Reptile & Amphibian Forums

At what age will a monitor hibernate? My female desert monitor has not been very active lately. most of the time she stays in her hiding spot and sleeps. She is about 1 year old.

thanks
jake

V. griseus usually hibernate after their second shedding. H/she might begin waking up around April?

If they do not properly hibernate, they may not make it; this is why it is essential they become fat enough to survive their hibernation period. A beautiful species...
Good Luck,
mbayless

.... Do all monitors hibernate?
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0.1.0 BCI, 3 yr old
0.0.1 Ridge Tail Monitor
0.0.1 ArgusXflavi Cross monitor
0.0.1 Leoperd Gecko, Juvi (My girlfriends)

I am not sure monitors hibernate at all, any species. Monitors, are forced to conserve energy when conditions are not favorable. If its too hot, to cold, to dry, or not enough food, they go down in burrows or inside trees, etc.

Only in the most extreme conditions can you consider that to be hibernation(forced lack of movement). Most monitors still move around while underground. They move to near the surface to deep down, depending on need. This cannot be called hibernation.

Of course Russian desert monitors occur in some of the most extreme conditions. Unfortunately, the desert monitors in this country come from Africa. Which is equatorial and not so extreme.

So please keep in mind that blanket statements are not so accurate. For instance, desert monitors, occur from near the equator to the southern parts of russia. They occur over a huge areas and from different climates. So it would be very odd if all did the same behaviors, considering, they do not have the same input(reasons)

Other monitors like the gouldi complex(thats what you have?) may be forced underground for short periods, but nothing that could be considered hibernation. Good luck, FR

" Of course Russian desert monitors occur in some of the most extreme conditions. Unfortunately, the desert monitors in this country come from Africa. Which is equatorial and not so extreme."

Actually, to clear up a bit of geographical confusion for you, Northern Africa(where V. griseus is found) is not "Equatorial", or even close to it.. If you look at the map, you will see that the areas where V. griseus occurs in northern Africa is at least 20 degrees north of the equator, with most of its african distribution north, or outside of of the tropic of Cancer.

If you were to look at the same corresponding latitude here in North America, you will see that you would be standing in Florida. Florida to my knowledge is not equatorial either.

If you look at the climatic conditions and seasonal changes in Northern Africa, you will see that conditions are not as "stable" or "not so extreme" as you may think. They are not equatorial and therefore are exposed to noticeable changes in photoperiod, solar radiation/intesity, among other seasonal/climatic changes; quite a different scenario than what you would expect to find at equatorial regions.
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Treemonitors.com

20 or 30 degrees of latitude is quite a difference..

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Treemonitors.com

They are still acting like my other monitors. Out basking out eating, then at times burrowed down and hiding. Oh and The FL. reptiles are still out and about too. They do burrow down or hide when it cools down but they are back out when it is warm.

at what timps. do yours hibernate?
thanks
jake

They have not done so. I imagine if I dropped the temps they would, but so would any of my other reptiles.

Hi Jody,
Do you keep a 'record log' of them? That would be interesting, and probably reveal some of their biology we do not know, which is alot...

cheers Jody,
markb

The only records I keep are in my head. I am not much for writing things down.

Hello All,

I have been keeping griseus for sometime now and my piers in Europe also. What I have found is that alot of the literature in books and on the net is complete nonsense when it comes to this particular species. I want to state that I have never hibernated my griseus and will not and the chap who bred mine never hibernated his too. I think hibernation is the wrong word to use anyway more like brumation. I keep regular temps and they feed all year round, they are a little fussy sometimes when it come to what they will eat one day mice another day turkey pieces, but I do not think they are any different to alot of other varanus species being kept in captivity. Also another myth is this shedding factor that they shed twice and then go down for the winter. Mine shed like any other monitor all the time, they are no different to gouldii when it comes to shedding. Also I must add that in Southern Russia it is quite warm alot warmer than most parts of Europe. In fact that part of Russia is classed as Asia minor. Also alot of the literature was written when it was the U.S.S.R and some of the states are no longer part of Russia.

Also Frank is right all griseus I have seen in the States originate from North Africa i.e. Egypt. Mine are the same but from abit further over towards the Arabian penninsula i.e Iraq.

Sean United Kingdom

Thanks for adding that. I haven't found them to be any different then my other monitors either. I did notice them at times of being picky eaters as you mentioned. I wondered if I did something wrong but perhaps they are just that way.

Are you the same fella that posts on cybersalvator?

Yes I am the same Sean. If you go to captivebred.co.uk check out my new pics of one of my griseus of which I have 2 pairs but I could only get a decent pic of this one and also check out my cumingi pics.

I checked out the pictures. Are your cumingi from the frankfurt zoo? They look to have the same colors and patterns I have seen from that line.

Do your griseus ever get red in color? My male seems to do this more then the girl but when heated up his tail turns red along with the sides of his belly.

Thanks for sharing you have some nice looking monitors.

Yes my cumingi are from the Frankfurt line. Yes two of my griseus do appear to change colour sometimes, like you said to a reddish colour on certain areas of the animal.

I've just added some new griseus pics to the captivebred forum.

Sorry forgot to mention they are in the forum on captivebred.

V.g. griseus do hibernate - and do have venom apparatus as Bryan Frye has published a few weeks ago; both aspects are known to the people of North Africa: as Arab, Berber, Beduoin, British, French, Israeli and American people have all reported.

Yes, V.g. caspius in the Caucuses do hibernate while the snow is falling, but emerge on warm days - like Bears (Ursidae) do in North America and in N. Europe - for bears it is called 'hibernation', so why is it different for V.g. griseus and/or V.g. caspius then?

If you're interested, here are some V.g.griseus hibernation sources:

Ibrahim, Adel A. 2000a. A radiotelemetric study of the body temperature of Varanus griseus (Sauria: Varanidae) i Zaranik Protected Area, North Sinai, Egypt. Egyptian Journal of Biology 2:57-66.

Ibrahim, Adel A. 2000b. A method of attaching radio transmitters to desert monitors, Varanus griseus in Zaranik Protected Area, North Sinai, Egypt. British Herpetological Society Bulletin 71:27-29.

Schleich, H.H. 1996. Amphibians and Reptiles of North Africa. Koeltz Science Books, Koenigstein. 627p.

Vernet, R. 1982. Etude ecologie des Varanus griseus au Sahara-
Nord-Occidental. Bulletin Herpetologie Societe Francaise 22:33-34.

Reheem, Khamis A. 1980. Taurine - a possible inhibitory substance in the brain of a hibernating reptile. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 65B:751-753.

Zain, Barbara K. 1967. Characterization of the abdominal fat pads of a lizard. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 23:173-177.

Cheers,
markb

I have heard that the diff. between "hibernation" in reptiles and mammals is that there is a diff chemical used in the two animals... or something like that (I did not get a lot of info.) has anyone heard of a diff in the two?

Hi Jock,
Perhaps in amino acids and sugar concentrations? I'll do some further checking around and get back to you...I do know if the fat pads are not sufficient, they die during 'hibernation' period....
markb

There is a difference between (warm blooded) mammals vs. (cold blooded) reptiles when it comes to hibernation.

What you should be asking is why they hibernate not if they do so.

reptiles use temperature to controll metabolism so all they have to do to keep their metobolic rate low is stay cool.

Mammals dont use temperature the same way reptiles do, therfore mammals must meditate very deeply to slow their metabolism.