dang that was dumb.
Ok, I am afraid, you have missed the entire train. You simply seem narrow minded. If you look up, you will see this:
"Welcome to the Monitor Forum. Here you may post messages or questions pertaining to all aspects and issues regarding the keeping, breeding, health, and conservation of Monitor lizards".
You should also be aware that there are other forums on Kingsnake, one is, "academic/scientific" and the other is, Field notes/observations" or something close, they keep changing them. I believe, your comments are better addressed there. Please have faith that the members here, know how to navigate the site.
I should mention that I think our conflict started, because you think I do not like science or field work. Please let me inform you. I love science and field work. I merely mentioned that published work on monitors, has not been of help. That I will stand by. You and others have also mentioned, that most if not all field work(papers from) was not intended for use by private keepers of monitors.
With that in mind, why are you so concerned with the people who you do not address in our publications? Why don't you publish information intended for these fine people?
Again with that in mind, I only ask that you address captive concerns with captive experience, which you totally refuse to do. Not a word, not a pic, nothing.
The reason I say this is plain, it needs to be, apples to apples. Applying field publications is at this time is, apples to walnuts. Maybe at some time, when both captive husbandry and field work is far more advanced, then it will be, apples to apples. Until that time, its only confusing and of little use.
For instance, your view that montiors are without a doubt, totally unsocial creatures, across the board of all species. Well unfortunately, whether its true or not, we in captivity have to keep more then one in a cage, in order to breed them. As it turned out, it was far more reliable and successful to acclimate the individuals into social acceptance then it was to pop a male in and out, Only to have them fight most of the time. Whether this is natural or not is always a good question. But the ease to which they acclimated and became social leads me to believe that it may possibly be inherent.
In reality, people have tried to successfully keep and breed monitors, by duplicating nature. That has resulted in mostly failure. It was not until the needs of monitors was addressed that a continued train of success was reached.
Its very plain to me, that when we understand the "needs", then when we understand the "envoirnment" which controls the needs, then and only then will we be able to make sense out of how it relates. Until then, we, keepers, need to find a trail of success. That we are doing.
I suggest you do the same, go back into the bush and do not come out until you "do" see, all walks of monitor life. that includes, babies, young adults, reproductive adults, and lastly old adults and breeding, nesting. Also the understanding of different populations. Until you understand all of these, you have only bits and pieces.
Back to field literature(your work) as I have said, thousands of times, I love to read papers and books, but I do not let them guide me or my captive decisions. In my mind, that would be egotistical and arrogant to think, people understand monitors enough to tell them what they are. I only let the monitors do that. Until you can prove that wrong and misguided, I will continue to take that approach.
In the meantime, I find your use of such new found terms as "Clowns" intertaining and childish. Thanks FR
