People have introduced this monitor lizard to the Pacific Islands during the 1930s. The male mangrove monitor will remain superior as they both do it. While the male is on top of the female, they will slowly rotate in the clockwise direction through a 360-degree angle. When mating, the male mangrove monitor will mount on the female and use its chin in rubbing the dorsum of a female in its forequarters and head. Whether male or female, a mangrove monitor can be so shy and nervous.Ĭopulation does not occur if you keep a male and female mangrove monitors in one enclosure, unless when the breeding time comes in. When it feels threatened, the lizard will defecate on what it believes to be a threat. But the male lizard tends to be more hostile than a female. The mangrove monitor seems fine with being raised in captivity.
This monitor lizard is also a shrew lover, but its population also reduced in Guam because of the brown tree snake. However, the population of the slugs also reduced a lot because of the Cane toad or Bufo marinus. Its population has significantly reduced because of the predaceous flatworms known as the Platydemus Manokwari. This animal is a common predator of the land snail called Achatina Fulica. In a study conducted in 1993, the researchers found that this species of monitor lizard living in the Southern Mariana Islands changed big prey classes that reflect the changes within the existing prey base. The mangrove monitor is sometimes an opportunistic predator considering its feeding behavior. In terms of courtship, a male mangrove monitor entices a female to mate by showing behavioral and physical control over the female. Its nesting spot was in the guano deposits of Aerodromus vanikorensis, a bird that lives in a cave. Guam has been the nesting area for a mangrove monitor.
The mother lizard may guard the eggs, but she will let the hatchlings live on their own. They are white and oblong and will hatch in around 7 to 8 months. The eggs of a female lizard measure 3.5 to 5 centimeters. the varying size of the clutch goes to show that the mangrove monitor tends to reproduce endlessly if there is stable food supply, producing big numbers of small clutches. In captivity, a female mangrove monitor can lay up to 25 eggs in 5 clutches for more than 2 years. In one report, a female monitor lizard laid up to 22 eggs in 3 years by having several clutches containing 1 to 4 eggs, respectively. Its clutch is somewhat smaller than the clutch from a medium-sized monitor lizard considering the size of a mangrove monitor. Mating and ReproductionĮach clutch produced by a female mangrove monitor contains approximately 2 to 12 eggs. In certain areas, the mangrove monitor can feast on young crocodiles. This species of monitor lizard can catch fish in subterranean water. It eats the eggs of other reptiles, birds, mollusks, rodents, insects, crabs, carrion, fish, and small lizards. The mangrove monitor has been known to be an opportunistic carnivorous animal. The species, however, may differ in pattern, size, and scalation. This monitor lizard lives in damp forests beside the coastal rivers, inland lakes, and mangroves. It can be found in the Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Caroline Islands, and the Mariana Islands. The mangrove monitor is common across Northern Australia and New Guinea. The lizard’s dentary teeth are pointing slightly laterally while its maxillary teeth are directing vertically. Its teeth are jagged along the front and back edges. Its tail and body are covered with the small oval-shaped keeled scales. The face of this monitor lizard has a smooth, glossy feel with huge scales. Moreover, the mangrove monitor comes with 4 well-developed, strong legs with each having 5 sharp and clawed toes. The Komodo dragon looks quite similar to the mangrove monitor in terms of coloration. This red substance is blood combined with saliva. Likewise, the mouth of a mangrove monitor is occasionally delineated with red, which may either scare the predators or attract the prey. Also, there are Sulphur yellow palpebral surrounding the eyes. When it comes to the eyes, they have dark brown iris enclosed by a golden-colored ring. The mangrove monitor also comes with dark colorations that have different tiny, yellow spots. The strongly compressed tail is nearly 2x longer than its body. Its head is narrow and long, but its neck is quite long. The length of a mangrove monitor ranges from 75 up to 120 centimeters long.