Links

Commercial Breeders
Web sites devoted to a commercial enterprise that sells monitors and possibly other reptiles. To be included here, the web page must have useful information on monitors, not just a price list.
Python Pete Reptiles Python Pete Kuhn has lengthy descriptions and tips on captive care on the monitors he breeds. Good pictures, too. Mostly dwarf species.
Salvator Farms TX A breeder of argus, crocodile, and salvator monitors, with care information on each of these three species. Warning! This page can take a long time to load.

Academic Sites
Web sites maintained by groups affiliated with a major university discussing the results of their research on varanids.
Varanus of the Great Victoria Desert The name pretty much says it all. Has information on the monitors that live in Australia's Great Victoria Desert.

Informational Pages
Web pages primarily devoted to disseminating information on monitors. The distinction between informational pages and personal pages is blurry at best, these informational pages may also contain accounts of the author's pet monitors.
Aquarium Microsystems --> Nile Monitor (Varanus niloticus) Info An excellent page about Nile monitors. A good read, nice photos, and lots of stuff to think about if you want to get one of these animals.
Pete Zupich's White Throated Monitor Page A classic page about Varanus albigularis.
Herpetology of Indonesia - Biawak's Page Monitor section is still under construction.
John Fowler and Rachel Barnes Australian Herpetology Page Contains a number of links to monitor related information, as well as links dealing with other Australian reptiles.
Daniel Bennett's monitor page The author of one of the best books on monitors maintains an interesting web page about these critters.
Bloodbat's Monitor Page Information on Nile and savanna monitors.
Varanus Photo Album As the name indicates, an album of photos of monitor lizards.
Dumeril's Monitor Resource Page Info on keeping Dumeril's monitors.
Savannah Monitors, a care sheet.

Personal Pages
Web pages primarily devoted to showcasing an author's pets, although they can contain very useful information.
Dan and Ardy's Nile Page An interesting account of a man and his monitor. Max's cage has truly been a labor of love.
Gail's Lizard Page Photos, brief stories of one woman's pet monitors.
Dale's Pet Page Diaries and photos of Dale's monitors and other pets. Has a cool chart of savanna monitor growth.
Rene Ammann's Monitor Page An interesting tour of a monitor keeping facility, with great photos of the monitors therein.

Books

The Behavioral Ecology of the Komodo Monitor by Walter Auffenberg. This is the definitive study of the Komodo dragon. Learn more about the world's largest living lizard. This is the reference everyone goes back to when dealing with Komodo dragons. If you've read something about the dragons, chances are the information was mostly taken from this book.

Goanna: The Biology of the Varanid Lizards by King and Green. Another great book about monitor natural history. Most examples concern the heath monitor, but much of the information applies to monitors in general.

Monitor Lizards: Natural History, Biology, & Husbandry by Daniel Bennett. This is the only general book on monitors with good and lengthy accounts of each species, and is invaluable for that reason alone. However, it also has lots of information on monitor physiology, ecology, behavior, and relations with man. Easy to read and entertaining while it informs. The web version has an informative page on savanna monitors.

A Natural History of the Monitor Lizards by Harold DeLisle. Similar material to the books by Bennett and King and Green. I find the range maps to be useful. Good photos, but crummy illustrations.

Living Dragons by Rodney Steel. Good photos. Other than that, the books by DeLisle, Bennett, or King and Green have the same information, only better. It has probably the worst illustrations of monitors I have ever seen.

Nile Monitors by Rob Faust. This is the best book on monitor husbandry currently in existence. Period. Although if focuses only on Nile monitors, it is the only book in print that has up to date thinking on the care of monitors in general. A major revolution in monitor husbandry occured in the 1990s, and earlier books haven't quite caught up with the current thinking. This one does. If you plan on keeping monitors, any monitor, this is the book to read.

Savanna and Grassland Monitors by Robert George Sprackland. I had high expectations for this book, but was somewhat dissapointed when I actually read it. Aimed primarily at the hobbyist keeping monitors in captivity, the information in this book has not caught up with the times. Still, I was impressed by its emphasis on responsible ownership, making sure you really want a monitor, and the common pitfalls encountered by monitor owners.

Giant Lizards by Robert George Sprackland. This book covers the captive care of numerous lizards over 3 feet in length. Once an excellent book, it is now showing its age and contains a considerable amount of outdated information. At the price it normally goes for, I would recommend browsing through it at the pet store, looking at the cool photos, and reading what you want to read out of it there, and then buy one of the more recent books that are given a good review on this page.

The General care and Maintenance of Popular Monitors and Tegus by Micheal Balsai. This book is a little out of date. You can keep your monitors alive by following the guidelines in this book, but for real success with monitors, Faust's book is better.

Monitors, Tegus, and Related Lizards by Bartlett and Bartlett. This is another good book on monitor husbandry. It strikes me as being a bit more eccentric than other books on monitor husbandry, but the information presented is generally sound.