Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i need some info on black throte monitors. i need to know how big they get and how there temperment usually is and if they are much diffrent from savanah monitors as far as care for them. i just cant find any good info on them on the internet. thank you

Try broadening your search terms: varanus albigularis microstictus, iondes monitor, varanus albigularis, etc...

Pro Exotics has a care sheet here: Ionides

Best of my knowledge, basically the same care as white throats (varanus albigularis albigularis).

Can reach lengths of 4 - 6ft and pretty much the same temperament as savannah monitors, one of the best dispositions in the varanid kingdom.

Have a good one!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

Albigs are a large species, they are only similar in some outward adaptations and features to bosc monitors.
As far as caging goes from bosc to albigs, the cages and food must be alot larger and more. They are very very powerful animals, they would eat most bosc monitors if given a chance.
If you are asking these questions I guarrantee you should not get one, my guess is that you dont know much if at all anything about monitors, or how to keep them properly. Maybe you should do alot of reseach and keep small species before trying to keep something that can put you in the hospital.
Yes albigs get big, try up to, and over 7ft.

Shes actually a BT/WT WT cross but still the same species. She was 6ft 6 inches last year.

Take note of "SHvar's" first post and the photo in his 2nd post. What he's saying to you is true, that's a whole lotta lizard for a new monitor keeper to reckon with.

Later!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

How about this big. 6'11 and 49lbs and still growing. Not quite 4 years old. Alot of food, heat and a big room. Dangerous if you don't know what your doing. Do your research first.

I always find it comical that Niles are considered the largest monitor in Africa when Albigs are so much bigger weight wise they always go by length never by weight. Here in Fla. niles always get accused of eating cats. I think Albigs might just be able to pull it off.

Whats even more comical is all the people who say a 4x8 enclosure is big enough for a BT, that just cracks me up...

Cats are the most underrated predator on the planet.
They can be and are far more dangerous than almost any animal close to or sometimes many times their weight or size.
Ive seen reactions from large monitors, snakes, to cats, small, medium, and large housecats, they avoid cats.
I know of a large male nile that rushed at a small kitten once, mouth wide open, stopped right in front of the kitten, sniffed it once and the lizard almost broke his cage in half trying to hide so fast from this tiny kitten.
I have a very big albig, and a big housecat, its possible that a medium sized cat or small cat could be killed by a large enough monitor, but very unlikely that any monitor short of a komodo would ever eat a cat unless possibly it was a dead cut up carcass beforehand, and that monitor was very very hungry.
I know of a few instances where monitor keepers posted here after not taking advice about how dangerous cats can be, and ended up rushing injured medium sized monitors to the vet because the cat played with them.
I saw a female housecat kill a groundhog larger than herself once, and the owner has videotapes of more being killed by her.
I think very few monitors anywhere could even swallow a whole small or medium sized cat.
Here we have on occasion eastern coyotes (almost twice the size of their western counterpart) that hunt stray cats only when food is scarce and they have pups to feed.
I think people try to blow things out of proportion when they sensationalize. Feral and stray cats are everywhere worldwide, so why not use them as victims to attempt to back up stories about local monsters. If they are everywhere worldwide, what does that tell you, they the most sucessful invasive species, and one of the most effective predators anywhere.
This is a large housecat, this is a large monitor,

and one with a medium sized monitor, a 4ft flaviargus.

Cats can be very dangerous predators. However, they don't always win if you check some of the very interesting videos of big cats hunting on Youtube.com. Quite often they do indeed bite off more than they can chew and sometimes they pay with their lives. The most dangerous adversaries include, crocodilians, big snakes, hoofstock including wild pigs, other carnivorous mammals such as bear and wild dogs among others. I'm sure some monitors could best a cat if it came down to it.

I can actually speak on this topic from experience.

Not long after getting my Nile (Jan. 05 I think) I got a small kitten. She was a former stray, and had quite a wild streak- shed gotten into all kinds of crazy trouble; including killing a crow at least twice her size and a bad habit of running out my door and immediately into any other open apartment door in range (my neighbors HATED this cat, as you can imagine).

As things went, I was stupid enough to think 2 large books would be enough to keep my cat out of the monitor cage (a 40 gal. breeder at the time)... I was WRONG.

I come home after being out for about 3-4 hours, open the front door and I hear 2 sets of claws clicking on linoleum. A split second later, my 20" Nile scurries out of the kitchen under a table- my kitten about a half step behind.

Obviously, at its small size, I was worried more about the monitor than the cat; so I grabbed the kitten by the tail and stopped her just short of 4-legged drop-scratching my Nile (which wedges itself behind the 300 lb. bookcase at this point)... not my finest animal loving moment; but it was a dire situation.

Its at this point that I realize the condition of this poor cat- shes MESSED UP! Bites and scratches on the nose, face, both front paws and all over her neck and chest- she was like a newspaper (black and white and red all over... yeah, crappy joke, i know).

So I take the poor cat into the bedroom and lay her down on a blanket while I go to check on the monitor.

Luckily a friend stopped by just then, and offered to watch the monitor while I took the cat to the vet. Hour or 2 later, im back home- time to get ol' Wander (thats the lizard).

A few grunts later and the bookcase is moved. I grabbed up the lil critter (extremely surprised it didnt bite me) expecting to find a bloody mess..... not. a. scratch.

I kid you not- that cat didnt TOUCH that monitor; and it got an arse-whomping for its effort.

Can a monitor kill a cat? In the right conditions, Id say yes. 90% of the time; prolly not- they will just run away, as theres no sense in risking a confrontation with some crazy, over curious killing machine in a monitors eyes.

Still, a cornered and angry monitor (of ANY size) is a force to be reckoned with if you dont have opposeable thumbs.

Something to note:

House cats are probably MORE dangerous (for their size) than the big cats- comparatively, a rabbit is in much more danger from a big tomcat than a wildebeast is from a lion.

House cats are PROLIFIC invaders; and the fact that people have 'outside' cats just makes things worse.

For God's sake, do everyTHING a favor and keep your cat indoors- the only reason they go outside is to kill native wildlife.

Compare actual information from sources that study them.
In Asia tigers kill crocs many times their size, they have way too many advantages.
In South Africa the Jaguaar is the top of the food chain, there are very few known instances of any healthy adult jaguaars being killed by even black caiman or green anacondas, both of which are caught by the jaquaar in the water, dragged out kicking and screaming then killed by the cat by a single bite to the head.
Anyone who has seen what feral cats do to wild reptiles some larger than themselves knows how destructive they are. Why do you think they survive almost everywhere man lives or did live, and they are not food sources for any monitor, except maybe young cats and kittens with Asian water monitors in urban areas. Like I said, aside from the komodo dragon and a few rare instances with a few large examples of a few other species, cats are not killed or eaten by monitors, in fact monitors have a an instinctive fear of cats of all sizes.
Cats have one of the highest sucess rates at attack to kill ratios, most range from 40-80% plus, these figures come from mostly prey items larger than themselves.
As far as dog family members go, cats are usually left alone for good reason, unless of course with some domestic large dogs, wolves, or eastern coyotes (only with small young cats or kittens).
Ive personally seen a very young cat tackle a medium sized monitor and come up with the lizards neck in his mouth, the lizard came to its senses and played dead for a few seconds then ran for its life at the first chance.
Ask those who live where wild monitors come from about both.
As far as youtube videos go, there are perfect examples of the truth, a huge green anaconda and one of a caiman being fished out against their will by single jaquaars, then cat-handled and killed at their leisure.
For you monitors safety, and any other reptile, never underestimate a cat of any species.

>>Compare actual information from sources that study them.
>>In Asia tigers kill crocs many times their size, they have way too many advantages.

This isn't entirely correct. A tiger on land may be able to handle a smaller croc but the armor and power of a large croc is simply to much for a tiger.

Likewise a large Nile crocodile has little to fear from lions. The croc may out weigh them by 500-1000lbs.
website

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CDieter
'Reason, observation, and experience; the holy trinity of science.'

Not under water, on shore the croc is dead meat to a tiger, ever notice why crocs run for water when big cats approach on shore.
That armor does not stop several hundred lbs per square inch of jaw pressure behind 3 plus inch canines, in fact the salt water croc has a soft spot at the back of its head where the skull is thin, and tigers learn from their mothers to exploit it. The size of the croc does not matter out of water, they are slow lumbering and helpless at that time.
People who dont know any better hear some crap on TV about the armor on crocodilians being so tough, I can tell you that its not that hard for them to lose entire scutes, get punctures from other animals, or even simple human hunting impliments.
In fact many crocs are killed by poachers with small caliber pistols, and 22 long rifle rounds, they trap them and shoot them in the head, the armor doesnt do anything to stop it, in fact a 22 LR penetrates deeper in a crocodilians head than into a cows head.
I recently had to assist in removal of a 22LR round from a large alligators head, it was fired at a angle that caused it to penetrate through scutes, and several inches through skull and brain before stopping near the jaws.
Never underestimate possibly the most sucessful single mammal predator design, the cat.
Black caiman which get enormous, and orinco crocs are on the jaguaars usual menu, they stand no chance, the jaguaars kill them by a single bite through the skull, just like a tiger does.
In fact theres a video if you so are inclined on youtube, a full grown male tiger (average around 8-9ft long) killing one enormous salt water croc out of water, the croc is twice his length.

>>Not under water, on shore the croc is dead meat to a tiger, ever notice why crocs run for water when big cats approach on shore.

Sometimes, not always. I have video where the croc moves in on a group of lions and takes their prey. I also have video of adult lines being predated by Nile crocodiles.

>>That armor does not stop several hundred lbs per square inch of jaw pressure behind 3 plus inch canines, in fact the salt water croc has a soft spot at the back of its head where the skull is thin, and tigers learn from their mothers to exploit it. The size of the croc does not matter out of water, they are slow lumbering and helpless at that time.

Crocs are not slow and lumbering on land. They can expend their energy in short bursts before they tire. That is their primary disadvantage. Their armor is designed to stop another crocodiles attack. An attack that is alot more powerful than anything a tiger is going to produce. Of course I'm not disagreeing that a well placed bite in the area you are speaking about will kill a moderate sized crocodile but not typically a full grown adult.

>>People who dont know any better hear some crap on TV about the armor on crocodilians being so tough, I can tell you that its not that hard for them to lose entire scutes, get punctures from other animals, or even simple human hunting impliments.

I own Nile crocs. They are extremely tough animals. Their armor is extremely thick especially across the back.

>>In fact many crocs are killed by poachers with small caliber pistols, and 22 long rifle rounds, they trap them and shoot them in the head, the armor doesnt do anything to stop it, in fact a 22 LR penetrates deeper in a crocodilians head than into a cows head.

If you know where to place it. There are also many crocodiles who have been strafed by machine gun fire and survived due to the armor.

>>Never underestimate possibly the most sucessful single mammal predator design, the cat.

I don't, but never underestimate the power and size of a large crocodile. Making comparisons using smaller examples of the species is only half the story. In truth big cats can predate small to moderate size crocodilians. But once that croc reaches adulthood they have little to fear and in fact may prey on the cat.
Nile crocs

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CDieter
'Reason, observation, and experience; the holy trinity of science.'