Varanus Caudolineatus

[Guest]

hey guy's just wondering if anyone has kept V. Caudolineatus? iv been led to believe they can suffer from some form of RI in captivity and im just after a bit of info on this

Cheers
Josh

 

[PilbaraPythons]

I keep a number of them without any drama's.
I keep mine in a large outdoor open topped pit though and they get plenty of sun and heat without sustained humidity.
Some people ( including very competent keepers ) have indeed had problems with RI and given up on them all together, however it maybe simply that the natural climate where they maintained them was too humid ?

 

[Sdaji]

They are basically a Pygmy Mulga Monitor with a different pattern. They are classified as a different species, but they live in the same type of climate and habitat and have a continuous distribution and gene flow with Pygmy Mulgas. I can't imagine them being too much different.

I assume the problems people might have with them are the same as the ones people used to have with Pygmy Mulgas. If you keep them hot and dry, you shouldn't have any trouble. If you keep them warm and at all humid, you won't keep them alive for long. It's very easy to do the right thing, you just need a $1 spotlight and a rock. Spend a few days outside in the Australian arid zone including standing in the sun for a few hours during summer, and you will understand what 'hot and dry' means. They're extremely easy to keep, but if you treat them like a Carpet Python you will quickly kill them. When I was breeding them I used to spend at least a few minutes laboring the point when selling babies, and I would make sure the buyers would say that they were going to use the basking lamp setup, but even so, quite a few of them tried using heat mats and blue globes without a spotlight.

 

[cris]

They are basically a Pygmy Mulga Monitor with a different pattern. They are classified as a different species, but they live in the same type of climate and habitat and have a continuous distribution and gene flow with Pygmy Mulgas. I can't imagine them being too much different.

The same could also be said about Diamond Pythons and Carpets(well the ones that live right next to diamonds anyway), one tends to thrive and the other has a habit of dying.

 

[Sdaji]

The same could also be said about Diamond Pythons and Carpets(well the ones that live right next to diamonds anyway), one tends to thrive and the other has a habit of dying.

Except that the climates are very different. You could compare them to, say, Cape York Carpets vs Darwins. You don't get "Carpets" (as in, the type of thing you get further north, which is a hale and hardy captive) right next to the classic "Diamonds" (as in, the type which doesn't usually do well in captivity). As we all know, the Diamond/Carpet situation is an extreme example, one which people focus on because it is so unusual.

Yes, you can probably think further and come up with another exception, perhaps one which fits your argument perfectly, but we're silly if we base our assumptions on the exceptions rather than the rules. In any case, people have kept and bred caudolineatus in the same conditions you'd use for gilleni without any trouble. The only difference is that the caudolineatus are a little smaller and have smaller clutches. No need to confuse the situation by presenting the very rare exceptions as though they are typical.

 

[cris]

Except that the climates are very different. You could compare them to, say, Cape York Carpets vs Darwins. You don't get "Carpets" (as in, the type of thing you get further north, which is a hale and hardy captive) right next to the classic "Diamonds" (as in, the type which doesn't usually do well in captivity). As we all know, the Diamond/Carpet situation is an extreme example, one which people focus on because it is so unusual.

Yes, you can probably think further and come up with another exception, perhaps one which fits your argument perfectly, but we're silly if we base our assumptions on the exceptions rather than the rules. In any case, people have kept and bred caudolineatus in the same conditions you'd use for gilleni without any trouble. The only difference is that the caudolineatus are a little smaller and have smaller clutches. No need to confuse the situation by presenting the very rare exceptions as though they are typical.

Fair enough, i should have said 'couldnt' instead of 'the' at the start of the above post. I wasnt actually aware that the carpets near the true diamonds wernt hardy captives like most other types, i dont keep them but have heard that they are hardier than diamonds(maybe just someone trying to sell them?). I wasnt trying to sidetrack the thread onto that topic, was just a thought.

I wasnt aware that they did well if kept like V.gilleni, i dont see how a competent keeper would fail to be able to do that.

 

[Sdaji]

It's shades of grey all the way between "absolute Diamond" and "absolute Carpet".

I don't know who the "competent keepers" were, but for a variety of reasons, "competent keepers" can have troubles. Steve Irwin is probably considered to have been a reasonably competent reptile keeper, but he used to have so much trouble with them that he swore under oath in court it was impossible to breed small monitors in captivity.

I sold Pygmy Mulga Monitors to some well known and respected reptile keepers, who quickly killed them by keeping them pythons (I suppose they thought they knew enough not to need my advice), and some complete newbies had great results by taking my advice and splurging on a $1 spotlight. Only a few years ago in Australia it was quite rare for anyone to manage to keep small monitors happy, and very few were ever bred. Less than 10 years ago we had a situation where a Pygmy Mulga Monitor was very difficult to get your hands on and if you did find one it was going to be wild caught and over a grand. When I first bred them it caused a bit of a stir and quite a few reptile keepers I had never heard of were on the phone to me asking how I had done it, even before I advertised any. They weren't interested in buying any, they were wanting to know how the heck I had managed to do it. After I published a couple of articles on the topic it became well known in Australia (before buying mine I saw that almost no one in Australia could do it, but I knew they were breeding like flies overseas, so I just asked what they were doing and copied). A few people in Australia were already quietly using the right methods at that stage, but no one had spoken up.

 

[cris]

It's shades of grey all the way between "absolute Diamond" and "absolute Carpet".

I don't know who the "competent keepers" were, but for a variety of reasons, "competent keepers" can have troubles. Steve Irwin is probably considered to have been a reasonably competent reptile keeper, but he used to have so much trouble with them that he swore under oath in court it was impossible to breed small monitors in captivity.

I sold Pygmy Mulga Monitors to some well known and respected reptile keepers, who quickly killed them by keeping them pythons (I suppose they thought they knew enough not to need my advice), and some complete newbies had great results by taking my advice and splurging on a $1 spotlight. Only a few years ago in Australia it was quite rare for anyone to manage to keep small monitors happy, and very few were ever bred. Less than 10 years ago we had a situation where a Pygmy Mulga Monitor was very difficult to get your hands on and if you did find one it was going to be wild caught and over a grand. When I first bred them it caused a bit of a stir and quite a few reptile keepers I had never heard of were on the phone to me asking how I had done it, even before I advertised any. They weren't interested in buying any, they were wanting to know how the heck I had managed to do it. After I published a couple of articles on the topic it became well known in Australia (before buying mine I saw that almost no one in Australia could do it, but I knew they were breeding like flies overseas, so I just asked what they were doing and copied). A few people in Australia were already quietly using the right methods at that stage, but no one had spoken up.

I guess it comes down to what you call competent, IMO it would mean you have some sort of understanding of what sort of environment they live in and are able to replicate what is important. Assuming they would be virtually the same as V.gilleni makes perfect sense to me, why others wouldnt think the same i dont know, hence why i thought they may be some sublte differance that makes them harder to look after.

 

[Guest]

thanks for the replys guys! much appreciated! I wasn't sure if I was going to get any answers on that subject! Iv been chewing over getting some of these for quite a while now but couldn't get much info on this!
Sdaji is there a link or something to some of your articles? I wouldn't mind having a read of some of your work!

Cheers guys

 

[PilbaraPythons]

Chris
I would consider Danny Brown competent, wouldn't you ?
He also keeps Gillens and yet has had no problems with them. It makes one wonder, if indeed the two species really do have identical needs. Like I said previously, I suspect that Caudo's do not handle humidity as well as Gillen's.

 

[kupper]

There is always micro habitats within a habitat so there coul very well be truth in the differance in husbandry needs

only those who have kept and bred caudo's will be able to comment I suppose

 

[eipper]

Care to give a reference for this comment or is it an assumption John???

'They are basically a Pygmy Mulga Monitor with a different pattern. They are classified as a different species, but they live in the same type of climate and habitat and have a continuous distribution and gene flow with Pygmy Mulgas. I can't imagine them being too much different.'

Cheers,
Scott

 

[cris]

Chris
I would consider Danny Brown competent, wouldn't you ?
He also keeps Gillens and yet has had no problems with them. It makes one wonder, if indeed the two species really do have identical needs. Like I said previously, I suspect that Caudo's do not handle humidity as well as Gillen's.

Yeah, i dont see what you would ask me that though?

Im not saying they are as easy to keep as V.gilleni. All i was trying to say is that just because they are sort of similar doesnt mean they are automatically going to thrive in captivity.