Nile vs. Ornate?

[boosh96]

I'm just curious-from everyone's experience, how do Nile monitors compare to Ornates in terms of personality, habits, and general care? I know how to tell the difference visually, but are they pretty much the same lizards or are they two totally different animals?

[murrindindi]

Hi, their captive care is almost identical, other than V ornatus seems to prefer slightly lower temps and higher humidity.
V. niloticus has the reputation of being "the most aggressive" species, I`m not sure that`s true, I think many keepers don`t try to gain their "trust" to any great extent, which is a shame in my opinion.

[simpleyork]

so far the four I have( 3- ornates, and 1 nile) seem to act very similar. My two year old Ornate handles "petting" while being fed and thats about it. my other three ar much younger and are still in the "You can't eat me" phase of their lives where they tend to hide when we are in the room.

[BH Varanus]

Originally Posted by boosh96

I'm just curious-from everyone's experience, how do Nile monitors compare to Ornates in terms of personality, habits, and general care? I know how to tell the difference visually, but are they pretty much the same lizards or are they two totally different animals?

I'm researching ornates now soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo hopefully i can help. several years ago ornates were classified as a separate species and they're in no way a sub species of Niles. Ornates have pink tongues and a beefier appearance,five bands, and have a more skidish and bite prone behavior pattern( referring to wild caught of course). The tongue difference is your best bet and the other identifier always have an exception which can become annoying. let us also remember every monitor is different and I have witnessed wild caught specimen that were 7 feet and dog tame ( males). haven't seen them that big in yearssssssssssssssssss though. Ornates are CITES 2 classified on the endangered list blah blah. ornates are also arguably considered more intelligent, but I think monitors are like people and intelligence should be judged on a case by case basis and not species specific. Besides most research uses savs because of they're arguably easier to handle thus the most early research on monitors is on them, blah blah blah. and niles are easier to acquire out of Ghana,etc from farms for the pet trade blah blah blah. Also it should be noted that the area where the ornate originate is riddle with rebel armies and civil unrest so info and good research is scarce.

Now in regards to husbandry autopsies show a heavy crustacean diet among other basic forest dwelling animals. Their range is isolated to the west african rain forest i.e. Cameroon, Ghana, etc SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO this is a rain forest monitor.The humidity ranges for these areas range from 70 to 100 percent and the early morning hours are when the humidity is the highest and tapers off by 2pm ( depending on region of rain forest). both species enjoy semi aquatic environments but ornates tend to soak twice as much depending on your humidity levels. I have been lucky enough to see my ornate fish under water ( going to get it on video one d@mn day).

In addition, your better off not classifying the two species together it will only promote some headaches unless your a one size fits all kinda keeper than ignore what i've typed and God speed. what I've stated in the two paragraph took me months to validate but hey I coulllllllllllllllllllllllllllld be wrong and not afraid to be corrected. other thing is most keepers don't even know they have an ornate and not a Nile because of the similarities so it a coin toss on info.

hope my psycho babble helped

[BH Varanus]

Originally Posted by simpleyork

so far the four I have( 3- ornates, and 1 nile) seem to act very similar. My two year old Ornate handles "petting" while being fed and thats about it. my other three ar much younger and are still in the "You can't eat me" phase of their lives where they tend to hide when we are in the room.

is your two year old male or female?

[simpleyork]

most likely female, hoping she'll let me know soon as she just hit the two year mark a month or two ago.
Wish she'd been like my nile, the day we picked him up he fully inverted on me