Review of: Savannah Monitor Lizards as Pets. The Ultimate guide for
Savannah Monitors Owners by Lolly Brown. 2017. NRB Publishing. ISBN:
9781946286567. About 110 pages.
“About
65 million years ago a cataclysm wipe out the ruling reptiles which are
the dinosaurs but only monitor lizards survive” is not an auspicious
introductory sentence for any book which aspires to be written in
English or belong to the non-fiction genre. This one claims to be both,
and also “the ultimate guide for savannah monitors owners”. According
to the introduction, and perhaps unsurpassed in the history of
herpetological anthropomorphisms, “Many first time keepers and experts in
monitor lizards enjoy caring for savannah monitors because even if they
look like real predators on the outside, these animals are longing to
be petted by their owners on the inside as long as you treat them right
and feed them well!”
I cannot speak for first time keepers, nor
for experts in monitor lizards, but anybody who enjoys caring for
lizards in the belief that they are “longing to be petted” should not be
allowed anywhere near them. However that is an opinion, not a fact,
and, in the world of savannah monitor lizards, facts can be hard to
find. Let’s look for some.
The red species are restricted to small islands or habitats on larger
island that have been reduced to fragmented remnants. They do not
feature in leather trade but they are popular and expensive in the
wildlife trade. The distribution, ecology and population status of
almost all of these species is very poorly understood. These species
very rarely reproduce in captivity and so captive bred stock is almost
impossible to find. However many wild sourced animals of many species
are exported and marketed as captive bred, captive farmed or ranched
specimens. These claims are almost invariably false. Most individuals
entering the pet trade die after a very short time, either because they
succumb during transport or because they are very difficult to keep in
captivity. Species marked in red may be at direct risk of
extirpation and extinction as a result of over harvesting by wildlife
trade.
The orange species have a restricted geographical range or specific
habitat preferences. They are uncommon in the leather trade but some
species are popular in the wildlife trade. Theses species are very
rarely bred in captivity and almost impossible to find as captive bred
stock. Unless you have experience of breeding monitor lizards and want
to attempt to breed the se species in captivity, you should avoid them.
Some species of monitor lizard popular in the wildlife trade belong to species restricted to tiny islands in South East Asia. Very few of these animals ever reproduce in captivity and the actual trade vastly exceeds the declared trade. Virtually nothing is known of the population status or ecology of any of these species. Captive breeding of these species is restricted to very rare, isolated events. Some of the species occur only on extremely small islands, and unlikely to occur in large numbers. Many people consider the pet trade to be a significant threat to the conservation of these species but, because they are virtually unstudied and levels of exploitation cannot be documented, very little hard evidence exists.
Varanus auffenbergi is a species of dubious vailidity. The species description was controversially published in a pet hobbyist magazine and splits lizards on the island of Roti from other members of the timorensis group on the basis of pattern and colouration. The species was not recognised as valid by King and Smith (2004), who stated that a review of all four main populations (Timor, Savu, Roti, Semau) of Varanus timorensis was required. Del Canto (2007) provides information on the ecology of V. timorensison Roti, and states that the tiny island of Ndao was home to lizards more similar to those from Timor than from Roti.
Del Canto, R. 2007. Notes on the Occurrence of Varanus auffenbergi on Roti Island. Biawak 1(1): 24-25.
King, D & L.A. Smith. Varanus timorensis. In Pianka, E.R.,D. King & R.A. King. 2004. Varanoid LIzards of the World. Indiana University Press.
Sprackland, R.G. 1999. A new species of Monitor (Squamata: Varanidae) from Indonesia. Reptile Hobbyist 4(6): 20-27.
The yellow species are almost always taken from the wild. They are sometimes bred in captivity although captive bred stock is very difficult
to find. These species inhabit very large areas and there are no reasons
to suppose that the wildlife trade is having a detrimental impact on
their global populations because 1) numbers harvested for wildlife trade
are relatively small or 2) because populations are known to be large
and robust. African and Asian species tend also to be harvested for meat
or leather, in much larger numbers than are taken for the pet trade.
Buying these species will not have any significant effect on wild
populations.
Varanus albigularis (all subspecies)
Varanus exanthematicus
Varanus niloticus
Varanus salvator group (most species)
Varanus ornatus
Varanus griseus*
Varanus bengalensis*
* = CITES Appendix 1 species - no commercial trade allowed.
The green species are widely available from captive bred sources; if you
keep pairs of these animals you have a good chance of breeding them if
you treat them right, and if you just want a pet you have the
satisfaction of knowing that they have not been taken from the wild.
To assist anybody who cares, monitor lizards are ranked according to sustainability in the pet trade.
The green species are widely available from captive bred sources; if you keep pairs of these animals you have a good chance of breeding them if you treat them right, and if you just want a pet you have the satisfaction of knowing that they have not been taken from the wild.
The yellow species
are almost always taken from the wild. They are very occasionally bred
in captivity and captive bred stock is very difficult to find. These
species inhabit very large areas and there are no reasons to suppose
that the wildlife trade is having a detrimental impact on their global
populations because 1) numbers harvested for wildlife trade are
relatively small or 2) because populations are known to be large and
robust. African and Asian species tend also to be harvested for meat or
leather, in much larger numbers than are taken for the pet trade. Buying
these species will not have any significant effect on wild populations.
Australian Goannas. Matt Vincent and Steve Wilson. 1999. New Holland
Publishers, Frenchs Forest. 152pp. AUS $29.95. Available from; 14
Aquatic Drive, Frenchs Forest, NSW 2086, Australia. Rating (out of 10)
= 8
The Mampam Conservation Award for Cruelty to Reptiles, the Mampam Conservation Award for Mishandling and Abusing Reptiles and the Mampam Conservation Award for Disgraceful and Shameful Behaviour in Front of Impressionable Youth all go to Doctor Brady Barr of National Geographic. Congratulations to Doctor Brady Barr for his outstanding contributions in all these categories. Doctor Bardy Barr is invited to pick up his award, and hear his congratulatory speech, at a mutually convenient time and place.
Two groundbreaking papers examining genetic diversity in Varanus niloticus have turned the taxonomy of the group on its head and raised important questions about the conservation status of some populations (Dowell et all 2015a, b). In contrast to many other molecular works that aim to investigate phylogeny of Varanus lizards, these studies rely on large samples that include both old museum material (59) and recently collected (66) specimens, and used microsatellite loci, mitochondrial and nuclear markers in analyses. This thorough approach allows researchers to measure diversity both within and between populations and to find evidence of past and present population declines.
I don't keep monitor lizards, but lots of people ask me for advice on the subject. If you are new to monitor keeping and want to know which is the best species to keep you will find a mryiad of advice both online and in print on the subject. Most people would advise you to get something "easy" like a savanna monitor (Varanus exanthematicus). I strongly disagree. Hundreds of thousands of savanna monitors have been caught in the wild and exported to Europe and the US in the last decade, virtually all of which are dead within a year or so.
The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary defines a pet as "any animal that is domesticated or tamed and kept as a favourite, or treated with fondness". Monitor lizards can certainly not be domesticated. If you allow one the run of your home it will cause untold damage without showing the slightest remorse. If you let it out of the house it is highly unlikely that it will ever come back of its own accord.
A myth, that is extraordinarily common considering its stupidity, is that an animal "will grow to the size of its surroundings, and then stop"! This, of course, is utter nonsense. A healthy reptile never stops growing, from the day it is laid to the day it dies. Many monitor lizards spend most of the day fast asleep, and may not initially appear to very active animals. However when they do move they tend to cover a lot of distance.
Varanus griseus is perhaps the most widespread extant monitor lizard. It is found from northwestern Africa through all deserts as far as western India. Within this range three subspecies are recognised; V. griseus griseus from Africa the Middle East and Iraq, V.griseus koniecznyi from eastern Afghanistan through Pakistan to India and V.griseus caspius from eastern Iran, western Afghanistan and the adjacent part of the U.S.S.R.
I don't keep monitor lizards, but lots of people ask me for advice on the subject. If you are new to monitor keeping and want to know which is the best species to keep you will find a mryiad of advice both online and in print on the subject. Most people would advise you to get something "easy" like a savanna monitor (Varanus exanthematicus). I strongly disagree. Hundreds of thousands of savanna monitors have been caught in the wild and exported to Europe and the US in the last decade, virtually all of which are dead within a year or so.
The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary defines a pet as "any animal that is domesticated or tamed and kept as a favourite, or treated with fondness". Monitor lizards can certainly not be domesticated. If you allow one the run of your home it will cause untold damage without showing the slightest remorse. If you let it out of the house it is highly unlikely that it will ever come back of its own accord.
A myth, that is extraordinarily common considering its stupidity, is that an animal "will grow to the size of its surroundings, and then stop"! This, of course, is utter nonsense. A healthy reptile never stops growing, from the day it is laid to the day it dies. Many monitor lizards spend most of the day fast asleep, and may not initially appear to very active animals. However when they do move they tend to cover a lot of distance.
Varanus griseus is perhaps the most widespread extant monitor lizard. It is found from northwestern Africa through all deserts as far as western India. Within this range three subspecies are recognised; V. griseus griseus from Africa the Middle East and Iraq, V.griseus koniecznyi from eastern Afghanistan through Pakistan to India and V.griseus caspius from eastern Iran, western Afghanistan and the adjacent part of the U.S.S.R. 