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is it possible to house Peacock monitors and a Similis monitors together?

Ive got one Peacock monitor and 1.1 Similis on the way

ive seen people with black throats and boscs or white throats and black throats ive even seen Argus and savannah monitors caged with niles

sorry if its a dumb question i know the two species are similar and just wondering if anyones got any thoughts....

Hi, I personally DON`T recommend housing different species of varanid together in captivity, even in the "great big wild", they don`t "integrate" with other species, though they may live in close proximity. I`m sure there ARE individuals (keepers), who try doing that, whether they`re "successful" is another thing (even if they tell everyone it`s all "fine".
Remember too, how tiny most enclosures are in relation to the wild!

I am a fan of keeping groups, even different species together.

But in this case, the question cannot be answerd, which is why I did not respond to it.

First, there is no guarantee that individuals of the same species will tolarate eachother, much less individuals of another species.

While I keep lots of groups, I do not go into thinking they are the same species, so all is fine. ITs not, I would expect problems with any individuals, particularly if they are wild caught.

ive got a melinus and peach throat togeather now for two months doing good so far

Hi, I`d just like to ask you what you think the benefits of housing two different species of varanid in the same TINY enclosure (compared to the wild), are for the monitors, (not for you)??
Thanks!

I don't see any benefit to any monitor by multi housing, people do it out of laziness from what I have seen. Keep in mind all monitors are predators,cannibals and opportunists. There are many accounts of cannibalism from specimens close to the same size, its rare but happens. There will always be a dominant one and a submissive one when housed together regardless of sexes, I have seen it many times in the earlier years of keeping. In fact I have 2 female Kimberly rocks that are clutch mates and were both the same size 3 months ago at 6 months of age, now they are together in a very spacious enclosure, 6 ft by 4 ft and the one is 50% larger then the other [submissive one]. In the wild they don't have to tolerate each other and can roam into an area far enough away from one another to create there own territory and thrive which is hard to do in captivity and leads to stress. Bottom line is it works for some people but I think it puts restrictions on the submissive one. Pairs that are sexed even stress eachother at times when housed together, a keen eye helps. Good luck, Bob

You make some excellent points! Can I ask if the two females are gravid, or just basking under the heat lamps in that photo?

Actually that is the wrong pic, I couldnt upload the one I wanted to show. That pic is a 1.1 V. Pilbarensis that is still alive and well, female we hatched in 2001 here at our facility. The pic I was trying to upload wont because I cannot resize it with the software I have now. My point is the 2 glauerti females are both 10 months old and never been with a male, the real point is one is dominating the other and the end result is one 50% larger then the other within 3 months. Now if I would have kept them seperate they would be more evenly grown to the same size. If you take some monitor hatchlings and house them together you will see what will happens regardless of species. I have seen this many times but sometimes in a pinch I house 2 girls together until I make other cages. They are all territorial and I beleive they probably really only come together for breeding season. If you keep monitors together for any length of time you will always have a larger one and it does not have anything to do with the sex ratio, Ive seen it with multiple girls and even worse with 2 males.
Good luck, Bob

When species are really closely related do you think they can tell that one is a different species. Different aussie monitors cross breed. Ive even heard of melinus monitors having blue tails and peach throats. Just curious as to what others say. I definitely could be making a mistake by having these two together but only time will tell. At this point I believe they are better off together then by them selves. There are multiple hiding spots in the enclosure the peach throat has always used the same one until recently where it has now started using the same one as the melinus monitor which I got after the peach throat. So in essence its now possibly broken its routine behavior to be near the other monitor.

The problem with your point of view that "Only time will tell" is that you don't suffer but the animals suffer at the hands of a village moron.....

People are so lazy... it's hard enough getting to unrelated Varanid of the same species living together let alone different species. Sure some people have done, it but is there any benefit to the animals or the keepers? Shouldn't we do as much as possible to benefit the animals and not worry about us?

Cheers,
Chad

Its got nothing to do with laziness, I have other cages I could easily separate them if need be. Also when they are more able to be easily sexed ill put the opposite sex of the same kind with them and more then likely separate these two. Im doing this to make the transition easier. They could both be males or both females that wouldn't get a long regardless of species. I still think that the monitor actually at this point prefer it. If i see any action that dictates otherwise ill separate them. Also of all my reading doesn't quite suggest that monitors are as solitary as every thinks they are.

No, I dont think monitors are solitary all the time but they have the ability in the wild to dist themselves from one another when needed, when 2 are kept in a cage you remove that choice and stress is usually what will follow but not always fatal.
Bob

I like your attitude!
Bob

Hi, which Australian monitors cross breed in the wild??

Sorry, I pressed the last response before I`d finished; in what respect are they [Quote]"Better off together than by themselves"? [Enqoute]. These are solitary animals, they don`t need company (apart from during the breeding season), surely, you`ve done this in the hope they WILL intrebreed, simply so you have a "new" monitor?? Even if it happened, which I would be extremely doubtful about, it would NOT be a new species! Why do you and others want to try to change these animals, (similar to what we`ve done with the domestic dog??
Thanks!

they are not best kept alone, the problem with keeping in groups is compatibility.We have to think of each monitor as an individual not just as a diplicate of the species.most people just don't have the resources to go through the process of finding compatible monitors.

Are you saying different species are not best kept alone? Can I ask how much experience you have with housing the different species together?? Thanks!

I have a group of V. Gilleni that are showing signs of pecking order, one male with multiple girls and the girls are the same age but some are nearly twice the size and dominate the food. They are a species that are OK in groups but I know people who have lost speciemens of this species by multi houseing. It is always a risk and carefull watching should be done. I bet you if I pulled a girl and housed her alone she would shoot up in size, I have done this with rock monitors before.
Bob

Im not a fan of hybrids and never housed 2 different species together so I would be the wrong person to ask. Im sure they will cross if close in species range, its been done but why???
Bob

I`m not sure that just because a species is closely related, it`s "likely" to cross breed, the Nile and Ornate monitors are very closely related, and occur together in some locations without any signs of breeding (in the wild).

Can anybody tell me if it`s possible to "quote" a reply that I want to respond to, so I see the message and my reply is on the same page? It`s difficult at times to know who`s talking to who!!
Thanks!

Hi murrindindi,

I don't know if it's possible to "quote" but You can copy/past the message and make it looking differet from your answer by using some HTML tags

Like this for example, I'm using here the "bold html code"
[ b]the message you like to quote[/b ] (remove the spaces in front of the first "b"and behind the second "b"

Can anybody tell me if it`s possible to "quote" a reply that I want to respond to, so I see the message and my reply is on the same page? It`s difficult at times to know who`s talking to who!!
Thanks!

I hope it helps
sry my english sucks

Hi, thanks for that, I will give it a try, but my computer skills are VERY small, your English is good, I understand you perfectly!! May I ask where you are from? It`s o.k if you don`t want to say....

No problem. From France.