Hey there, Kyle. If you are looking for a "calm" lizard, you definitely don't want a monitor. Healthy monitors don't sit still in your lap, they don't just hang with you. It simply doesn't work like that. Even 'LTC' monitors that are accustomed to human interaction and come out of their enclosures won't kick back and chill with you -- not healthy monitors. It's not in their nature to do that.

They will romp around, exploring wherever they please, never on your terms. This can be very off-putting for someone who isn't experienced with normal, healthy monitor behavior. And when you try to grab at them or catch them, they will resist. Resistance means fleeing, tail whipping, biting, and crapping on you. The types that you described, in particular, are notorious for this nervous behavior. And even if you settled for interaction from outside their enclosure, chances are you would almost never see them.

Mind you, this is all based on the premise that the monitor(s) in question are healthy and being kept well. Almost all the monitors you see on forums or YouTube or wherever else are kept in substandard conditions and simply do not act as they would otherwise. Any time you see or hear of this, you have to assume the keeper has no idea what they're doing, even though they will tell you differently.

Tegus really aren't much different. Go watch one of those Animal Planet shows with the gator-removal guys who have to remove feral tegus in Florida. See if you'll still entertain the idea of keeping one of those healthy and in your home.

Right now, you're going through the same thing hundreds of thousands of would-be monitor keepers experience every year. Some people are bound to get all upset about this and swear they own the exception to the rule, but they don't. I'm certain anyone experienced with the proper keeping of monitors would back me up on this.

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