Monitor pictures-Thread

[crocdoc]

I was going to ask the temperature as well, and whether or not it has hide spots. It's unusual for young lacies to sleep out in the open like that.

 

[Royziee]

So is there a difference between a Goanna and lace monitor? Or is lace monitor just a more politically correct name?

 

[SamNabz]

So is there a difference between a Goanna and lace monitor? Or is lace monitor just a more politically correct name?

Monitor = Goanna

 

[crocdoc]

'Goanna' is the Australian slang for monitor lizards in general. It comes from the early misunderstanding that they were iguanas (as does the Afrikaans name for monitor, 'leguaan'). There are around 26 species of monitor (or goanna) in Australia. The common slang for lace monitor is 'tree goanna'.

 

[Royziee]

Thanks heaps for the explanation guys

 

[mysnakesau]

Hi Kathy, I just saw your other thread with that little rescued lacie in there and wanted to say good on you for taking care of it.

I was just wondering though, as you said you haven't disturbed it, are you sure it's alive? Does it open its eyes when you enter the room or move etc?

Also, what is the temperature in that enclosure?

Thank Sam for your kind words. Yes he alive. I can see him breathing and just 5 minutes ago I actually reached in and lightly touched him and he moved and opened his eyes. But otherwise, no, he does not open his eyes or move when we hears us. if he does know we are there, he is ignoring us or he is deaf

His basking spot is 53c. Where he is laying (in the above photo) is 39c and the air temperature is fairly warm, too. I have a light on one of them thermostats that measures air temperature, set to its max, and at the moment the light is off. But I also have a heatcord on the floor to keep him warm overnight when I turn the light off. Heatcord stays on all day, all night.

Crocdoc he does have a hide. I made a "log" from a cardboard box in the cool end of his enclosure but he seems to stay in the warm end except for this photo when I put the box over him.

 

[mister3]

Another clutch hatched this week so I took some quick shots as I moved them from the incubator into an enclosure.

beautiful lacies! wish there were more of those floating around here

 

[HoffOff]

Hey peeps,
I'm thinking about getting my first monitor.. probably not for a while as i need to do alot of research. What's a good starter monitor?, the general idea i've seen on the forums in ackies, could you keep them for life in a 4x2x2?, i could probably bang up a larger enclosure if needed...

 

[crocdoc]

Kathy, if it were me I'd be getting rid of that kitty litter substrate and would put something in there that holds humidity better. I'd also give the monitor a tighter, more secure hide spot (and a fair number of them, so it had a choice).

 

[mysnakesau]

Ok. Thank you for your help and I forgot about two good monitor books sitting in my bookcase so did some reading up and found the answers to my next lot of questions. Mix of the peat, dirt, some mulch, too, and work on some furniture in there too. Very sorry to snatch the attention of this thread. But its all been very helpful.

 

[richardsc]

sugar cane mulch is what i use for a few of my species



couple of my lacies

 

[sobrien]

have a guess..

 

[Nash1990]

First two wild lace monitors found this season.

Spring is here

 

[thomasbecker]

That first pic looks freaky!

 

[crocdoc]

Sobrien, I'm guessing those were taken on Komodo itself rather than Rinca. They look like Komodo dragons rather than Rinca dragons.

 

[sobrien]

There's a keen eye! The juvenile was on Rinca and was in the tree directly opposite the ranger 'office' and the second picture is from Komodo. Just an amazing place. I can't wait to go back.

Some more..

 

[mysnakesau]

How far away were you from them? I am presuming you had a good zoom lens on your camera because who would be silly to lay on the ground in front of one of them.

 

[sobrien]

I was further than it would appear from those photos. I also had two guides either side and a keen eyed girlfriend all wielding fierce weaponry...(forked sticks) watching my back.

 

[zeke]

just wondering when there might be some ackies or some other small species of monitor hatchies up for sale as im currently thinking about getting into monitors and i think it will be better to start with a small monitor then a large one

 

[crocdoc]

I am presuming you had a good zoom lens on your camera because who would be silly to lay on the ground in front of one of them.

They're not quite the demons everyone makes them out to be. If you've ever been to a picnic ground that has foraging lace monitors, these guys are similarly behaved - just many times larger! You wouldn't want to do something suddenly, like trip and fall over in front of one, but otherwise for the most part they are just mildly curious. As one goes further away from the ranger stations the dragons often become warier and are more frightened and annoyed than anything else. At first, when seen from a distance, they duck their head down (as a lace monitor would) in the hopes they haven't been seen, but when you get close they puff up their throat and slowly walk away or, in some instances, hold their ground and try to tail-whip if you get too close. Some just look bored by yet more tourists wanting to take their photo. The scariest moment we had was when one of my mates accidentally dropped his backpack while we were photographing a couple of huge males outside the ranger station on Komodo. One of the dragons raced over at surprising speed, thinking it was food. My mates and I muttered "nobody move a muscle" and waited until the dragon calmed down out of 'food brain' mode.

The small ones look a lot like their closest relatives, lace monitors:

The big ones are unmistakeable!

Here's one of the males near the ranger station on Komodo coming over to check me out. A few seconds after I snapped this the ranger advised me to step back.

I put together a video - I was silly enough to use copyrighted music, so it's been removed by youtube . Unfortunately, the editing only makes sense when the music track is included.
[video=youtube;z85V2k4TWDs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z85V2k4TWDs[/video]
At 3:06 there's a short clip of a dragon approaching me out of curiosity - in the unedited clip it got close enough that the video was mostly scales walking past, but the ranger quietly held his stick out below the camera to let the dragon know the limit of how close it could get. I was very impressed that he didn't walk out in front of the lens to do this and the stick didn't show up on camera.