Empagusia
Varanus
bengalensis (DAUDIN 1802)
Bengal Monitor
Bengal Monitor
With
its subspecies Varanus bengalensis belongs to the larger members
of the subgenera Empagusia (MERTENS 1942).
This monitor can reach a total length up to 180 cm. The tail is compressed
has a low double keel on top. It can be 1.3-1.7 times as long as the SVL.
The animals have a slit like nostril which is closer to the eye than to
the tip of the snout. 149-163 (V. b. nebulosus) or 139-165 (V.
b. bengalensis) scale rows are around midbody. The coloration is dark
olive-green to brown with a yellowish pattern. Little yellow, dark edged
spots occasionally replace this pattern. This sometimes form cross rows.
Two dark temporal stripes which are seen more clearly in young animals are
recognizable at the side of the head.The monitors diet consists mainly on live insects (AUFFENBERG & IPE 1983).
Distribution,
habitat and behavior
V. bengalensis occurs in the southeastern parts of Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and western Birma (AUFFENBERG 1994b).
Keeping
and breeding
There
is only very little published on the captive husbandry of Varanus bengalensis.
KLAG & KANTZ (1988) kept
their animals in an moderate large enclosure, which did not contain any
substrate. Some cloths and carpeting rests served the animals as hiding-place
possibilities. The female dropped 8 eggs, without matings were observed.
The substrate was moistered daily by spraying, to keep the humidity in the
enclosure at about 95%.Altogether 5 young animals hatched after 170-173 days at an incubation temperature of 30-34°C. The offspring had a total length of 180 mm and weighted about 28 g. No further data on growth and feeding are given.
In the wild hatchlings feed mainly on insects (AUFFENBERG & IPE 1983). A further raising describes GORMAN (1993).
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