Monitor ID

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Bl69aze

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Friend found this guy on a beach just chilling, didn’t know what it was (in terms of weapons) and was sitting beside him like a dog :eek:

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Where's it from and how big? Nice find!
 
Lace monitor (Varanus varius). They get along with people fairly well most of the time

 
Actually... I believe that it could be a Rosenberg's Monitor, or a Heath Monitor. It's front legs are spotted rather than striped as lacies' generally are, and the head pattern as well as the bands under the chin also suggest this isn't a lace monitor. It also has smaller spots.
 
Actually... I believe that it could be a Rosenberg's Monitor, or a Heath Monitor. It's front legs are spotted rather than striped as lacies' generally are, and the head pattern as well as the bands under the chin also suggest this isn't a lace monitor. It also has smaller spots.
I was thinking that but the bands under the chin look too big for a heath. The spots threw me off though. Sometimes they are very hard to tell apart!
 
Thanks guys :) she feels like the new Steve Irwin now :p she said she was laying down next to it reading a book
 
As a generalisation, it seems to me that the banding on Lace Monitors tends to transform into a series of blotches or dots from the top of NSW to the northern section of their range. It certainly makes for a different looking animal.

With respect to head markings, I reckon varius tends to have three or four broad black bands vertically across the lower jaw, with those on the front usually extending over the top of the snout. In rosenbergi, there tends to be at least five and they are narrower (as Stompsy indicated) and do not tend to encircle the front of the snout. How far these marks extend onto the throat varies but they seem to do so more often in varius. Another feature I look for is the dark eye band. In rosenbergi this passes through the eye and is edged above and below with a continuous thin pale line for at least the first half. Note that the edging tends to fade in old specimens and can be difficult to detect in these specimens coming when coming into shed. In varius the eye streak starts behind the eye and lacks the edging.
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Thanks guys :) she feels like the new Steve Irwin now :p she said she was laying down next to it reading a book
Bl69aze, it seems your friend has changed gender since the opening post…
Wild lace monitor monitors are normally extremely wary of humans but can be habituated to their presence where food is concerned. They often start by raiding open bins and soon learn to associate people with more food available and so tend to hang around when people are present. This is often further reinforced by people deliberately feeding them. So please tell your friend not to produce food in front of the monitor and certainly do not attempt to hand feed or pet it, should she be tempted to take the Steve Irwin thing a step further, otherwise she may find herself inadvertently saving money on nail polish.
 
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