Parent and offspring

[crocdoc]

http://mediaservice.photoisland.com/auction/May/20045218603259341963130.jpg

[crocdoc]

and another

http://mediaservice.photoisland.com/auction/May/20045216458784526449413.jpg

[Bartman]

Wow...speachless pictures. Thats so amazing! Great pics, and just incredible looking monitors. Congrats on breeding them..how many did you get from them? And how many adults do you have?

[crocdoc]

I currently have two adults (cut down from four a short while ago to make more room for the productive pair). Two eggs have hatched so far, of this clutch of four.

[Bartman]

Nice, good luck with the other two...those are amazing looking monitors. I saw your tank you had them in..looked like you had 3 adults right? Btw, the tank was incredible, so natural looking with the stones and everything :)

[crocdoc]

I had four adults but you are right in that three were visible in that photo of the enclosure.

There's another clutch of seven eggs waiting in the incubator, too, due in another couple of months

Oh, and thanks!

[Bartman]

Hows that species temperment? Easy to work with or more like a nile :p

[crocdoc]

personally, I think they are great animals to work with. They get used to people very quickly and learn to understand when you are in there to do your normal stuff (clean glass, change water etc) and when you intend to tamper with them. I let them approach me rather than hassling them, so they soon learn I mean no harm and will climb on to me to be let out for a wander. The males, anyway. They become very 'tame', but are not for beginners by any means. Move a hand too quickly, or not wash your hands properly after handling food and you could lose fingers.

[Don Patterson]

probably the best monitor post i hve ever seen!
congrats man. i am speechless!!!!!!!!!!!
finally some real truthful posts on this forum regarding lace monitors.

[crocdoc]

Thanks, Don. I think they are a curious and non-aggressive animal by nature. Even the wild ones that cruise through picnic grounds looking for scraps will walk past people without blinking an eye. I've often followed them with my camera and have had them almost walk over my sandal clad feet without thinking of biting.

On the other hand, I've handled wild ones and they are hellfire when caught.

In captivity if you respect their space and allow them to get used to you, their only real danger comes from having a fierce feeding response.

[Steeve B]

Don how many lace have you kept? no dough they are awsome monitors but (TRUTHFULLY) they are very close to niloticus in temperament (Horn personal comment)
how can you comment on a specie you dont know, aim sure if DK whod keep a few niloticus he whod agree to the similarity.

[V.hb]

I dont see where Don was commenting on its temperment.

Amazing pictures and animals!

[DonMeyer]

Very awesome! Id love a little guy like that!

[Lrptls]

aww there so cute, both of them. the size difference is amazing, i bet that baby is going to grow fast.

[DonMeyer]

OH ya they grow fast...I think that is what surprises most unsuspecting people who buy monitors. I couldnt believe how fast my first iggy grew and my two savs I had..wish I woulda kept the guys. Stupid moving and all that crap....

[DonMeyer]

One more thing(sorry for the double posting and crap) but I notice you keep a boudary between the two. I havent read up on monitor breeding really at all....and I am wonderin if they are canabilistic(sp)?

[V.hb]

any large monitor will eat anything it can overpower, and swallow. So yes cannibalistic when given the chance to be.. Hes just holding it up to his adults enclosure to show comparison.

[DonMeyer]

I see thanks!

[nguyen_inc]

woow the little buger has some awsome color. Good luck on raising him/her.... Evan though I don't think you need it : )

[crocdoc]

Don, I wouldn't hold anything in my fingers up to that male's face, which is part of the reason there is glass between that baby and the adult. I'll happily put a clean, freshly washed hand in front of him so he can tongue flick and know it's me, but I wouldn't take a chance of having anything else in my hand. Last night I held an infrared temperature gun to show a friend the basking temperature and check the surface temperature of the basking female (I was still some distance away) and she ran for my hand at an alarming speed because she saw something in it and hoped it might be food. EVERYTHING is interepreted as food to them.

Steeve B, I'd have to ask how many V varius you've dealt with, because I strongly disagree with your statement that they are like Niles in temperament. Far from it. Either that, or I'm some sort of special lacie whisperer (haha.. sorry, in-joke from another forum) and that is certainly not the case. I know you have mentioned before that you've been less than happy with the temperament of your individuals, but I wouldn't take them as typical. How much interaction did they get from you when they were being raised?

I think if you have them from when they are young, never handle them roughly and act normally around them when feeding, cleaning etc, they very quickly adapt to people and are soon crawling all over you. All of mine, including my most nervous female, will come to check me out when I open the enclosure. I've never had an aggressive or defensive bite, either, although I have been bitten from moving my hand too quickly. They are hellishly aggressive feeders and tend to bite first, check out what it is later, so any quick movement when they are in their enclosure is asking for it.

[Steeve B]

sorry but mine are quit similar to my niloticus, now is it my niloticus that are super tame? or is it my lacys that are overly aggressive? they have similar threat display and feeding response, but then again I have jobiensis that act the same way.

funny that Horn and King both tot the same as me about there similarity in behaviour. I remember my bengalensis where even more similar to lace then niloticus is.

[MyInvision]

Will you be selling the young?

[xdiversichicx]

those are beautiful pics!
love the color. its so vivid.
good luck with the little ones and keep us updated on them!

[reptiguy123]

Like father like son

That is the father, right?

[crocdoc]

MyInvision, yes, I will be selling some of the young but you have to live here to be able to buy them.


Steeve, I don't know the history of Horn's adults or how he deals with his juveniles, but I'll ask next time I send him an email. Are your lace monitors descendants of his?

I don't think King kept any lace monitors, so I am not sure what he based his statement on.

We'll have to agree to disagree, for I think they are far from being aggressive or defensive if they are interacted with, even minimally. Huge feeding response, no doubt, but my experiences with them have clearly been very different from yours and you are basing a whole species' behaviour on a small number of individuals. Remember that this is a local species and very commonly kept. People that choose not to interact with theirs end up with pretty nasty animals, those that interact even minimally end up getting animals (food response aside) that are reasonable to deal with. It all depends on how they are interacted with.

Reptiguy, yes, that is the father.

[Scales Zoo]

Amazing picture!!!!

And I agree with Don P.
probably the best monitor post i hve ever seen!

Thanks for all the info!

Ryan