Hello! I take it you mean G. validus, the true Giant Plated Lizard? Your G. major is often wrongly called this in the pet trade, when the latter is really the Greater Plated Lizard.

I have two G. validus, a male and a female. Wonderful lizards. Like G. major, they can be skittish, and unless you handle them a lot and are patient over a fairly long period of time, they will not relish being caught/picked up. They may skirm and even do the 'alligator' roll, thrashing around to get free if held only from the rear quarters. But mine, at last, have never shown ANY kind of aggression, nor has either animal attempted to bite.

My male is quite large, the female, who is younger and still growing, considerably smaller. They are incredibly easy to careful and problem free (up to this point, knock on wood). I have them in a 4 ft. by 30 in. enclosure, with several inches of aspen shavings, hides, large, flat, elevated basking rock, and used to have a stout branch, but as neither ever climbed it I removed it. Standard basking lamp and a separate 10.0 UVB fluorescent. Heating pads with safe air space under the tank for night-time warmth. I feed them every other day on either ground up and moistened Zoo Med juvenile iguana food (the pellets) or Innova canned senior dog food (a very high-grade dog food with natural ingredients and low protein/low fat). They are nice and fat and healthy.

Good luck if you decided to get some, but remember they are large as adults, need a LOT of space, and can be long-lived.

Dan

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