Goanna Ranch

Spike · 05-16-05, 02:28 AM

I was curious about this place called goanna ranch. Goanna Ranch I am assuming they're very well known breeders of monitors and supply are fair bit throughtout North America. I was wondering if they have a site or if anyone has any pictures of the setups and goannas they have there
Cheers

kap10cavy · 05-16-05, 06:59 AM

Goanna Ranch is owned and operated by Frank Retes. He is good at what he does, and that is breeding and hatching monitors.
He could work on his people skills but he knows what he is doing with captive lizards. His site has been under construction for over 3 years that I know of. I think he gets distracted easily. hahahaha
He has a forum called varanus.net. If you want to inquire about an lizard, I would try there or the KS classifieds.
Do Not, tell him MS sent you. Hahaha

Scott

Spike · 05-16-05, 05:38 PM

Thanks scott. Being in Australia, i unfortunately can't get a lizard from him. I had heard that he has had great success keeping and breeding them though and was interested in seeing how he was going about it. I heard that he breeds the merten's water monitor, which i am pretty interested in.

Thanks again

crocdoc · 05-16-05, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Spike
Thanks scott. Being in Australia, i unfortunately can't get a lizard from him. I had heard that he has had great success keeping and breeding them though and was interested in seeing how he was going about it. I heard that he breeds the merten's water monitor, which i am pretty interested in.

Thanks again

Spike, there are plenty of mertens available in Australia, and they are far less inbred. Why on earth would you even wish you could get a local lizard from overseas?

p.s. I've sent you a pm.

Spike · 05-16-05, 09:01 PM

I was the least bit interested in getting a lizard of him, and if i could if definitely would not have been a local one... thats for sure.

I had heard he had success breeding and keeping different kinds of monitors and as i said before was just interested to see how HE does it

Thanks anyway

crocdoc · 05-16-05, 09:26 PM

Spike, you're welcome to go ask him. He's on the kingsnake.com monitor forum and the varanus.net forums. I'm sure he'll just come right out and answer all your questions in a straightforward manner, without being the tiniest bit demeaning or bagging scientists in the process.

kap10cavy · 05-16-05, 10:47 PM

Quote:

I'm sure he'll just come right out and answer all your questions in a straightforward manner, without being the tiniest bit demeaning or bagging scientists in the process.

Ummm................. Dave? Are we talking about the same Frank?
I also don't see why anyone would want an imported mertens when there are CB homegrowns right where your at.

Scott

Spike · 05-16-05, 10:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by kap10cavy
Ummm................. Dave? Are we talking about the same Frank?
I also don't see why anyone would want an imported mertens when there are CB homegrowns right where your at.

Scott

i apologize if it sounded as though i wished to import a Mertern's Water Monitor from this guy. That was not my intention at all. I'm just interested in Merten's ecology and biology, and i didn't try to get in touch with this guy so i could buy an 'inbred water monitor iilleaglly' off him for 4 times the price i would pay for one down the road,

kap10cavy · 05-16-05, 11:03 PM

You might be better off asking Crocdoc and.or Mbayless for that info. All I know is they are cool critters and swim like an otter, oh and I would love to have a couple, i lack the room for a large pool.

Scott

Spike · 05-16-05, 11:17 PM

Crocdoc has already given me useful information on the housing and husbandry on these guys. As well as some excellent photos too.

If i can persuade mum to let me get a few, then i'll work my butt off to save up and get some. But before i did get any, i would like for the dragons i have now to start breeding and paying a little bit for themselves... if you know what i mean.

Lace monitors are cool too

crocdoc · 05-17-05, 01:24 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by kap10cavy
Ummm................. Dave? Are we talking about the same Frank?
I also don't see why anyone would want an imported mertens when there are CB homegrowns right where your at.

Scott

Haha, Scott, I was being ironic.

treevaranus · 05-18-05, 10:55 AM

As far as finding out info about the biology and ecology of mertens, I would ask lizard biologists or researchers in your own country, and not a lizard breeder living in Arizona.

Mr. Retes is notorious for attacking and denouncing the many months and years of research and findings that many of the well known monitor biologists/ecologists have put in to researching monitors in the wild. This is why he is not respected anywhere else but in his tiny little world of reptile breeder buddies... Even there, most do not respect him due to his arrogance.

He will talk about how he has seen all of this in the wild, and how he has seen complete life cycles of the same monitors, breeding, nesting, hatching, etc... which is all BS, as a tourist visa from the US does not allow a tourist to stay more than a couple of weeks, or a few months at most, and there is no way he could have seen what he claims to see in one stay...

Like I said, if you are really interested in the biology and ecology of V. mertensi, or other varanids, I suggest you read the many papers and books written on them, or contacting people at universities in Oz, or globally who are currently studying varanids. I would think that there should be at least somebody up there in the north who is at least studying the affects of cane toads on varanid populations, mertens being one of the species being devastated...

I have two articles on the captive care and husbandry of Mertens in both captive collections and zoo collections, if you would like to read, send me an email and I will forward them to you...

I bet you will get more from these articles than you will out of Goanna Ranch.

Because of his arrogance, and refusal to ever admit to being wrong or hypocritical, he will probably deny ever experiencing any problems or difficulties with mertens, I know for a fact that he has, because he openly admitted to me he did at Daytona last year(over some drinks- I think that was the trick to 'opening the vault'). He said his biggest problem was getting hatchlings that survived and grew up. He said he lost quite a few babies...

But I'm sure even if you ask him, he will give you the run around, leaving you with nothing but confusion and unanswered queries....like he does with everyone else.. There are many other people who have had much better success with this species, both in your country and Europe. If I were you, and were serious about talking with somebody who has been breeding Mertens for more than a decade, I would highly recommend talking to Bernd Eidenmueller... I don't think anyone could compare to the success that he has had with monitors for the past decades.. His website is www.monitor-lizards.net . I suggest you check him out, he is usually very helpful when it comes to advice....

I wish you the best of luck, Mertens are gorgeous animals... I love going to the Bronx Zoo here to go watch them on display.. One of my favorite non-tree monitor varanids...hahaha...

Cheers, good luck

Bob
treemonitors.com

Jeff_Favelle · 05-18-05, 11:19 AM

Are these the same biologists that claim that monitors don't have the ability to multi-clutch in the wild?

LOL!

treevaranus · 05-18-05, 12:23 PM

Please show me who/where/when a monitor biologist said that it is not possible to multiclutch......

There is a big difference between being possible and actually occurring. To date, to my knowledge, there is no evidence suggesting that it ocurs in the wild...

Do you have proof? Does FR? Of course not...Does FR have proof of monitors pair bonding in the wild? Of course not...(sorry, still hasn't shown any photographs suggesting that it occurs in the wild).

I think it is quite clear that animals in captivity physiologically respond to and behave differently than in the wild, as variables and extremes are completely removed/altered in captivity..

You are simply altering/slandering the original argument, which is that there is no evidence to suggest that monitors multiclutch in the wild. The scientists have never argued the capability of it occurring.. But that is one of the things that FR and his apostles use to bash scientists, claiming that science said it is impossible to multiclutch in the wild, whereas the stance of the monitor biologists was that is hasn't been observed to occur in the wild...

FR is very good at manipulating and altering contexts, to get his message across, or to make someone look inferior to him...hnce the alteration of the argument of it occurring in the wild to the ability to do so...

Please show me who/when/where a monitor biologist claimed that it is impossible to occur....

kap10cavy · 05-18-05, 12:46 PM

Ok, lets see if I can put my veiw into words without starting an arguement. Frank is good at what he does and has been very successful at it, which is raising and breeding monitors.
If I have a nesting or husbandry question, I have no problem asking him.
Now If I want some info about the senses of a monitors, ie. hearing smelling, eyesight ect. I have no problem asking people like Mark.
It all boils down to what do you want to know. Not everyone is qualified to answer every question.
When it comes to incubating and hatching eggs, I can only tell you what I have read and observed from other peoples critters or send you to the people with success.
If you ask me about the "third eye" of a savannah, I will tell you, "I dunno, ask Mark".
If you want advise about rehabbing a malnurished, dehyderated, neglected sav or albig, I will be glad to help.
We all have our own nitches, Bob's is those gorgeous tree monitors, Jody's is the waters and niles, Mark and Sam's are(where is Sam nowadays?) the study of anything with scales.
Mine has become nursemaid to sick african monitors.
Just my thoughts.

Scott