Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Heres a pic of the first pair of Lacies we hatched here, its been almost five years ago.

Its been lots of fun and very interestin to watch her(and him) grow and mature.

During that time, she has laid 11 clutches(in four seasons, not counting this one) Its been amazing how well shes done, despite all the crap I have thrown at her. She started by laying lots of small clutches per year, then as she grew, fewer larger clutches(kinda logical)

Shes done so well considering all the errors I have made(constantly) She has produced such beautiful babies.

I have bred her to two different males, one her brother and one unrelated.

She has produced all sorts of patterns and colors, I guess thats why they are called V.varius.

Now to return to my normal mean self, I still do not see all this solitary behavior and dominance stuff. It seems to me, its all about being social and being familiar to eachother. Oh well, I must be wrong again. FR

You never cease to amaze me with your beautiful animals and pics. What are the measurements of that first pair? I've been facinated with Lacies for quite some time they're an absolutely stunning species. Once i get abit more space and knowledge i may have to purchase a pair from you but in the meantime i'll be studying up on them. I'll be ready when i take that plunge! Would hate to kill one of THEM due to ignorance.

Thanks for the pic Frank.
WOW
-----
James Grigsby - " When you try of all your forces to make your own way, you will help some of others and will be helped by others. As long as you do not make your own way, you cannot help anybody, and nobody can help you. " (Shunryu Suzuki)

Those laceies are absolutely beautiful.
Great work!
-----
Greg Holland
G&M HERPS
www.imageevent.com/gmherps
gmherps@sbcglobal.net

That board taming trick must really work. haha

Nice pictures, they all look happy and healthy. Do you take them in car rides and set them on your lap to watch TV? After all is that not the most important thing to think about?????

Actually lacies are not aggressive. You can handle them, play with them, roll around until your blue in the face.

But, like with all wild animals, you must be aware of what and when, not to do something. For instance, they are breeding now, and you really do not want to fool around with the female, or the male will indeed take exception. When the female is about to nest, you really do not want to bother them. Actually when he protects her, he does not bite, he wacks you with his head. Kinda funny. The scary part is he will run very fast at you, then dive down towards your feet, swinging his head back and forth. It does kinda draw a small girly squeal out of you. Ask Jefe.

Of course you know the board thing is a joke, but I will bet $100 bucks I can tame a monitor that way. If tame is what you want to call it. Cheers FR

Here I was starting the plans up on my own boards. Oh well guess I will toss it in the trash. Haha

Wow man I hope noone took that talk between us seriously.

absolutely beautiful... I hope to be able to own a pair some day... In the future I wish to breed some reptiles but not until I have much more expirience and knowledge. I am a biology/computer science major at U of M (graduate next summer), and I am currently looking for classes on herps... but haven't found any at any local colleges yet. I figure I need at least 4 years expirience with monitors and other herps before I should even consider breeding... well I have 3 years of keeping monitors behind me and another year in research before my first. I hope in the future I will have a better relationship with various breeders and keepers on this forum so that I may benefit from the group knowledge. Thanks for the pics Fred, awesome animals.
-Brent

Thanks for posting the fabulous pictures. I now see why you breed Lacies. What magnificent patterns. Have you taken classes in photography, or is that just natural talent? Your pictures are always so enjoyable.

Leslie

?

Frank, outstanding pictures as usual. The lacies are beautiful monitors and it must have been exciting to see all the different patterns that were produced throughout the years. Hope to see lacies in person some day, but nobody around Wisconsin has any. Take care, keep posting pictures of your awesome animals.

Pam

I did take photography in the late sixties, hahahahahahahaha. Thanks for the compliment but taking good pics these days is very easy. With the advent of digital cams, and the delete button. You no longer have to shoot thirty rolls of film and have them developed, to pic out a handful of good pics.

To take good pics, you only concern yourself with two things, balance and composition. Oh yea, after that focus thing.

About Lacies, they are the species I wanted before I got into monitors. For whatever reason. I think they remind me of my favorite north american lizards, Collard lizards, only larger.

Anyway, My son and I decided to work with the small monitors until we had a handle of monitors. So it was years until I had the chance to aquire Lacies. And good thing I did, as they were disappearing in the States at a rapid rate. As far as I can tell, I got the last breedable female that was in private hands. As I have not seen another since. Of course, there were lots around before I was into monitors. At one time, we had two eggs and our adult female passed. Thats how close it was to not having them in the states. Well, those two eggs hatched out to be the pair in the pics and the rest is good history.

It is a bonus that they are so variable, it makes hatching time exciting. Thanks again, FR

Actually, it's your composition I was admiring.... That and your obvious knowledge of your monitors that makes your pictures so alive and, well, 'monitorish!'

As to digital cameras, I sure love mine. But so far Ive not been able to get as good a picture of my lizards as I can of my horses. There again, familiarity with the subject sure does make for better pictures.

Anyway, keep posting them, please. And after I get lots more experience with monitors (and lots more money) maybe I'll contact you about getting my own Lacie. They've got to be the most attractive monitor species I've yet seen. Sigh. Someday...

Leslie

?

Geeze has it really been that long? Yikes! I remember holding that little one that first hatched, back when you had all the tongue color=sex theories going in yer head. Five years huh? That would explain all the grey in my beard..... I old george still around? I really need to stay in touch better. Miss y'all out there in cactus land!

Guy