plump and white in colour, and no foul
odour has formed in the box. If mould is
detected on one of the eggs, it should be
removed immediately. Shortly before the
end of the incubation period, the pressure
within the eggs may decrease and
consequently they will lose some of their
size. But that is not a problem and you
should therefore never add water to the
substrate. After an incubation period of
about 200 days, the hatchlings should
emerge. My very first hatchling slit its egg
and popped its nose out after 202 days
of waiting. It stayed in the egg a few
hours more before it completely
emerged from the shell. This animal
had a snout-to-vent length of 80mm,
the total length was 196mm and its
weight was 6.7g.
Babies can be immediately transferred
into enclosures with a similar build and
furnishings as described for the adults.
When breeding V. prasinus, you
always have to be sure that the young
do not stress each other. My
experience shows the babies are better
cared for individually; you have
better control of the animals and
can see exactly if and how much
food they take. After about 5 to 10
days the egg yolk in the belly is
used up, and the babies should
start feeding. I offer them small
crickets and grasshoppers - the
insects are always dusted with a
vitamin and mineral mixture
(Korvimin ZVT ® ) before feeding.
After a few days, the young will
take food items from the tweezers,
and at that time I also offer parts
of baby mice, which are eaten
without problems.
After about 4 to 5 years, the
animals are mature and can be
used for further breeding.
References.
Böhme, W. 1988a: Zur Genitalmorphologie der
Sauria: funktionelle und
stammesgeschichtliche Aspekte. - Bonn
zool. Monogr. 27:1-176.
1991: New findings on the hemipenial
morphology of Monitor Lizards and their
systematic implications. - Mertensiella 2:42-
49, Bonn.
Bucklitsch, Y. Böhme, W. & Koch, A. 2016:
Scale Morphology and Micro-Structure of
Monitor Lizards and their Allies: Implications