point is that no one is going to be able to tell someone the exact way to care for their monitor. Keeping monitors as pets is fairly new and there is not a huge library of information on keeping them. What we as keepers have to do is sort through all the information that generous people have shared and try to figure out what works best with our specific individuals. Then we need to "listen to out monitors" because they are the only ones that will tell us what they need.

My monitors have told me, "Ed, this light is too hot, my enclosure is too dry, and I am hungry." One of the most important things my monitors have told me is, "Ed, where the #$%* did you expect me to lay these eggs. Get off your butt and make sure I have a better place next time." Monitors can be very bossy.

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Ed

Varanids have been kept for a very long time. But like other reptiles, they have been kept very poorly. Reptiles are surviors, they can exsist in very poor conditions(hard to kill)

Captive husbandry that included life events was applied with most all other types of reptiles by the mid eighties. But rarely for varanids. When I started, there were some very successful keepers in Europe, they could breed most any species. But they applied controlled husbandry to varanids. That is, they controlled everything. They did not keep them together, only placing males in with females long enough to copulate, then remove them.

They did indeed produce offspring, but in my opinion, then, as well as now, they did very poorly. But understand, great in a human view, but poorly compared to the monitors design and abilities(potential). The only thing I attempted to do and did is, allow monitors to reach their potential.

Again in my opinion, monitors are so hard to keep and breed, because they are so easy to keep. They are by far the easist reptile to keep and breed, I ever kept. I mentioned this in magazine articules in the mid ninties.

While their requirements are so easy, their behavior is very complicated and misunderstood. It seems people/keepers, like to follow instructions to accomplish a goal(caresheet mentality) This is not so good with varanids. They require day to day decisions to be made. I am thinking people hate to do that. It puts pressure and responsibility on their shoulders.

So, varanids were the last of the major reptile types to be conquered. But because they are not caresheet reptiles, many are still having problems. Cheers

p.s. Why they are the easist, if allowed to make choices, they make them very well. You as a keeper do not have to do anything, just offer the right choices.