Velociraptor?

[anaconda]

My Croc monitor always reminds me of a Velociraptor. What do you guys think? I had Tucker out for his monthly nail clipping tonight. He is getting more and more tame the bigger he gets. He is almost 6 feet long now - How quickly they grow! Amazing enough, most people told me I could not raise a handleable Crocodile Monitor! Thanx for looking, Ron.

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/2424SIMG0798-med.jpg

A question for the monitor experts: I have always thought Tucker is a male, does this picture support this? Do females develop these same bulges at the base of the tail?

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/2424SIMG0785-med.jpg

[thunder]

you're right, he does look just like a little raptor! it is definatly not impossible to raise a friendly croc monitor, a friend of mine has two that never even hiss, and seem to enjoy being taken out and scratched. one of them is a juvinile and the other is a subadult, both wc as babies, but constant handling calmed them down. i think crocs are the most beautiful of monitors, and also so cool because, when you look into their eyes, you can see that they are truly very intelligent for reptiles.

[crocdoc]

ugh, I need a new photo host!

[chuck911jeep]

the day you get bitten, you will imagine how ferocious was velociraptor. Maby they are "tame" but remember, they are top indonesian predator, strong, have sharp teeth and are unpredictable, even if you call them "tame".
I had a "tame" free roaming Tupinambis merianea, really tame and one day, My "tame" baby charged my girlfiend... Sice this day, i realized reptile are reptile and even the "tamest" one is unpredictable...

[reptiguy420]

Thats sweet man!From the looks of it id say it is a male...but i could be wrong.

[BMX_PYTHON]

What color is the tongue? I believe males of all localities have yellowish tongues, and females have pink.

[jungleshadows]

From that picture it is hard to tell the sex. Sexing varanids only on a picture of the head is not the best way to do things. I'll give you examples below of some of mine.

Yes females have a bump at the tail base, however males have a bulge it protrudes on a mature male and is an elongated bulge down the tail base. Females have bumps that end shortly after the vent.

I don't think anyone ever doubts of animals becoming calm and used to handling. However watch out using the term tame. You'll be very sorry if and when he decides to bite you. Trust me as the owner of some calm handalable varanids (including croc monitors) myself I would never call them tame, and the bite does hurt. You will also forever have a badge (scar) to remind you.
Females
http://www.dotphoto.com/SAN1/69/18/A3/i6918A3FA-3A69-4EF5-B47C-FBFB6DE8E3B0.jpg
http://www.dotphoto.com/SAN1/D0/05/5B/iD0055BA1-2C3A-4AAF-A020-12638005DADC.jpg
http://www.dotphoto.com/SAN1/A2/A7/8F/iA2A78F24-E540-4BF1-828D-744F0D2C735A.jpg
Male
http://www.dotphoto.com/SAN1/44/F4/95/i44F49581-0898-48AE-BD88-8FC080F5D59D.jpg
http://www.dotphoto.com/SAN1/14/ED/56/i14ED5600-3497-474F-81E4-AF43D43E08C3.jpg
http://www.dotphoto.com/SAN1/D0/2B/86/iD02B8622-2F7F-4B1F-8DFE-E6B61B4AF8A7.jpg

[adamofsound]

im not a monitor person, but I have to ask, what is with the white eye in the 2nd last pic?

great looking animal. maybe one day ill have the cojones to keep a lizard like that!

Adam

[little_dragon_]

Can he open doors?

[crocdoc]

Originally posted by adamofsound
im not a monitor person, but I have to ask, what is with the white eye in the 2nd last pic?

great looking animal. maybe one day ill have the cojones to keep a lizard like that!

Adam

Nictitating membrane. It's a third 'eyelid' that slides back over the eye to keep it clean and moist, much like you see in birds and in crocodiles (it's clear in the latter, and used as a form of 'goggles')

Keeping big monitors doesn't require cojones, it requires space and money for food. :)

[mbayless]

As DK, myself and a few hapless others can attest too - there is no such thing as an entirely 'tame' monitor. A varanid can appear tame until you cross its boundaries, threshholds, harm it, a feeding response etc...then it rapidly and sometimes visciously becomes what they are in the wild, an apex predator able to lacerate anyone who is momentarily careless. The crocodile monitor is the top of the top dogs in this respect...so be careful, do not treat these animals carelessly, or you are liable to end up in ER hospital as DK and I have...it is no fun. As for its sex...it is hard to say with info given. Good pics Jody...is that last a female ovulating or just full of rats?

Cheers,
markb

[rwg]

Alright, so for Mark and anyone else who has been bitten by a croc monitor, would you mind describing the situation and the outcome a bit? I'm really pretty curious about it. I've read that croc monitors are the only monitors with upper and lower teeth that scissor together making it easier to tear flesh.

Roy

[mbayless]

Hi Roy,
I have not been bitten by a V. salvadorii, but other varanus species, and 1 was nearly fatal to me via secondary infection. Croc monitor teeth do not inter-lock as previously reported - the teeth are too big, long and actually brittle. They are hallow and highly vascularized. The V. salvadorii bite is designed for slashing deep and mortal wounds into their prey and percieved threats. There are numerous incidents of attack by wild and captive V. salvadorii including bi-ped running, as seen in V. giganteus in Australia (Barrett, 1944; Davies, 1969). Animals do not achieve maturity until at least 7 feet at length, although sexually mature animals may achieve this benchmark earlier. Indicative feature of their maturity is the development of a saggital ridge on their frontals/parietals, as seen in V. giganteus and V. prisca....and these sagittal crests agree very well with ancient greek and India/Pakistan reports of 'Dragons' there 4,000 B.C..

cheers,
markb

[jungleshadows]

Mark,

The last picture is a young male not a female. He was huffing and puffing at me and also just ate a chicken.


Roy,

The thing with crocs is they tend to not give a warning. They are not one to tail whip and give a great number of warnings. Everytime I have been bit it was simply a look in the eye and bang. Unlike other monitors that latch on me, I have never had a croc do that. They simply bite and remove pieces of human. Sometimes they just leave a cut others they remove a slice and swallow it down. I do not carelessly handle my crocs for this very reason. I do not think they are evil or out to get us. But I would not want to label them for everyone. As mark stated their teeth are hollow and not the strongest thing. I have removed one or two from my skin.

[mbayless]

As Jody knows, there are 6 species of varanids that bite without afore-mentioned threat display: V. komodoensis, V. indicus, V. bengalensis, V. salvator, V. salvadorii and V. doreanus....sometimes the 'tines' will be ever so slightly protruding from the lips, but other than that, there is no warning, hence the surprise attack!
markb

[crocdoc]

Originally posted by rwg
Alright, so for Mark and anyone else who has been bitten by a croc monitor, would you mind describing the situation and the outcome a bit? I'm really pretty curious about it. I've read that croc monitors are the only monitors with upper and lower teeth that scissor together making it easier to tear flesh.

Roy

If you want to see teeth designed to tear flesh, look at the species which make a regular habit of eating carrion and have strong, serrated teeth. The brittle, hollow structure of salvadorii teeth are probably evolved for holding or jabbing prey through a thick layer of feathers or fur, rather than cutting chunks out.

It's not unlike comparing different species of sharks' teeth: the ones that grab and swallow whole prey (such as the grey nurse, or sandtiger, shark, which feeds on fish) have long, slender teeth. The ones that tear chunks out of larger prey (great white, which bites into seals, tiger shark, which takes chunks off turtles) have thicker, sharp edged serrated teeth.

[mbayless]

Hi DK,
That is a damn good analogy - I never thought of it that way! THANKS!
markb

[jungleshadows]

Hey DK,

I agree they are probly adapt to grasping prey such as birds, bats or whatever else is buzzing around. It makes more sense to me for them to sink those things into the flesh of a bird then a mammal. Almost everytime I have been bit I have to remove a tooth from my skin. It does rip and tear the flesh easily, but it also seems to snag on thicker skin.

When they have bit me on a knuckle it seems to bend there teeth rather then penetrating. I find it amazing such large teeth but yet hollow? To me it makes the croc monitor a specialized hunter. Not saying it doesn't feed on other things but to evolve those teeth must be for a purpose. Not to mention the huge expansion of the mouth man they can swallow some large prey items.

My Salvators and Black tree monitors seem to be the best at shredding prey. Falling close is my indicus but they use claws more then teeth for that job. Then you have my savs and albigs who just smash my fingers leaving very little in that of a puncture wound.

I also find that out of all my monitors the african species seem to be the only ones in which the teeth change drasticaly from young to adults.

[crocdoc]

I wonder what the flying fox (fruitbat) population is like in croc monitor areas of PNG. There are big colonies of them here and many animals like to feed on them (it's one of the estuarine crocodile's favourite foods - they rest underneath the colonies that roost over water), so I'd be surprised if there weren't similar densities in PNG. That and an abundance of birds.

[jungleshadows]

I am not certain of the availability of flying fox and birds in PNG.
But if I was going to look for croc monitors I would follow the birds and bats closely to where they roost. I am sure the tree crocs are doing the same.

Thats funny you mention crocodiles liking flying fox. Maybe the fella used the name crocodile in front of monitor for a reason?

[mbayless]

The information on fruitbats is readily available from the IUCN reports done in recent years, like the one done on Megapode Birds which is pretty good - by M. Dekker. Also the books by Tim Flannery on the 'Mammals of New Guinea' and 'Mammals of the Moluccas' has good informations on them there too...I'll email Tim Flannery and ask him if he has any info on fruitbat populations densities...a good idea to pursue...
markb

[whiskybent]

hey everyoe i have a young savanna monitor. im not sure on its sex but i was wondering if anyone can tell me when it will reach sexual maturity. i've had this monitor for 4 months now and its 14 inches long. it has a blue tounge if that may hep anyone tell me its sex i saw in one of the posting something about tounge color in a species of monitor. thanks for any help

[crocdoc]

Originally posted by jungleshadows
Thats funny you mention crocodiles liking flying fox. Maybe the fella used the name crocodile in front of monitor for a reason?

Actually, the original common name for salvadorii was tree crocodile, not crocodile monitor, probably based on a local name for it. Apparently the local name for Komodo dragons translates to land crocodile.

Mark, a very good friend of mine did much of the field work for, and with, Tim (I also know Tim from years ago, when I was doing illustrations of fossils for his then supervisor, Mike Archer). There are definitely fruit bats in PNG, I'll just have to quizz him on distribution and numbers.

It would be very easy for a salvadorii to get fruit bats if it crawled up into a colony (which are called 'camps' in Oz - we have stacks of fruit bats here, even down here in Sydney).

[mbayless]

"Artrellia" means 'crocodile of the trees'; there are several other names for V. salvadorii but I do not know/have those translations yet...but I have asked around to get meanings of them...I am sure it is similar meaning words as well....perhaps equating with 'demon' or 'devil' which they often refer to them as...
markb