Canopy Goannas

[tabastifur]

Who's got em? Or who knows where to get them?

[Ravi]

Hi Tabastifur

Do you know the common name for the varanid you are referring to?

Canopy goanna could apply to a few different species.

--Ravi--

[tabastifur]

Ravi,

Latin name is Varanus Keithhornei

They are an Australian, arboreal goanna, they reach lengths of UNDER 2 feet full grown and can be found on the tip of far north Queensland. They are really rare in the wild so finding one I could purchase is going to be difficult.

Let me know if you can help out.

Dan

[Ravi]

Hi Dan

Varanus keithhornei is only thought to be valid by a few taxonomists. Most would tell you this is an invalid species description and should be classified with beccarri. This is probably one of the reasons 'true' keithhornei are so hard to find.

As a rule you won't find them in the pet trade.

Maximum length will be over 2' TL though.

If you want a realistic chance at getting the same monitor try to find yourself a black tree. They're really cool.

Hope this helped.
--Ravi--

<img src="http://www.themonitorspot.com/pictures/blacktree/blacktree9.JPG">

[markb]

Hi Ravi,

The Wells and Wellington description was accepted by the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature, surpressing V. teriae described by Sprackland, 1991. The Canopy Goanna is a valid species according to the IZC, as reviewed by several papers written there in 2000, 2001.

It is a niche, habitat geographically separated from V. prasinus, its apparent lineage, but by how much is unknown. Steve Irwin did breed them, and let some return to their habitats. I believe he is now working with V. semiremix too, another restricxted habitat/range goanna. As far as I know, nobody except Steve Irwin has had them in captivity....

I wish V. ocellatus was that easy to figure out! That one is giving me a headache, is it valid? Is it invalid?

Cheers Ravi,
mark bayless