Varanus kordensis — Fact Sheet

Varanus kordensis · Varanus kordensis

📋 At a glance

🏠 Enclosure

• Adult enclosure: 120 × 60 × 180 cm (length × width × height).
• A practical plan for one adult; furnishing and the animal’s actual size determine whether more space is needed.
• Large secure vivarium; monitors need space, heat, and strong construction
• Adult enclosure should prioritize floor area, deep substrate, climbing, and basking access
• Substrate: deep packed soil/sand/clay mix that supports digging
• Avoid small tanks, weak lids, loose unstable rock piles, and underpowered heat

🪨 Enclosure furniture

• Large basking platform, deep diggable substrate, secure hides, climbing branches or rock ledges
• Humid retreat below the dry surface
• Heavy decor must be supported from the floor, not resting on loose substrate

💡 Lighting

• Ferguson Zone 2; aim for UVI 2-3 at the animal’s back height on the basking site. See the full care guide for the evidence and any uncertainty.
• Measure with a Solarmeter 6.5; provide a gradient to fully shaded retreats near zero UVI. Lamp percentage alone does not specify exposure.
• Photoperiod: 10-12 h; no bright night light.

🌡️ Temperature

• Basking spot: 38-45 °C

• Warm zone: 25-30 °C

• Cool zone: 24-26 °C

• Night: 22-24 °C

• Clear gradient required; the animal must be able to move between warm, cool, and hidden zones

• Measure basking surfaces with an infrared thermometer and ambient zones with digital probes

• Avoid heat rocks and unguarded heat sources

💧 Humidity & water

• Dry surface with access to a more humid burrow or retreat for arid species
• Fresh water always available; larger species may need a soaking tub
• Ventilation must remove stale damp air
• Avoid bone-dry deep substrate and swampy floors

🪳 Diet

Feed regularly:

• Appropriately sized crickets, roaches, locusts, and other feeder insects

In moderation:

• Waxworms, mealworms, superworms, and fatty larvae

Avoid:

• Wild-caught insects, oversized prey, spoiled feeders

Supplements:

• Calcium as needed; vitamins in a controlled schedule; UVB does not get replaced by powders

• Adult maintenance meals: Every 2–3 days.

This is a starting schedule for measured portions in healthy, established adults, not an instruction to offer a large whole-prey meal at every feeding. Small insect meals and larger whole prey have different energy contents; reduce the portion or frequency if weight and body fat rise. Growing juveniles need smaller meals daily or every other day, with intake adjusted to growth. Reproductive, recovering or underweight animals need an individual plan. Record food, weight and condition; persistent refusal or weight loss needs veterinary review.

The interval is editorial planning guidance informed by general lizard nutrition; a species-specific optimal interval has not been established.

🩺 Health — warning signs

• Lethargy or poor appetite → basking heat too low, stress, or disease
• Soft jaw or weak limbs → UVB/calcium issue
• Obesity → overfeeding or insufficient space
• Nose rub or damaged toes → enclosure stress or unsafe surfaces
• Retained shed on tail/toes → humidity or abrasion problem

Consult a reptile- or exotic-animal veterinarian for severe weakness, injury, breathing signs, swelling, or prolonged refusal to eat.