for mbayless

[kap10cavy]

Just wanted to share this and get any imput.
I have started feeding my monitors crawdads, or crawfish if you're not from the south. lol
With the 2 different type of monitors I keep they hunt the crawdads differently. The savannah will get real close but not close enough to get pinched and worry the crawdad for a couple of minutes. Then she will walk away as if not interested and lay real still but never taking her eyes off of it. When the time is right she will lunge across and grab it from behind and pound it into the ground until it's no longer moving. Now it's munch time.
However my blackthroat goes in real slow and real low, almost slithering like a snake. When he gets close enough he seems to go for the eyes first. If that doesn't work because the crawdad is too busy snapping away he uses a different tactic. He will walk up , making erratic movements, almost robotic. He will then zero in on the pinchers and grab one and shake it until it comes off, which he eats, then he goes for the other pincher and repeats the process before finishing the meal.
Is this instinctive or am I witnessing some amazing intellegents?

Scott

[kap10cavy]

I forgot to mention, the first time a crawdad was eaten here was an accident. Fluufy got out and found my fishing bait. Even though they are farm raised I cycle them For 3 weeks, changing the water every 3 days. I want to make sure their systems are clean.

Scott

[mbayless]

Hi Scott,

You are watching instictual tactics towards prey = non-learned behavior but inate behavior genetically induced into their body systems = natural behaviors.....I have seen the V. albigularis do what you describe, but not the V. exanthematicus, and I had both species and fed them crayfish/crawdads all the time.... many thanks for sharing. I can understand the albigularis removing the pinchers as they could damage the eyes or tongue which could be very detrimental to them in wild/even captive enviroments.... it is nice to see natural behaviors in captivity, and feeding them natural prey you get results like this not to mention a healthier varanus.

Not all varanus are generalists like V. salvator, but some are....and to feed them natural diets you get natural behabiors which is good for their physical and mental welfare - obvious to some, not to others, but again thanks for sharing Scott....
cheers,
markb