Which is smarter? Tegu's or monitor's?

[redtail2426]

Well there was a thread started earlier on this topic by varnyard and I was told that it was deleted due to arguing and I would like to start this topic again as it seems like a good debate and would like to know what people think. So lets keep it clean and just voice our opinions.
So I would like to just say that I know tegu's are smart but I do not know if they are smarter then monitors as I have not owned any monitors so if you have experience with both it would help in this debate.

 

[AB^]

I have worked with both.

I would say I dont see any significant difference in them that stands out in my mind. I think it's a pointless comparison.

Hobbyists have access to many more species of varanids than they do tegus species. Sure if you have a lot of experience with one and only a little with another your opinions are going to be quite biased.


Anywho, if this thread gets ridiculous I wont hesitate to remove it, so please let's keep it civil

 

[AB^]

"Reason or intelligence is the faculty which is concerned in the intentional adaptation of means to ends. It therefore implies the conscious knowledge of the relation between means employed and ends attained, and may be exercised in adaptation to circumstances novel alike to the experience of the individual and that of the species."

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Intelligence_In_Animals">http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Intelligence_In_Animals</a><!-- m -->

 

[angelrose]

I just want to tell you, I love it here. great quote !

 

[DZLife]

Oh boy, here we go again....

 

[ApriliaRufo]

Ridiculous question to ask. Both are very smart and have completely different knowledge bases. Knowledge is based on the experiences and information they retain from events they have been through.

 

[dicy]

its like comparing aples and pears both tasty but difrent

 

[Harveysherps]

I agree with dicy. Unless someone can come up with a series of test for them to perform. Inteligence in either one is going to be hard to guarantee. I have owned both and to me Tegus are smarter hands down. It may be because they tame down more readily. Tegus don't have to have continual interaction to stay tame . Most Monitors do have to be fooled with daily. Monitors are more like alligators. Everyday is a new day to them. Tegus aren't like that. Well that's my 2 cents worth.

 

[MMRR - jif]

Unfortunately I did not get the opportunity to read the deleted thread. I don't know if any multiple species keepers posted or not. I have kept many species of varanids from adult Croc monitors to timors and I've also kept Tegus for 10 years. I'm going to assume that I'm qualified to offer an opinion (which until someone does a controlled study on this topic is all any of us have).

This may seem like a cop-out but my opinion is that the degree of intelligence varies from species to species and individual animal. If the true meaning of intelligence is the ability to find a means to an end, or, in other words, to figure out how to accomplish a desired task, hands down monitors are smarter. I believe this is because they are more sentient creatures than Tegus...they are more AWARE and ALERT, and for lack of a better term, have an incredible "prey drive". Everything about a monitor is about survival. The adult Croc monitor, an 8+ footer, that I boarded here for several months was the smartest reptile I've ever had here. It took him less than 24 hours to figure out how to unlatch the door to his walk-in enclosure and get out.

Tegus, on the other hand, are intelligent and accomplished at figuring things out, but I don't think they are as motivated as most monitors. They seem to be more trusting and trustworthy so that leads me to believe that they realize early on that their keepers are not a threat. As adults they don't have that "survivalist" mentality and they just kind of cruise through life in 2nd gear. They also can often live quite well together in groups, which may mean that they understand some kind of social order.

I enjoy keeping both monitors and tegus and would have a very difficult time determining which I like more, but, if told that I could only keep one species of lizard I'd give them both up and keep my Rhino iguanas. They are smarter than both tegus and monitors.