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Asian water monitor

The Asian water monitor, Varanus salvator, is the second-heaviest lizard on earth after the Komodo dragon, found across South and South-East Asia in mangrove, river and canal habitat, and entirely at home in cities.

Adults commonly reach 1.5 to 2 metres and large males exceed 2.5 metres and 50 kilograms. They are intelligent, powerful, equipped with claws and a whipping tail, and they need water they can submerge in. A hatchling is sold cheaply and grows into an animal that requires a heated, drained, purpose-built room. This is a species for experienced keepers with the space and budget to build for the adult, and for very few others.

Origin
South and South-East Asia
Adult size
1.5–2.5 m; large males over 50 kg
Lifespan
15–20 years
Basking temperature
50–60°C surface, ambient 29–32°C
Enclosure
Room-sized, with a pool deep enough to submerge in
Legal status
Licensed or prohibited in many jurisdictions

Related: Ackie monitor

2 asian water monitor photos, newest first

  • Ginger VI, a asian water monitor

    Ginger VI

    Ginger VI drinks from the tap in the square and nowhere else. The sock is not hers and nobody has come to claim it.

    FrostyOtter · 1 week ago

  • Ginger VI, a asian water monitor

    Ginger VI

    Nothing about Ginger VI's expression is an accident.

    SunnyHeron · 2 weeks ago

Living with a asian water monitor

Be honest about the adult before acquiring a hatchling. A full-grown water monitor needs an enclosure measured in metres — 2.4 × 1.2 metres is a commonly cited minimum and is on the small side — with a heated pool it can fully submerge in and a drainage plan for the water it fouls.

A very hot basking surface of 50–60°C over an ambient near 30°C, with strong UVB, and high humidity throughout.

Daily handling from young is what produces a tractable adult; an unsocialised one is genuinely dangerous, with claws and a tail that draws blood.

Check licensing. Many places require a dangerous-animal licence or prohibit the species outright.

Rescues are full of these. Rehoming an adult is close to impossible.

General guidance, not veterinary advice. Individual reptiles vary, and anything about a specific animal is a question for a vet who has seen it.

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