Vital Statistics
- Latin Name
- Varanus Albigularis
- Length_F
- 400 - 500 mm
- Length_M
- 400 - 500 mm
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Varanidae
- Description
- A very large, stout lizard with strong, stocky limbs and sharp claws. The head has a bulbous snout, with slit-like nostrils nearer to the eyes than to the end of the snout. The back is dark grey-brown above, with 5 - 6 pale yellow dark-edged blotches.
- Class
- Reptilia
- Subspecies
- V.a. albigularis and a poorly defined race, V.a. angolensis.
- Distribution
- Throughout the savanna and semi-desert regions of the sub-continent, but absent from Western Cape. Elsewhere, to the savannas of East Africa.
- Breeding
- In early summer from 8 - 51 eggs are laid, depending on the size of the female. The eggs hatch in 110 - 120 days in captivity, but take much longer in the wild.
- Diet
- The diet consist mainly of millipedes, beetles, grasshoppers and land snails.
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