Interesting ackie behavior

[varanus1]

I witnessed some never before seen things with ackies.Ive kept ackies for a long time but this was new to see. The male tripodded in his enclosure just like a argus does and other thing was when the female went down he actually seeked her out he actually dug short holes around enclosure till he found her where she was at underground. After i felt he dug more in one area i un dug that area to find the female their very interesting.

Was this a bond of a pair thing or seeking a mate. They did just mate for 3 days straight.

Either way just sharing some newly seen behavior with ackies

[infernalis]

Those pheromones are powerful...

[murrindindi]

Hi, I think it was a "pair bond thing" in this case, they will often search for females that way, and can at times travel some distance (obviously not so far in captivity)!
A pity you didn`t film it.

[Gregg M]

I have seen no evidence of monitors actuall "pair bonding". Like most reptiles, when a female is cycling, she will give off chemical signals that the male will pick up on. Put that male in with another cycling female, and he will do the same.

[BarelyBreathing]

I agree with Wayne and Gregg, it's a breeding thing. Monitors haven't shown evidence of bonding.

[murrindindi]

Doesn`t it depend on how we all define the word "bonded"?

[BarelyBreathing]

I think you're stretching, Stefan.

As far as I'm aware, the only reptiles discovered to form bonded pairings were in the skink family (some species being monogomous).

[murrindindi]

Originally Posted by BarelyBreathing

I think you're stretching, Stefan.

As far as I'm aware, the only reptiles discovered to form bonded pairings were in the skink family (some species being monogomous).

Hi Hedy,
if a pair kept together (not necessarily male + female) can live peacefully, they will surely have "bonded", and might show behaviours that demonstrate that at times, though I`m not saying that happened in the OP`s case.
When you say monogamous is that how you`re defining "bonded" (or for life)? The only lizards known to do that at this time as far as I know are the Stumpy tail skinks (Tiliqua rugosa).

[BarelyBreathing]

I define the word "bonded" as an almost friendship. I keep some monitors in pairs and trios. They show absolutely no change in behavior if I remove one from another, telling me that they simply don't care.

[varanus_mad]

I kept a trio of ackies where the male passed away, the two females have since killed every other males thats been put with them.

make of it what you will....

[Gregg M]

Originally Posted by varanus_mad

I kept a trio of ackies where the male passed away, the two females have since killed every other males thats been put with them.

make of it what you will....

On a species level, that would be a very counter productive behavior. I think you have not found a dominant enough male.

[Pirarucu]

Originally Posted by Gregg M

On a species level, that would be a very counter productive behavior. I think you have not found a dominant enough male.

In the wild, they can run away if they don't like each other...

[murrindindi]

Originally Posted by BarelyBreathing

I define the word "bonded" as an almost friendship. I keep some monitors in pairs and trios. They show absolutely no change in behavior if I remove one from another, telling me that they simply don't care.

That`s precisely what I was meaning, we all define words differently!
I find it strange you see absolutely no change in behaviour when if numbers in the enclosure change?
All I can say is we have no idea what`s going on in their minds.
We know they can have complicated social structures, so more research is needed, I think. As always, there`s far more we don`t know than we do!

[dinosaurdammit]

Originally Posted by murrindindi

That`s precisely what I was meaning, we all define words differently!
I find it strange you see absolutely no change in behaviour when if numbers in the enclosure change?
All I can say is we have no idea what`s going on in their minds.
We know they can have complicated social structures, so more research is needed, I think. As always, there`s far more we don`t know than we do!

My monitor was raised with his brother since hatching and they seemed to have a friendship of sorts and when I adopted mine his brother got all depressed and refused to feed for a few days. I do think they do form friendships to a degree, depending on the species.

[varanus1]

This pair has been mating non stop for days now so i was leaning towards that.but i still see other behavior that questions that as they will bask,sleep and move about most times together on non mating days. Still observing though