# Lacies and heath monitor



## Boney (Mar 19, 2009)

guys just wanted to know what are the main differences between lacies and heath monitors .. eg , size , patterns , can they be kept in the same conditions as a lacie outdoors in nsw ? as they are on the wanted list now im setting up a new cage.. 

i think they grow smaller ive only seen a few . is there anyone selling them at the moment ? any info would be good thanks in advance


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## richardsc (Mar 19, 2009)

heath monitors are smaller,like a black gouldi,there a member of the gouldi complex so similar in behavior to gouldi,there a more terristrial monitor than a lacie,theres someone in sa that breeds rosenbergs,there name eludes me right now but they often advertise them on rdu ahc,there a burrowing monitor like a gouldi so that will have to be taken into account and they are cold hardy and should do fine in nsw,there definatly a cool monitor,wish we could keep them here in vic,hopefully oneday


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## Boney (Mar 19, 2009)

thanks richard, your a legend mate :lol: o.k then ... i just thought they looked more like a lacie just smaller .. they are alot darker to hey ? so they are more like a sandy thats interesting ... because i was going to set them up like my lacies . so if i put a heap of branches to climb on they wont use them? will they just get about the bottom of the cage and not use the top half?


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## richardsc (Mar 19, 2009)

there paterned like sandys,but dark like lacies,most people confuse them cause they see a big lizard and assume lacie,they will still climb if offered climbing areas but in general there terrestrial burrowing monitors,like the goulds,flavies and panoptes there related to,even spencers will climb branches if provided,i think jasonsl,s on this forum do but they arent as apt as say a lacie or gillens monitor is,they are quite at home in trees


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## JasonL (Mar 19, 2009)

heres a wild one from the Royal


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## Boney (Mar 20, 2009)

HELL YEH thats a great pic .. yeh i got to get some of those ..


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## Retic (Mar 20, 2009)

This is my Heath Monitor, as you can see they are quite different to Lacies. Much more colourful overall.


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## Boney (Mar 20, 2009)

thanks for your pic BOA , if possible could i get a few pics of the cage for ideas .?


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## pythons73 (Mar 20, 2009)

Thats a awesome Heath Monitor boa,how long have you owned that one.Is he-she placid,if so how long did it take to calm down.


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## Retic (Mar 20, 2009)

Thanks, he is a beautiful animal. I have had him 4 years next month and I would be lying if I said he was placid but in his defense he never gets handled. He comes running over to get fed and would take my fingers as eagerly as a rat.


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## richardsc (Mar 20, 2009)

nice rosenberggs boa,impressive


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## serpenttongue (Mar 20, 2009)

I was once after Heath Monitors, but then decided that instead of getting Heaths i can just get more Lacies (Lacies do much more for me). Heaths are a nice monitor and i find it a shame that they're not more popular, especially since they can be kept outdoors throughout much of Australia and dont reach an enormous size.


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## sweetangel (Mar 20, 2009)

i was told the way to tell the different is by the patterns on their fore arms.

Lacey's tend to have bands and stripes of colour while the heath monitors have spots on their fore limbs





striped fore limbs so i think a lacey!





spotted fore limbs so i think a heath monitor.

the funny thing about these 2 images is that the heath monitor was at the base of the tree that the lacey was up!


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## crocdoc (Mar 20, 2009)

I wouldn't go so far as to say that heath goannas are more colourful - the local Sydney ones are usually quite drab as adults. Lacies also range from drab to colourful. 







Boa, yours is a particularly nice looking one but also looks a lot like the West Australian or South Australian ones.

The quickest way to tell a lace monitor from a heath monitor at a glance is the banding of the tail. In heath monitors the banding is fairly uniform all of the way down the tail. In lace monitors, the bands get wider and wider towards the tip, until you have really long areas of light followed by dark. This can be seen from quite a long way off.

If you're close up and can't see the tail, lacies have very few snout bands and they can either be right around the snout or only on the lower jaw. Heath monitors have numerous bands on the lower jaw.

Arm banding is not reliable, because lace monitors can have rows of spots on their arms rather than bands.

There are a lot of other differences, of course, but these are just the ones that can be noticed immediately.

Here's a shot of a wild Murray Darling lacie showing the tail banding


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## serpenttongue (Mar 21, 2009)

Luke i would imagine you would need something with a lot of floor space for adult Heaths (since they are more terrestrial than arboreal),as well as having a deep substrate, since Heaths love to dig. I think babies would do fine in a typical reptile enclosure or tank.


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## serpenttongue (Mar 21, 2009)

There's probably a big difference in size between Heaths and MALE Lacies, as male lacies get to 2m long. If you were to get a female Lace Monitor (which doesn't get as big as males) then i dont think there'd be much size difference between her and a Heath. Although i'm not sure how well Lacies and Heaths would get along.


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## Retic (Apr 3, 2009)

A photo I took this morning of my Heath monitor drying out after the spot of rain we had yesterday


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## TWENTY B (Jun 17, 2009)

that's a nice pic Boa, 
looks like a really nice enclosure, any pics of the full thing?


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## Retic (Jun 17, 2009)

Thanks, I don't have a shot of the whole thing but to be honest it is just a colourbond square roughly 2.5m. I am currently building a larger one which will be around 4m x 3m. I will post some shots when it's finished.


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## saximus (Sep 17, 2012)

R3V3LL said:


> i have a male heath for sale atm



March 2009 thread. They probably found one already


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## spongebob (Sep 17, 2012)

And Boa's keeping Heathies outside in the UK!


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