Reptile & Amphibian Forums

can u tell if this is a male for female bt? ty
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this should do it

UHHHHH........., I can barely see a Monitor in that picture, let alone any defining features. I'm not trying to be a jackass, but.........

And hes better off showing the whole monitor from the side, head, body and at least half the tail, who cares about the end of the tail. hahahahahahahaha Cheers

ill try to get some better one's up

and the last one

Ask again when it grows a might bit bigger.
Nice looking albig.
You have any pictures of it happy and dirty?

Scott
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Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

Hi, I'm new to this site

What a beautiful picture! Do you know how old he/she is? I have one about the same size and was also wondering what sex, but everyone tells me it's too young yet to tell. But when mine defecates, it kinda looks like it might be a girl, unless the hemipenes don't even develope until much later.

Sorry I can't help.

Susan.

im not sure of the age i got him/her feb 1st and was about 1ft long no he/she is about 2 1/2 foot i dont really no

Hi Susan, When monitors are young, both have about the same organs, males hemipenes and females hemiclitoris. They appear very very similar until the male begins to develop secondary characteristics. Then his hemipene continue to develop and change. He will also develop in the head and shoulder area and of course, the females will widen at the hips.

Is most species, males will develop a hemipenal bulge. Which can be VERY easy to see, the albig group do that. In fact, some can be sexed from many meters away.

The problem is, some can do this at a very young age(a month or so) others can do this after they are full sized(several years old). This is where the confusion lays.

Sometimes, its very easy to tell from pics like these, other times impossible. If the pic shows secondary development, thats when its easy. Good luck

"When monitors are young, both have about the same organs, males hemipenes and females hemiclitoris. They appear very very similar until the male begins to develop secondary characteristics."

Thank you for that explanation. I won't assume it's a girl, just for the lack of obvious male signs, but will keep checking for development. Very helpful!

BTW- I also have an older/larger 3'+ Albig, who has everted what looks to be, hemipenes on both sides while walking around his enclosure,vent dragging, so I'm hoping my little one is a girl!

Well, my bet is, your larger one is a girl. The reason is, when a male everts, you would have said, oh gross yuck, nasty looking, etc. Or it could be still undeveloped. Good luck and I hope they turn out to be a pair. Cheers

Oh no, I don't think I'd react that way. I have a couple of Draft Stallions so I'm not disgusted by the male paraphanalia (for want of a better word) Seriously though, what I've seen on several occasions, is about the size of an adult human finger, about 2" long, with some, but not much flowering at the end. Everting, first one side then the other. He seems to strut around looking quite proud of himself all the while.
I can't imagine a female needing that kind of apparatus, but I really don't know for sure. Thank you again, I appreciate any input you might have!

Susan.

Its not the size, its the look, kinda like a slab of liver, OK a big slab of liver. With stuff growing out the end. Gross I tell you. hahahahahahahahaha On the other hand The gouldi group have nice looking genitalia. OK, now I sound weird. I breed monitors, I am weird. Cheers and again I hope you have a pair.

Okay, you tell me if I'm going too far and I don't think you're weird (I don't know you) This is very interesting to me.
So the 2" long *hemiwhatevers* I see my 3' Albig everting, could belong to either male 'or' female? What does a female need them for? Do you know where I can find pictures of both sexes?
I've only seen pictures of adult males hemipenes (wich looks like what my Albig has, only a little more developed) but am now very curious to know what the female's looks like. Thanks for bearing with me!

Susan.

Hi again, Yes, this subject is very interesting. And totally missidentified. For instance, many pics I see on the internet are missidentified. That is, other folks just like you, have a camera, but no experience, so they see something sticking out of the vent and call it hemipenes. But they never followed thru to actually see if that individual laid eggs or mated a female. You see, this is the actual proof what what sex they become.

So they just see something and call it whatever they have predetermined to think it was. This goes for academics as well. The reality, if your looking for a pair, then that means your interested in breeding them or at least giving them a social balance(something to interact with other then silly humans)

The actual proof is missing in over 99% of what is printed, written, said, posted and published. Which is one reason why theres so much failure with varanids.

Even with my experience at breeding monitors, which is extensive, with young varanids, I sex them loosely, that is, I may call this one a male and that one a female, but I "know" I may have to change their names(gender specific) later. hahahahahahahahahahahaha. I am right a lot, but sadly not all the time.

Your next question is what leads to the, not being right all the time. Most animals develop the same, unisex(female) until the male hormones cause the female parts to change. This appears to be the case with varanids. Most animals do this as a zygote or embryo. Varanids may indeed do this secondary develop at puberty or even more confusing a delayed puberty. Up until that time, we call these large gender unspecific individuals, he/shes or she/hes. Most of these will indeed turn to their genetic gender. But some stay in a state of no secondary development.

So, before I go on and confuse you even more, any MORE questions, hahahahahahaha Thanks

they see something sticking out of the vent and call it hemipenes. But they never followed thru to actually see if that individual laid eggs or mated a female.

Hi there, I did have another question about this. At just over 3' and at least 18mos old, in case my Albig happens to be female, should I be digging around in the substrate looking for eggs, or is it still too young/small? He/she digs a lot!
But since I had reported what I'd see everted, a while back on another forum and was told by one of the more experienced posters, basically 'if my observations were accurate, it must be a male'
I took that as gospel and decided I did indeed have a male. Maybe I do, but if not, it will be a perfect example of what you said.

ps-Do you have a book or website with information on monitor husbandry and breeding? And if not, why not?)

Thank you,
Susan.

To show the differences, my friends old website and some of those pictures are gone now.
This is an adult female, she was around 6ft 6 inches in the picture and around 4.5 years old, notice the tail base, and the head shape. A males head is built like a cinderbock in comparison, the body from front to back legs is longer by comparison in the female/shorter in the male, the tail base is obvious in sexually mature examples, the neck in males is thicker, the tail is shorter in length compared to body size in males/ as opposed to the females longer tail.
Now my little girl is 6ft 8 inches and still young at over 6 years old.


If I can find the male albig pics on disc Ill post some, you cant mistake them after a certain level of maturity. Even at 2ft long, and 18 inches, 2 of the males I had were very very obvious.

Yikes! what a gorgeous beast she is!! Thanks for posting and if you find pictures of the male, would love to see.

Frank- far from confusing, your explanation was right to the point and I appreciate you taking the time to try and educate me/us!
I was thinking, if I had a male and female, they would be more likely to get along and live a more fulfilled life in captivity, but breeding is not the main reason I have them. I'm just captivated by them.

Thanks!
Susan.