Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm looking for the differences in V. affenbergi and V. timorensis, i.e., size, husbandry, and breeding habits.
Thank you, Phil

V. auffenbergi come from Roti, Wetar and perhaps a few little other islands in the Timor-island group, at the extreme N.E. isles of the Lesser Sunda Archipelago.

V. auffenbergi are typically larger, have blue rosettes on their dorsum, are 'flighty' and fast...and like V. timorensis, terrific biters. They are probably lizard eaters, but like all goannas take a variety of foods.

They have been successfuly bred in captivity = in Germany a few years ago. It seems if you want to breed varanids, seek out the Germans first, as they watch the animals, learn where it is from, and duplicate it in captiivty = babies galore. A simple formula, and fun too. Some german breeders have F3-F4 of some very rare varanids now, not just the common V. acanthurus.

Interestingly enough, apparently V. salvator 'was' known to Roti island in the recent past, and a little farther back, so was V. komodoensis and a equally large fossil (a synonym for V.k.?) in the Timor isles as well, along with 'Java-man'.

Good Luck,
mbayless

I'm hopelessly confused on this issue despite owning four Timor monitors... are all blue colored 'Timors' V. auffenbergi or are there blue colored V. timorensis as well?
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Eryx - All the fun of a boa in a convenient pocket size!

Hi,

I am not totally familiar with the V. auffenbergi, only seen, handled and been bitten by the little monsters....that is a good question: are all V. auffenbergi blue? Are there blue timorensis too??

Well, there are yellow timorensis, blue ones (V. auffenbergi), black ones, so maybe blue V.t. timorensis too? This is a group or complex that is totally ignored - and I don't blame the taxonomists on this group either - it is a confusing, little studied, little known group. The best reports come from Schmida in the 1960's, and little more....a friend of mine in Denmark has a group of these...if you're really interested, post a request on Varanus.nl, or email me directly and I will give you his email...he knows timor-group better than I, and lives with them in his home on one of the many lovely (but wet, cold, rarely sunny) islands of the Kingdom of Denmark...where Vikings were drunk, horny and ambitious...and still are!
cheers,
mbayless