Rock or White Throated Monitor Varanus Albigularis

Rock or White-throated Monitor Varanus albigularis
Svl 400-500mm; max. Svl 850mm, Tl 1 750mm.

This very large, stout lizard has strong, stocky limbs and sharp claws. The skin is tough and covered with small, bead-like scales in 110-167 rows at midbody. The head has a bulbous snout, with the nostrils slit-like and nearer to the eyes than to the end of the snout. The tail is longer than the body and cylindrical at the base but compressed towards the tip. The back is dark grey-brown above, with 5-6 pale yellow dark-edged blotches. The top of the head and neck are dark brown. The limbs are spotted with pale yellow, and the tail is banded in dark brown and off-white. The belly is dirty yellow with scattered spots. Juveniles are more intensely marked, and despite the tasteless name which refers to the white throat of adults, have blackish throats.

Weigh Scale

Biology and Breeding

Rock or White Throated Monitor Varanus Albigularis

This monitor lives in a tunnel that it digs under rock overhangs, or in a disused animal burrow, a hole in a tree or a rock crack. It is normally solitary and hibernates, semi-dormant in its recession in winter. Its skin is normally dulled with dirt and grime, and sullied with patches of unshed skin. It is also well-adorned with ticks in the soft skin nearby the eyes, nostrils and limb joints. The diet consist mainly of invertebrates (millipedes, beetles, grasshoppers and land snails) although it will kill and eat any animal small adequate to swallow and also scavenges on carrion; baby tortoises are often eaten. In defence it adopts a side-on posture and lashes its tail. It will bite and hold on like a bulldog; if held behind the head it normally ejects it cloacal contents, and finally it may sham death, hanging limp (but still holding its eyes open). If this ruse works and it is releases, it scampers to protection at the first opportunity.

The martial eagle (wingspan 188-227 cm (6.17-7.45 ft) and ratel are main predators on adults.

It rarely tames in captivity and because of its size needs a large enclosure. The flesh is reported to taste like chicken, but this monitor is protected by Provincial legislation (Cites, Appendix 11). They are great wanderers and may have home ranges up to 28sq km.

Mating occurs in August-September. The female may occasionally lay her eggs in a live termite nest, as does the Nile monitor, or even in a hollow tree, but normally uses a hole dug in soft moist soil. She may dig several 'test holes' before choosing a favorable spot. In early summer (October-November) from eight to 51 eggs (53-61 x 35-39 mm, 32-46g) are laid, depending on the size of the female. The eggs hatch in 110-120 days in captivity (27C), but take much longer in the wild. Hatchlings part 220-282mm Tl and weigh 18-21g. Many clutches are eaten by the banded mongoose.

Habitat & Range

Savannah and moister karroid areas. Throughout the Savannah and semi-desert regions of the subcontinent, but absent from W. Cape. Elsewhere, to the Savannah of East Africa.

Subspecies

Only the typical race occurs on the subcontinent. It has 137-167 midbody scale rows and white throat in adults. A poorly defined race, V.a. Angolensis, from Angola and adjacent Nw Zambia, has large scales on the head and along the backbone, and retains the black throat in adults. It has only 110-138 midbody scale rows. A small species V. Exanthematicus from the West African Savannah's has a more uniform colour pattern, lacks the white throat, and has enlarged scales on the back on of the neck and only 75-100 midbody scale rows; it is now treated as a isolate species.

Rock or White Throated Monitor Varanus Albigularis

buy the bloom energy box in ny Jobar Slacks Hangers