Nile Monitor Lizard (Varanus niloticus) Species Profile: Diet, Housing, and Care
Veterinary & Aquatic Services Department, Drs. Foster & Smith
Varanus niloticus ...
Nile Monitor Lizard
Reptile. The Nile monitor lizard is the largest lizard in Africa, growing up to 2.1 meters (7 feet) long. Because they eat crocodile eggs, Nile monitors are often seen near crocodile nesting sites.
Nile Monitor Species Profile
The adult Nile monitor has a reputation for being aggressive and ill-tempered. Captive Nile monitors need large, spacious cages with water containers large enough to allow swimming and soaking.
The Nile Monitor is the largest lizard in Africa. I used to claim here that it was the second-largest reptile in Africa, after the Nile Crocodile, a claim I picked up from some forgotten source.
Wild: crocodile eggs (crocodiles eat Nile Monitor Lizards) and young barbet hatchlings - fish, mussels, and snails
habitat/range
along riverbanks - digging burrows for shelter - Africa ...
Nile Monitors, like all monitors, use there throat pouch to breathe. By pumping their pouch, they force air into their diaphram, letting them stay active for long periods of time without becoming tired.
The Nile monitor, Varanus niloticus, grows to 6 feet. It is dark brown-black with pale to yellow bands and spots forming broken cross bands on the body.
The most commonly kept monitors are the savannah monitor, nile monitor, white throated monitor, and Acklin's monitor, due to their relatively small size and ease of domestication.
Nile Monitor, Ornate Nile Monitor - Varanus niloticus
Varanus niloticus
Pygmy Mulga Monitor - Varanus gilleni Varanus gilleni
Rusty Monitor - Varanus kingorum
Salvator or Asian Water Monitor - Varanus salvator ...
For the next three to four months she closely guards the nest, viciously attacking any intruder, such as the egg-loving Nile monitor. When the young are ready to hatch they make a chirping sound from the buried eggs.
Its aggressive behavior and a tendency to defend itself by attacking intruders with mouth agape can often protect it from predators such as larger wading birds, pelicans, Nile monitor lizards, driver ants, mammals, ...
 See also: Lizard, Reptile, Snake, Crocodile, Komodo Dragon
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