Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Anybody who saw the recent article on Varanus exanthematicus in Reptiles magazine will have been informed that "Wild savannah monitors are highly opportunistic scavengers a bit like vultures". I'd just like to say that this is completely incorrect and that this species is one of the very few large monitor species that cannot be attracted with bait. Its natural diet consists almost entirely of arthropods and snails and they have never been recorded feeding on carrion. It is in fact the most specialised of the African monitor lizards and the notion that it is an easy species to keep is quite incorrect. They just take a long time to die in bad conditions because they are very tough.
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Mampam Conservation

As a parenthetical aside mate, how does the ecological niche occupied by V. albigularis compare? V. yemenensis?

Fangs
B
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Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry
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Venomics Research Laboratory,
Department of Biochemistry,
Bio21 Institute,
University of Melbourne
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http://www.venomdoc.com

Thats why I only feed my savannahs roadkill. ha. I too have heard they eat mostly insects. I think the reason people say they are easy to keep is just because they are convenient to keep. They seem to tame down fairly easily, eat everything, and get big but not to big. When in reality they are just as big of a responsibility of most other varanids.

I completely agree with this. I lived in Florida a few years back, in 2004 before hurricane Ivan hit... and my older brother and I had two Exanthies, and they were amazing animals. Very tough and strong, but wouldn't even touch dead prey. They ate it alive and kicking or not at all hahaha