Komodo any1 got?

[teiryklav]

Originally Posted by The_Real_Moreliaman

I dont know of any private keepers in the UK....as siUK said theres some but i think they are in europe...Ive heard of someone selling them in europe a couple of years ago for £1000 each, but the guys a bit picky on whom he sells them too (cant blame him)
I thought the female at chester had never been with a male & she wasnt sexually mature when they first had her.....could be wrong...havent heard any news on them for a while....where did you hear that siUK ?? would be interesting to find out.

you sure it was 1000pounds each? that's too cheap for such illegal action, anyway, komodo's are not usually aggresive, perhaps they attack small children, or any person with blood scent on them (menstruatial, wounded, etc etc)

why is hard to keep them because they're big, well known as rare animals, and how can you import them really?

[Ssthisto]

Originally Posted by The_Real_Moreliaman

(i'd say its safer to keep an elephant than a komodo....elephants can be trained)

Incidentally... sharks can be trained, as can tegus - so I would assume that a monitor - even an uncommonly big one - could too.

[Saedcantas]

Funnily enough we were visited by someone from another collection who was kind enough to show us photos of their training methods.

Operant conditioning methods and "target training" have proven very successful with this species and are used by the majority of institutions working with this species

[wildlifewarrior]

Originally Posted by Ssthisto

Incidentally... sharks can be trained, as can tegus - so I would assume that a monitor - even an uncommonly big one - could too.

If i remember correctly i believe in a crocodile hunter episode wes and steve were in there own komoda dragon enclosure with 2 subadults walking around them and they were extremely tame and had been trained

[strictly_scales]

Back-tracking a little, on the venom issue, I was under the impression that all monitors were classed as Venemous these days, as indeed are most Colubrids. The only difference between say a Timor Monitor in captivity and a Komodo is the drastic size issue. Which is admittedly quite substantial.

I did hear of a guy in Scotland who had a pair of Komodos, but I don't know any more than that. If I had the space for a 50 foot by 30 foot walk in Vivarium, and the money to run such a thing, I would happily have a trio of Komodos for a mere £3k, especially when you consider that a Gila Monitor costs about the same as a Komodo, and has the added hassle of DWA without the risk of being seriously mauled and eaten.

[The_Real_Moreliaman]

Originally Posted by teiryklav

you sure it was 1000pounds each? that's too cheap for such illegal action, anyway, komodo's are not usually aggresive, perhaps they attack small children, or any person with blood scent on them (menstruatial, wounded, etc etc)

why is hard to keep them because they're big, well known as rare animals, and how can you import them really?

Yep....99.9% sure...i know i was amazed at the price too!
And they are quite agressive.....esp when hungry....theres loads of reports of people being attacked....even the islanders have been asking for them to be controlled in some way.
they will attack large cattle....so im guessing a human would be like a Mcdonalds snack !

Originally Posted by strictly_scales

Back-tracking a little, on the venom issue, I was under the impression that all monitors were classed as Venemous these days, as indeed are most Colubrids. The only difference between say a Timor Monitor in captivity and a Komodo is the drastic size issue. Which is admittedly quite substantial.
.

I think your right there....although the info on them being venomous is quite a few years old now i seem to remember reading something about it on fry's own venoum doc forums.
I also remember something about bites from the wild ones being slightly more hazardous due to the carrion they regularly feed on.

[Azemiops]

Originally Posted by The_Real_Moreliaman

Yep....99.9% sure...i know i was amazed at the price too!
And they are quite agressive.....esp when hungry....theres loads of reports of people being attacked....even the islanders have been asking for them to be controlled in some way.
they will attack large cattle....so im guessing a human would be like a Mcdonalds snack !

Are you sure you didnt mistake £1000 for £10,000? I have found adds on a german classifieds dating back to august 2008 for 08 komodo dragons for 10,000 euros and 6000 euros.

Also, we spent some time on komodo island in 2007, and did not find the wild dragons to be particularly agressive. We actually managed to get very close to get the photos we were after without any problems. This is not to say they cant be, but from what the rangers were telling us the main problems arise when a rogue older male gets booted out of good territory by a younger male, and decides to stake out new territory close to kampung komodo, the village on the island, and these are normally very isolated incidents.

[The_Real_Moreliaman]

Originally Posted by Azemiops

Are you sure you didnt mistake £1000 for £10,000? I have found adds on a german classifieds dating back to august 2008 for 08 komodo dragons for 10,000 euros and 6000 euros.

Also, we spent some time on komodo island in 2007, and did not find the wild dragons to be particularly agressive. We actually managed to get very close to get the photos we were after without any problems. This is not to say they cant be, but from what the rangers were telling us the main problems arise when a rogue older male gets booted out of good territory by a younger male, and decides to stake out new territory close to kampung komodo, the village on the island, and these are normally very isolated incidents.

Im not going to say its not a possiblity that the person that told me they were £1000 each could have been slightly wrong no.....like i said..at the time the cheap price surprised me.

komodo attacks on the increase

im sure of you google something like.....komodo attacks humans or villagers youll get alot more back

[Ssthisto]

The increase in attacks on villagers COULD have something to do with the fact that the island's population is increasing.

In 1928 there were only about 30 people in Komodo Village.
In 1999 there were 1,169 people.
Now there's at least 1600 people - and that's just in Kampung Komodo.

More people = more encroachment on territory = fewer good territories for male Ora to claim = More older males being pushed out to try to find food elsewhere = more attacks.

[The_Real_Moreliaman]

Very true, and youd be in quite close contact of you kept them in captivity too.

are you sure youre not just here to argue ssthisto ?...like the matt thread ?
Have i said something to upset you ?