Biawak 2007 Vol. 1 No. 2
89
VARANUS SALVATOR KOMAINI (Black Water monitor)
REPRODUCTION.
The first documented captive breeding of Varanus salvator komaini occurred in 2007, resulting from a
single adult pair maintained outdoors year-round in a large exhibit in Costa Rica (Dwyer and Perez, 2007).
As a follow-up to this initial report, additional data on a subsequent group of hatchlings and clutch of eggs
are presented.
Twelve eggs were laid by the female on 27 January 2007 (Dwyer and Perez, 2007), of which ten
successfully hatched after a period of 252 days, incubated at a temperature of 25-26° C. Hatchling
measurements are presented in Table 1.
A clutch of 14 eggs was deposited by the female on 22 October 2007 (Table 2) at a depth of ca. 30
cm; the same depth as previous clutches (Dwyer and Perez, 2007). Interestingly, all five clutches of eggs
laid by the female have been deposited within a meter of each other. Judging from the nature of the site:
full sun on a slight incline, both temperature and drainage of the nesting site seem to be very important.
Whether or not females in the wild are faithful to a particular nest site remains to be seen.
Literature Cited
Dwyer, Q. and M. Perez. 2007. Husbandry and reproduction of the Black Water Monitor, Varanus salvator komaini. Biawak 1(1): 13-20.
QUETZAL DWYER and MONICA PEREZ
Parque Reptilandia
APDO 692-8000, San Isidro del General, PZ, Costa Rica
[email protected]
Table 1. Hatchling measurements
Table 2. Egg measurements
No.
Mass (g)
SVL (cm)
TL (cm)
Total Length
(cm)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
38.1
37.0
39.5
41.0
34.6
40.4
38.0
37.0
39.1
39.2
12.5
12.5
12.5
12.5
12.7
13.5
13.5
13.7
12.2
12.7
17.0
16.0
16.0
17.7
17.7
19.0
18.2
19.2
17.0
17.5
29.5
28.5
28.5
30.2
30.4
32.5
31.7
32.9
29.2
30.2
No.
Mass (g)
Length
(cm)
Width
(cm)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
52.7
51.9
54.2
54.2
53.9
55.3
53.4
53.5
51.7
52.5
56.3
55.3
55.3
54.7
6.5
6.6
6.5
6.4
6.4
6.5
6.8
6.6
6.5
6.4
6.5
6.8
6.8
6.4
3.5
3.5
3.5
3.5
3.5
3.5
3.4
3.4
3.3
3.5
3.8
3.4
3.5
3.6