At the last few reptile shows there have been a ton of cheap Water Monitors for sale, curious to where they are mainly being imported from?
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Where are most Water Monitors from?
maxgold
Oct 01, 2006 09:48 PM
Replies (4)
mrcota
Oct 02, 2006 12:50 AM
>>At the last few reptile shows there have been a ton of cheap Water Monitors for sale, curious to where they are mainly being imported from?
Most of the Varanus salvator in the pet trade are from Indonesia. If they are sold only as 'Water Monitors', they are usually V. s. salvator (from Sumatra) or V. s. bivittatus.
Cheers,
Michael
maxgold
Oct 02, 2006 08:58 PM
TY, was just curious as they all look very similiar (except for the high yellows which were being called sumatran)and are offered very cheap. Is there any good resource for properly identifying the different subspecies.
Thanks again
Max
mrcota
Oct 03, 2006 12:55 AM
>>TY, was just curious as they all look very similiar (except for the high yellows which were being called sumatran)and are offered very cheap. Is there any good resource for properly identifying the different subspecies.
>>
>>Thanks again
>>
>>Max
There is no 100% way to tell the two subspecies apart, especially since they both vary so much by locality. Mertens apparently saw no difference and made V. s. bivittatus a synonym of V. s. salvator. Tongue colour in many V. s. salvator is black, but not all. There is a dark stripe behind the ear of many V. s. bivittatus, but this is also seen in some individuals of V. s. salvator. V. s. salvator will attain a greater length, but this is greatly dependent on what locality it is from and a monitor not kept in optimum conditions will not attain its potential. The only way to know for sure is knowing for a fact where it came from. According to mDNA evidence, they are different, but not much more than monitors of different distant localities. I have read that early next year, there should be a taxonomic review of Varanus salvator in Mertensiella, which should clear things up.
Cheers,
Michael
FR
Oct 03, 2006 09:08 PM
Actually it will not clarify much. A few localities yes, but then, there are more localities. Then more, then more.
I am sure you understand, there may be hundreds of seperate locatities. One day, there will be a big fat book on V.s.hundreds of types. Until then, it will stay confused. Cheers
