Water Monitors… What is the difference between the Sumatran, Salvator, El Salvador, and Salvadorii Monitors?
Water Monitor- Varanus Salvator These terms confuse a lot of people. Typically, new hobbyists using these terms are thinking of the common Water monitor, but they are a bit thrown off by a combination of common names, scientific names, and similar sounding names. Water Monitors come from across the Indonesian range. Geographically, they naturally occur over a very large area. Most of the Water monitors available in the reptile trade are from the islands of Sumatra, Java, and Malaysia. These island names are used to denote the LOCALITY of a particular animal. At Pro Exotics, we concentrate on Water monitors from Sumatra. We find these animals to have a bright and active pattern, and of the commonly available Waters, we feel they are the prettiest animals. The SCIENTIFIC name of the Water monitor is Varanus Salvator The term “Water Monitor” is a COMMON term, used very loosely. In scientific circles, Varanus Salvator is used to describe the animal, so that there is a worldwide consensus a
