Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey everyone, my mom is down with me having my moniter...and all... just not liking the mice...what can I tell her that will convince her that she is in the wrong for not letting me fully nourish my lizard?

i had the same problem with monitor and snake i told her that all the mice that i feed my reptiles are dead! it's just like people eating chicken or beef the animal is born and raised to die and be eaten.i also told her that she would never even see the mice dead or alive. when it come to feeding day i just try to hide the food from my mom.

from alex !

What kind of monitor are you thinking about getting? In other words, what size rodents will it eventually require and how important will they be to its diet? If you get a smaller monitor (Odatria) that can get by on crickets and pinkies, perhaps you can show your mom how easy it is for you to wrap up the pinkies and hide them in the freezer. If she doesn't like pinkies in her freezer, though, I don't see how you will convince her to keep mice and rats in there! A larger monitor may be able to eat chicks, etc. Would your mom find that less offensive?

Your monitor deserves to have all of its needs met, and your parents need to understand what your monitor needs and support that fully. It sounds like you may need to run some other questions by your mom, too, if you haven't already. Is your mom willing to cover vet care costs? I only bring this up because too often when a parent isn't supportive of a child's pet, the parent also isn't willing to pay for the pet's vet care. My last vet visit for a sick monitor cost me around $500, and if he had lived to have exploratory surgery, it would have cost me another $1700. Also, who is going to assume care of the animal if you leave for college? Finally, if your monitor ever bites you, is your mom still going to be supportive of your keeping it? When you assume care for a living animal, you have to meet its needs come hell or high water, and if you're dependent on your parents, you need to be sure that they're willing to meet those needs, too. If not, a monitor isn't the right choice for you right now. Good luck!