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a little over 4' and 9.3lbs. one of the waters at our store, and to clear things up it is NOT for sale.

That's one beatiful water. I have a question though. If I got one as a baby, how much would I feed it a day to still keep it healthy but not grow as fast and get it to reach the smallest possible length. I want to keep it healthy though.
Regards,

no healthy way to stunt an animals growth. if you dont want a 6-7' monitor then dont get one. they have the potential. there are some waters that get smaller, but i think they are real expensive.

There is no real good way to make a smaller monitor. At least not any way we know of that is healthy. You could feed it less, but that is not likely to be a healthy way to do it. If you keep them healthy, they are going to want to eat. If they want to eat and they are healthy, they will search for food, scratch, bash against the cage, and so on. That will lead to unhealthy injuries. You could keep them cooler which will lower the need for food, but that is questionable in terms of health. It has been done and it has resulted in smaller monitors, but most often those monitors end up dead sooner. However, the best idea is not to get a water monitor if you really want/need a smaller monitor. Water monitors are large monitors and there is no good way around that reality. Below is a picture of two monitors. The large one in the background is 5 feet and 2 years old (almost to the day in the picture). The smaller one in front is a brother or sister of the large one that was born shortly before the picture was taken. Waters get big... This picture was taken on March 1st.

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^x^ Bloodbat ^x^
Monitors, monitors everywhere
and all the food they ate.
Monitors, monitors everywhere,
their parents loved to mate.

Hi Bloodbat,
there is the V.salvator marmoratus which can be diminuitive is size and stature = 3 feet maybe, and I have seen examples of such, both live and deceased (latter in museusm collections)... so yes Santa Klaus, there is a dwarf-like salvator - but the monster 9 footers are more fun!

cheers,
mbayless

I will take your word on marmaratus staying smaller. We all know that I know close to nothing about the different types of salvators. lol.

However, what is the likelihood of being able to find and buy a marmaratus for the average person? It is more likely that the person asking the question, or anyone with a similar idea, was asking more in terms of making a "dwarf" regular salvator, the kind you can get just about anywhere. The question specifically was how do I feed it less and care for it such that it stays small. For most people that is the only way they will get a small water monitor, unless they get lucky or know enough about waters to find a marmaratus and probably pay a lot more for it(maybe?).

Also, if you look at the pics of marmaratus on Csalvator, those monitors may not be 6-9 foot but those are still some big, bulky looking animals. I am terrible at judging sizes but I would say that at least one of them looks bigger than 3 feet.

I could use more water monitors... ahahahahahaha
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^x^ Bloodbat ^x^
Monitors, monitors everywhere
and all the food they ate.
Monitors, monitors everywhere,
their parents loved to mate.

Hi Bloodbat,

I guess I misunderstood the post? Why on Earth (is there another place we can go to??) would somebody want to stunt a varanid? That is just bizarre to me to comprehend...

The pic of the little V.s. marmoratus is not on John A./cybersalvator web page - it is here in my own private photo - files. JOhn has seen the pic, it was taken in Netherlands, and the animal was/is from Lombok I think (If I remember right?)?

I had a full grown V. exanthematicus that was less than 2 foot total length, had her 13 years before she died of old age (had no teeth, just faded away, would sit outside in the sun for hours always watching birds, nver did much walking except to eat the red rose petals on the rose bushes)... some animals are destined to be small, others large, and when hardships hit a local environment, the best adapted will survive, promoting those genetic traits for next generations...I digress.

Yes, I do think you need more salvators -
Best Regards Bloodbat,
mbayless

figures id reply to a dwarf post.
marmoratus are not dwarves, 6.6 feet is large, and i have pics of it on cybersalvator. the smallest known salvators are masbate and ticao island nuchalis, 3 feet. they are also the darkest. togianus on sulawesi are large, cumingi reaches 6 feet too. captivity has an effect on size- good husbandry can grow your smaller varieties into larger than average lizards. -john

>>That's one beatiful water. I have a question though. If I got one as a baby, how much would I feed it a day to still keep it healthy but not grow as fast and get it to reach the smallest possible length. I want to keep it healthy though.
>>Regards,

Get a marm, salvator cross from reptile guru. They're beautiful and from what ive heard about their crosses, they generally max out at around 5 feet svl.

PS This isnt one of theres but beautiful none the less.

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0.0.1 Varanus Salvator (Gator)
0.1.3 Varanus Exanthematicus (Adisa)
2.0 Ferrets (Chaos & Kasha)
1.0 Cat (George)

Heres an idea of what can happen with a large monitor, this skull is from a 7.5 ft or so water, possibly bigger. This is used for educational demonstrations.

>>a little over 4' and 9.3lbs. one of the waters at our store, and to clear things up it is NOT for sale.
>>
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0.0.1 Varanus Salvator (Gator)
0.1.3 Varanus Exanthematicus (Adisa "long term captive" other 3 "yet to be named hatchlings"
2.0 Ferrets (Chaos & Kasha)
1.0 Cat (George)

how does he look thin? he's actually got a great weight, even after he eats he doesnt look bloated. he normally eats 2 Lg Rats every other day. in the pic he just took a big crap and was fed today.

one man thinks one of my animals is obese the other one is thin. You are the first person to say that he looks thin. This guy is on a growth spurt and is growing in length not girth(yet). Look at the base of that tail. Well to fatten him up I guess I will go give ole Mary Kate some GD lard!

I never said it didn't look healthy, it does. The tail is nice and plump so its definitely storing fat there, i was was just giving my observations about its thinness which is not a negative or bad thing like you took it. It just probably hasn't eaten in a while lol.
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0.0.1 Varanus Salvator (Gator)
0.1.3 Varanus Exanthematicus (Adisa "long term captive" other 3 "yet to be named hatchlings"
2.0 Ferrets (Chaos & Kasha)
1.0 Cat (George)

I'm just joking about this whole thing.(lol) I just wanted to say the opposite of what you expected to see how you'd react thats all. HAve a sense of humor, ot doesn't hurt.

Take it easy and nice salvator by the way. How old is it?
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0.0.1 Varanus Salvator (Gator)
0.1.3 Varanus Exanthematicus (Adisa "long term captive" other 3 "yet to be named hatchlings"
2.0 Ferrets (Chaos & Kasha)
1.0 Cat (George)

>>how does he look thin? he's actually got a great weight, even after he eats he doesnt look bloated. he normally eats 2 Lg Rats every other day. in the pic he just took a big crap and was fed today.

Ok, my bad. It just looks like a wild caught animal that missed a few meals to me but if you say it has good weight and just took a crap, i have no choice but believe you, right?

We don't have to debate this and i dont have to agree for you to let it be, do i? Its only my oppinion and who am i?

Cheers
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0.0.1 Varanus Salvator (Gator)
0.1.3 Varanus Exanthematicus (Adisa "long term captive" other 3 "yet to be named hatchlings"
2.0 Ferrets (Chaos & Kasha)
1.0 Cat (George)

Fat storage, yet alot more than what people realize is normal for a long thin atheletic monitor. I think too many people are used to seeing obese bosc monitors and think all monitors are supposed to be that way. The overweight monitors dont live very long, just like people, and suffer health problems all along the way. There are pics out there of fat obese waters that are gonna be short lived and or live a tortured lazy existance, they are water monitors after all not basketballs. I believe a picture of a big water in a very popular monitor book thats worthless other than the pics in it, decieves too many into believing that a healthy water looks like a blimp. Hmmm, Giant -------, you fill in the blanks. I think that one looks good, and I bet he can run fast, climb, swim, and jump like a healthy monitor can. A good friend recently sent a water at 4ft and 7lbs to a gentleman in Missouri recently, he was a good looking animal to. Hes aparently a good judge of character also, the guy had a suprise when he opened the box.

probably was typing when you were but i was only kidding with Mathew about this whole thing( had a drink to many) because people post pics looking for a certain response and when the don't get it, it turns into a debate trying to change peoples minds so i wanted to see if that would be the case here. It was. lol. But honestly i have a great deal of respect for him because of the choice in animals that hes posted as well as the comments hes contributed to this forum being well thought out and informative. But im bored and nobody seems to be posting anything worthwhile lately so i decided to be dick to pass the time.

PS Sorry for wasting yours though.

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0.0.1 Varanus Salvator (Gator)
0.1.3 Varanus Exanthematicus (Adisa "long term captive" other 3 "yet to be named hatchlings"
2.0 Ferrets (Chaos & Kasha)
1.0 Cat (George)

I just get tired of all this thin lizard, obese lizard BS. And yes monitorman, I do have a sense of humor. I can be a modern day Andrew Dice Clay. But I do not play when when someone talks about on of my animals. I take great pride in my collection. If I do not have anything nice to sayabout someone else's animal I do not say anything at all. By they way Sobek is awesome!

I too take pride in my collection and understand how you feel, so again i appologize for the joke that wasnt all that funny. Im not one to insult people or their animals which in hindsight is probably why it was funny to me at the time(completely out of character). Sure is funny what a few drinks will make you do to pass the time. lol

Take it easy
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0.0.1 Varanus Salvator (Gator)
0.1.3 Varanus Exanthematicus (Adisa "long term captive" other 3 "yet to be named hatchlings"
2.0 Ferrets (Chaos & Kasha)
1.0 Cat (George)

.

Here is a pic of one of our crosses. You can see the mother and more babies at cybersalvator.com.
Thanks.

Tony Alles
www.reptileguru.com