Reptile & Amphibian Forums

a close friend of mine recently purchased/rescued a wonderful "savannah" monitor from a local mom and pop kinda pet store. after he got his new prize home he promptly called me to do a "second opinion" check of the reptile in question. he said it didnt look like any savannah he had ever seen. so of coures being the avid herper i am i quickly drove the 10 miles to his house to see the new "baby." now heres where it gets weird (at least to me) is has the stocky build and pattern of a common savannah or bosc's monitor if you will, but the head is totaly wrong for a savannah. the snout is rather elongated compared to a "regular" savannah of the save age (a savannah of the same age compared to this little fella looks like a pug). the ridge above the eyes is broader and more pronunced. lastly is has "bumps" above the nasal openings (almost like an adult male white throat). we viewed several pictures of savannahs and other closly related species and found that the head more closly resembles that of a young white throat. but the pattern on the body looks like a savannah!!! plus on top of that hes got an emeralg "sheen" on his front legs. we are so confused. we couldnt find any info on monitor hybridization, but we know it occures in captivity among choice captives. Now remember neither one of us have really kept other monitoe species but savannahs, so we thought we made an educated guess: a savannah X white throat?!?!?! is that possible? i will post pictures when i get a chance if anyones interested. any info would be much appriciated. thanks all.

PEACE

can't say without pics.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

Seen everywhere.

"a savannah X white throat"
no, different creatures, in fact boscs are eaten by WTs in the one place they are found together.

"the snout is rather elongated compared to a "regular" savannah of the save age (a savannah of the same age compared to this little fella looks like a pug"

Sounds like it may be a male, but then again Ive seen several with longer snouts over many years, some with shorter.

"the ridge above the eyes is broader and more pronunced. lastly is has "bumps" above the nasal openings (almost like an adult male white throat)"

Sounds like again, a males features, or just like before from a different area.

"hes got an emeralg "sheen" on his front legs"

Many have this color either when small, or young, then some develop colors and change throughout their life, you never know what colors are going to be there, then gone.

Post some pics, sounds every bit to me like a normal young bosc monitor. Here are some albig photos up close to compare.
[img]http://shenderson1.photosite.com/~photos/tn/2934_1024.ts1114588178000.jpg[img]




Notice albig nostrils are not really elongated. Notice location of nostril though, different, nose shape different, head shape, ear shape, location. Scales, etc.

well thanks for your input, it was very helpful. i feel rather ignorent because i didnt remember some of the sex differences. we concluded in fact it was a male savannah. i really do feel dumb. i have kept reptiles for 16 years and only once kept a savannah till it found a permanent home, so monitors are still uncharted territory for me. thank you for your pics as well, they were very nice. are those your animals by the way?

PEACE