Parthenogenesis in an Ornate Nile Monitor

simpleyork · 09-24-13, 12:47 AM

I was doing some research for a class of mine and came across this article, thought it of some interest

http://www.varanidae.org/Vol4_No1_Hennessy.pdf

infernalis · 09-24-13, 02:38 AM

I recommend any fan of monitor lizards to read all the available Biawak issues.

murrindindi · 09-24-13, 01:17 PM

I`m not sure if that monitor is still alive today, but if so I hope the captive conditions have improved in the last 5 years, then again, if she was 10yrs old in 2008, perhaps "they" thought the conditions were supportive!?

This species hasn`t been bred too often in captivity anywhere.....

simpleyork · 09-24-13, 04:03 PM

I do agree on the up keeping, poor girl. As far as Ornates go they are my Favorite, one of the reasons this article caught my eye in the first place.
My wife and I are now in the market of adding a few more to our collection in the hopes we will be able to have the chance of getting them to breed in the future.

murrindindi · 09-24-13, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by simpleyork

I do agree on the up keeping, poor girl. As far as Ornates go they are my Favorite, one of the reasons this article caught my eye in the first place.
My wife and I are now in the market of adding a few more to our collection in the hopes we will be able to have the chance of getting them to breed in the future.

Can you put a few photos up of your Ornate monitors?
I kept one for 14 years, he died of a throat tumour 3 years ago.

simpleyork · 09-24-13, 06:48 PM

see what I can do this weekend,
I've been very envyious of that photo since I saw it, the only time my ornate will have anything to do with me is in the morning it'll wait at the glass till I bring the food to it. once the feeding is over it's off to basking, digging burrows, and wallowing in the water.
may I ask how long it took to reach that size, if you have any notes on it's growth that would be great.
I've got a rep show coming this weekend so I'll hopefing some more ornates there, if not I have found a place online to order some from.

Vegasarah · 09-24-13, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by murrindindi

Can you put a few photos up of your Ornate monitors?
I kept one for 14 years, he died of a throat tumour 3 years ago.

I know Django will never be tolerant of any kind of hands- on interaction like this, but a girl can dream... I can't wait till he's this big.

simpleyork · 09-24-13, 07:10 PM

hows Django doing?
Just picked up a nile two weeks ago, and he is finally staying out when I come into the room. The day I bought him he inverted on me among other things. I do assume that the love hate relationship Godzilla my ornate and I have will be the same with Gigan my nile monitor and I

murrindindi · 09-25-13, 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by simpleyork

see what I can do this weekend,
I've been very envyious of that photo since I saw it, the only time my ornate will have anything to do with me is in the morning it'll wait at the glass till I bring the food to it. once the feeding is over it's off to basking, digging burrows, and wallowing in the water.
may I ask how long it took to reach that size, if you have any notes on it's growth that would be great.
I've got a rep show coming this weekend so I'll hopefing some more ornates there, if not I have found a place online to order some from.

I do have a growth record of the Ornate monitor, it was up in another forum but I can`t find it, the website was overhauled a while back, maybe it was deleted? I still have the complete record on paper, but it would take me forever to type it all out here, so to make it easier (for me), here`s a few details:

12th October 1996: 32.5cm ToL; SV= 125mm, TL (tail)= 200mm. I estimate he was just a few weeks old as the umbilical scar was still slightly visible.
12th Oct.. 1997: 122.5cm ToL
12th " " 1998: 183cm ToL
12th " " 1999: 202.5cm ToL
12th " " 2000: 214cm ToL
From here on his growth slowed right down, but it did still increase slightly each year until he reached 8 years old, then it all but stopped (225cmToL with approx. 4cm missing from his tail, which would have made him 7.5 feet).

simpleyork · 09-25-13, 03:28 PM

thanks so much for taking the time, thats great information as is stands

Vegasarah · 09-26-13, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by simpleyork

hows Django doing?
Just picked up a nile two weeks ago, and he is finally staying out when I come into the room. The day I bought him he inverted on me among other things. I do assume that the love hate relationship Godzilla my ornate and I have will be the same with Gigan my nile monitor and I

He's doing great. He's such a terror still. I moved him into a new enclosure and he' still cross with me for moving him out of his comfort zone. But he'll calm down and adjust soon I'm sure. Refusing to eat from tongs, every time I reach in the new tank he goes all defensive on me. I throw the feeders in there and come back five minutes later and they are all gone. He's such a pain :P

simpleyork · 09-26-13, 07:57 PM

lol, know that feeling all too well, Godzilla has done it in the past during his enclosure moves.

building a 10'W 5' D 4' T for my ornate in the next week before the ground freezes (need to haul in a ton of dirt from the backyard) so I can move him out of his currant enclosure (as it is going to be for my nile, Gigan,poor fellow is quickly growing too large for his cage as well).

Vegasarah · 09-27-13, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by simpleyork

lol, know that feeling all too well, Godzilla has done it in the past during his enclosure moves.

building a 10'W 5' D 4' T for my ornate in the next week before the ground freezes (need to haul in a ton of dirt from the backyard) so I can move him out of his currant enclosure (as it is going to be for my nile, Gigan,poor fellow is quickly growing too large for his cage as well).

PICS PLEASE! I love seeing new ideas for housing monitors! I had this crazy idea the other day of using a huge metal shipping container as an enclosure... now THAT would be cool... haha.

simpleyork · 09-27-13, 01:55 PM

here's is one cage I built, Godzilla is housed in it right now. the larger will just be a larger version, maybe with a bathtub for water
http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/varan...s-often-6.html

Vegasarah · 09-27-13, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by simpleyork

here's is one cage I built, Godzilla is housed in it right now. the larger will just be a larger version, maybe with a bathtub for water
http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/varan...s-often-6.html

My plan exactly!Bathtubs are awesome water features. I saw pics of Godzilla. He's a pretty!