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The Mangrove monitor is very variable in size and temperment. I had
an adult trio of 2.1. The female and one male were about 30", while
the other male was about 4'. I have heard of mangroves as large as 6'
and I saw a female that was easily 5' and still growing. As for
temperment, my small adults where quite tame, whereas the larger male
was somewhat aggressive. The 5' female I saw was very tame and laid
back, but it was also raised up from a baby by the same person. The
stereotypical Mangrove monitor is very shy and skittish and usually
won't bite, but will instead defecate on their perceived threat.
Mangrove monitors have large claws and teeth. They use their claws for
climbing and tearing apart large prey items. Along with climbing,
mangroves love to swim. They should have constant access to a large
waterbowl with clean water. Mangrove monitors also require high
humidity and warm temperatures. I provided mine with temperatures of
about 80-95F and a basking spot of about 130F. Night time temperatures
reached no lower than 75F. I fed my mangroves ground turkey, fish,
shrimp, crab, cray fish, crickets, worms, mice, and rats. Not to my
suprise, they prefered the aquatic food (except the shrimp) over
insects and rodents. I supplemented their food with Miner All. Also, in pictures and in captive mangroves, you
will sometimes notice that there mouth is outlined in red. It's
actually not the color of the animal, but a mechanism they use to kill
prey and possibly use as protection, kind of like komodo dragons do.
This red substance is actually blood mixed with the monitors saliva.
Because mangroves are shy, they should have access to many hiding
places. For substrate, I tried newspaper, soil/sand mix, and woodchips.
The woodchips seemed to have worked the best, but, if I ever keep
mangroves again (which I know I will), I will use cypress mulch, which
seems to be the best substrate for herps requiring high humidity.
To view images of Mangrove monitors, click here