| Description |
: |
The head and neck are long and slender; becoming more stout as the animal matures. The body is long with muscular limbs that have sharp nails on the end of each toe to aid in digging, climbing, and scratching. The tail is long, slender, very muscular, and half of the total body length. Unlike other lizards the monitor’s tail does not break off and regenerate. The eyes are prominent and the nostrils are close to the end of the nose.
Large, powerful legs enable them to move quickly, even climbing trees and jumping from a branch into the safety of a stream or river to avoid predators. When alarmed, it can run very quickly with the tail held in a characteristic curve, the tip just off the ground. This lizard can be quite nasty when harassed. It will inflate its body and hiss, lashing its tail like a whip and may attack by grabbing its adversary with its powerful jaws and clawing with its feet.
The Jacobson’s organ, a special organ also found in snakes, gives the monitor a keen sense of smell and, like a snake, the monitor will move its tongue in and out as it smells its surroundings.
Babies and small juveniles are recommended to start with as they are easier to tame. In captivity, they can be fed crickets, mealworms, kingworms, waxworms, butterworms, rodents, and fish. Small juveniles should be housed in at least a 20 gallon tank. Aspen bedding, or orchid bark can be used as a substrate. Landscape with rocks, driftwood, or hollow logs. A water dish large enough for the lizard to soak in should be used.
Monitors should have a daytime temperature gradient of 80-90° and a nighttime temperature of 78-80°. An under tank heater should be used for surface heat. |
