Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[arborgoanna]

I stumbled across this forum in one of my daily vara-quests on the net. It's great to see such a diverse, and dedicated group of enthusiasts here. While I am fascinated with all varanids, I hope to meet fellow tree monitor keepers here, to share and discuss our experiences.

The way I see it, the more we share, the more we learn, and the more the hobby is able to progress. Here are a few photographs of some of my captives. Although I've kept many other varanid species in the past, as of now, I exclusively keep members of the V. prasinus complex. Are there any other tree monitor keepers out there?

Cheers,

Bob Mendyk

[Scott W]

Hi Bob,
Fantastic photos, thanks for sharing.

The Macraei are superb, if space allowed I would certainly like to add prasinus and macrei to the collection. I have two friends who have recently hatched out prasinus.
_________________

Please DO NOT pm orders for reptiles, send email instead scott@captivebred.co.uk

[JStroud]

Stunning photos, have worked with prasinus in the past and have to admit they're such lovely monitors. But how can a prasinus complex collection be complete without a V.reisingeri?!!!

Nice pics, thanks for sharing

[Cornuta]

Excellent pics -

i know that a dealer has prasinus just now but its too close to Xmas for that kind of money, don't want to get divorced before Xmas LOL

These pics are great though

[stu__r]

Nice to see you on here bob. Been a very long time since we last spoke.

The pics and animals are stunning as always.

I fancy picking up kordensis in the next year or so myself.

[arborgoanna]

Thanks for the warm welcome, everybody. I hope that I am able to contribute some stimulating thoughts and ideas to this forum, based on my experiences.

Scott: V. prasinus and V. macraei are two of my most favorite varanids(hard to pick just one species!), and make great captives(with patience). Fortunately for you guys over in Europe, there is at least some people regularly breeding V. prasinus, where captive bred young are available. Over here in the states, although WC or "Farm Hatched"(bulls***) babies occasionally pop up, we are pretty much forced to deal with/choose from scrappy wild caught imports. It seems as though nobody over here in the states, other than the San Diego Zoo and the WCS(Bronx Zoo) has 'cracked the code' as far as successfully hatching V. prasinus.

While I do have V. prasinus eggs currently incubating(as well as V. macraei eggs), getting eggs has not been a problem for me, it's hatching the eggs which have proven to be most frustrating and difficult. To date, I have had four clutches of V. macraei eggs incubate full-term, only to have the babies die hours/days prior to hatching. I've got 17 frozen baby macraei sitting in my freezer!! Very frustrating....These 'setbacks', although painful and frustrating, make me more devoted and dedicated to 'cracking' this "code" over here in the states.

I think space is a serious issue that virtually every varanid keeper is afflicted by... we can never have enough room! I would love to keep many other species if I had the space to accomodate them...

Stroudster: Yes, V. reisingeri is definately one stunning species. I am a bit dissappointed that I passed on a pair down at the Daytona Expo, as I haven't seen any others offered since then. Unfortunately, I did not have the money at the time to justify putting $2000 on my credit card.. We all have to have some control, right? haha.

Hopefully for you guys over in Europe, CB baby V. reisingeri may not be too far off in the distance, as Manfred has had a pair copulate in his collection. Whether or not he recieved eggs, I'm not sure of, as I haven't spoken to him in a couple of months, ever since he hatched out his V. boehmei. And of course there is always the burdon of hatching the eggs, however Manfred seems to have the technique down, having hatched out both V. prasinus and V. boehmei this past year.. Over here in the states, I only know of only a few living pairs remaining... It's unfortunate that anyone with money can buy such animals(most often falling into the wrong 'inexperienced' hands), and most imported WC adults die, with virtually all of them eventually dying a darwinian death..

But yes, I must say my collection isn't quite complete without V. reisingeri... and V. kordensis. Maybe I should try talking to Peter, as they hatched out a couple of baby V. reisingeri over there this year from a gravid wc adult female..

Stu: Yes, it definately has been a while since we last chatted, mate. Unfortunately, due to the time differences between us, I don't get home from the university until you are most likely asleep. The chatroom has been a great resource to communicate with fellow varanophiles from around the world, mostly Asia and Australia, as their time zones are approximately the opposite of us here in the states. While we're on at nighttime(ours), they are on as they are waking up...

As far as V. kordensis goes, try talking with Vincent over there in Holland, as he has several eggs incubating, with another clutch on the way, if I'm not mistaken. You can check out his adults and his adults as babies at [url]http://www.goannas.nl [/url]Over here in the states, I have lately seen a few dealers mislabeling V. kordensis as the "new yellow V. prasinus species". After trying to explain to them that it is not V. reisingeri, but V. kordensis, they still refuse to alter their ads... Ahh the salesmanship of some of these reptile dealers cease to amaze me... I would pick up a pair, again, if I had the funding....

Sorry for such a long post, I just thought I'd try to adress everyone individually. Thanks again for the warm welcoming, and I'm sure that I will enjoy this friendly, and open forum(much different than many of the american fora).

Cheers folks, have a wonderful day!

Bob
http://www.treemonitors.com
here are a few photographs of the pair of V. reisingeri that I regretfully passed on down at the Daytona expo:

[JStroud]

Stunning collection again Bob and thanks for the pictures of the V.reisingeri, I fully understand that we must have control over ourselves....sometimes!! I've never got to see them in the flesh, but having three tanks with V.prasinus, macrei and reisingeri all adjacent to eash other would be special!

[arborgoanna]

Indeed it would!!

Hopefully this upcoming spring/summer I will have some extra spending cash, and could afford a pair(if I am able to find any available!).

I have chosen to steer away from the general approach to monitor keeping, that most people practice- where they keep many different species, belonging to different complexes/subgenera, each having different needs and requirements.. Instead, I keep a group of animals who all have the same/similar physiological and spacial needs as one another, which allows me to focus more deeply into their behaviors and physiology, that someone who is running around doing all different things with very different monitors, is able to do.

Since focusing my studies on this particular group, eliminating any 'distractions' (V. salvator togianus, V. tristis, V. glauerti.. et al), I have been able to learn a substantial amount about my captives, especially in regards to behaviors and behavioral cues..

I sure do enjoy every minute of it!(except for cutting open eggs with fully developed, full-term, dead babies..).

Cheers,

Bob

[stu__r]

Thanks for that bob.

Yeh ive been talking to vincent and he will prob be who i want to get some kordensis from when the time comes but its a year or 2 away yet as i plan on getting a few glauerti soon and i sure as hell dont have the money to do everything hehe.

Im glad everything is going well.

[Stuart]

Fantastic lizards Bob..lovely photos and welcome to the forum.