Varainids

Frogdaddy

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I'm getting back into keeping monitors. Any other monitor keepers here?
 

Westicles

Arachnobaron
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I'm getting back into keeping monitors. Any other monitor keepers here?
No, but if I had the room to and my wife wouldn't murder me, I'd be all on board with a Savannah. I've always admired them, I'm just not to where I can keep one. My snake room is full and I just don't have the room to keep one responsibly.
 

viper69

ArachnoGod
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I’ve only owned Komodo Dragons, used to control and keep away neighbors :troll:

Never kept these. Was always a small lizard guy
 

Westicles

Arachnobaron
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I’ve only owned Komodo Dragons, used to control and keep away neighbors :troll:

Never kept these. Was always a small lizard guy
So, I could stop paying for my Vivint and get a Komodo Dragon for my security system? Lol!
 

Frogdaddy

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No, but if I had the room to and my wife wouldn't murder me, I'd be all on board with a Savannah. I've always admired them, I'm just not to where I can keep one. My snake room is full and I just don't have the room to keep one responsibly.
I'm purposely starting with the small monitors, V. acantharus, V. glauerti, V. pilbarensis, then hopefully getting into the tree monitors.
Maybe you should look into them as well. Everything a big monitor offers in a much smaller package.
 

l4nsky

Aspiring Mad Genius
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I'm purposely starting with the small monitors, V. acantharus, V. glauerti, V. pilbarensis, then hopefully getting into the tree monitors.
Maybe you should look into them as well. Everything a big monitor offers in a much smaller package.
I've been toying around with the idea of getting a small group of V. glauerti for some time now, if for nothing else then to keep my dubia colony under control :grumpy: ...
 

Frogdaddy

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I've been toying around with the idea of getting a small group of V. glauerti for some time now, if for nothing else then to keep my dubia colony under control :grumpy: ...
You might need a couple dubia colonies.
 

l4nsky

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You might need a couple dubia colonies.
I'm just now realizing how subjective the term colony is when being used to describe the size or quantity lol. Let's just say I have no problems breeding roaches successfully lol. My problem is I can't feed them off fast enough once I do get the colonies optimized for production. My dubia colony hasn't been on extra heat for months for this reason and I'm culling over 75% of the ootheca I'm taking from my lateralis colony at the moment. I just did some math earlier today based on the ootheca I've harvested over the past 12 days and if I allowed them all to hatch instead of culling, the colony could be conservatively producing 4.8k pinheads every week at it's current size.

There's a lot of potential in those roach colonies that I feel like I'm not reaching lol and I think a group of rarer, small vertebrate insectivores like V. glauerti would be very rewarding to work with given the potential resources at hand ;) .
 

Frogdaddy

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I'm just now realizing how subjective the term colony is when being used to describe the size or quantity lol. Let's just say I have no problems breeding roaches successfully lol. My problem is I can't feed them off fast enough once I do get the colonies optimized for production. My dubia colony hasn't been on extra heat for months for this reason and I'm culling over 75% of the ootheca I'm taking from my lateralis colony at the moment. I just did some math earlier today based on the ootheca I've harvested over the past 12 days and if I allowed them all to hatch instead of culling, the colony could be conservatively producing 4.8k pinheads every week at it's current size.

There's a lot of potential in those roach colonies that I feel like I'm not reaching lol and I think a group of rarer, small vertebrate insectivores like V. glauerti would be very rewarding to work with given the potential resources at hand ;) .
Those smaller monitors use a high basking temperature and as a result have a high metabolism for a reptile. An adult V. glauerti or V. acanthurus could easily eat 20-30 adult dubia per week.
 

l4nsky

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Those smaller monitors use a high basking temperature and as a result have a high metabolism for a reptile. An adult V. glauerti or V. acanthurus could easily eat 20-30 adult dubia per week.
Agreed, I got it ;) .
20221111_130754.jpg 20221111_130801.jpg 20220114_154242.jpg 20220114_154231.jpg
 

Joen4

Arachnopeon
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I could imagine getting the smallest of monitors like the Timor Monitor, but even that one is not a tiny lizard. I wonder if it would thrash a beautiful forest setup. If you can your hands on the rare Cuban Water Anole (Anolis Vermiculatus) that could also be an interesting choice. You could probably get it in Hamm if you live in Europe.
 
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Frogdaddy

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I could imagine getting the smallest of monitors like the Timor Monitor, but even that one is not a tiny lizard. I wonder if it would thrash a beautiful forest setup. If you can your hands on the rare Cuban Water Anole (A. Vermicularis) that could also be an interesting choice. You could probably get it in Hamm if you live in Europe.
There are smaller monitors. Varanus gilleni is probably around 12" total length.
 

Frogdaddy

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There could very well be other undescribed dwarf monitor species as well.
 
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