Emerald Tree Monitor

Description:

... a small-to-medium-sized arboreal monitor lizard. It is known for its unusual coloration, which consists of shades from green to turquoise, topped with dark, transverse dorsal banding. This coloration helps camouflage it in its arboreal habitat. It also makes the Emerald Tree monitor highly coveted by private collectors and zoos alike.

Habitat:

Clutches consist of up to five eggs, each weighing 10.5–11.5 grams (0.37–0.41 oz) and measuring about 2 by 4.5 centimeters (0.79 in × 1.8 in). As many as three clutches are laid throughout the year; captive clutches have been laid in January, March, April, November, and December. The female emerald tree monitor lays her eggs in arboreal termite nests. The eggs hatch between 160–190 days, typically from June to November after which the young eat the termites and the termite's eggs within minutes of hatching. Sexual maturity is reached in about two years.

Notes:

When threatened, the emerald tree monitor will flee through vegetation or bite if cornered. It is one of the few social monitors, living in small groups made up of a dominant male, several females, and a few other males and juveniles. The emerald tree monitor's diet consists of large tree dwelling insects such as katydids, stick insects, cockroaches, beetles, centipedes, spiders, crabs, birds, and small mammals. Before swallowing stick insects, the lizards tear off the legs. Captive specimens tear off the limbs of rodents prior to eating them and as a result they are capable of swallowing mammals of a considerable size: A 135-gram (4.8 oz) lizard was documented as eating a 40-gram (1.4 oz) rodent, an animal almost one-third its size. Paleontologist and Biology Professor at Temple University, Michael Balsai has observed V. prasinus eating fruit(bananas) in captivity as has herpetologist and author, Robert G. Sprackland.