Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Whats up everyone. I am new to the forums, and envious of all you who have monitors. I hope to get a couple in the future, but that will unfortunately will not be at least for several years. I am going to the San Jose expo this weekend, so hopefully I will be able to learn more about them there. Have a good day people.

Unfortunately, reptile expos aren't the best place for learning about monitors. Amazingly, the monitors sold at these forums "grow to the size of their enclosure" or "only need to be fed once a week" or "yeah it's captive bred"...

The competition between dealers at these expos are usually very cut-throat, where dealers tell their unsuspecting prospective customers anything they can do conjure up a sale. Not to mention people selling animals aren't really the best people to get husbandry advice from- otherwise they wouldn't be selling the animals (unless they were the actual breeders).

I would suggest picking up some books which pertain to monitor lizards, particularly Pianka and King's "Varanoid Lizards of the WOrld", King and Green's "The Biology of Monitors", and Eidenmueller's "Monitor Lizards: Natural History, Keeping and Breeding"

Best of luck!

I kinda suspected that I wouldn't learn a whole lot at the expo, but seeing them in person is really the reason I want to go. Pictures can only do so much justice to the monitors. The one time I held a tegus (I know it is not a monitor) I was astounded by how strong it was. I'll look into the books you recommended. I am interested in captivity as well is their wild behavior. The more knowledge the better. These forums seem like a great pace to learn about captivity, which in the long run would be my goal. I got plenty of time as I mentioned in the first post to learn what I need to know before I get one. No rush on my part to get one.

Hi Erik!
I've been meaning to welcome you the last few days but kept getting sidetracked.

Welcome to the forum!

I've heard good things about the books that "totbs" mentioned and I'll be oredering one or two pretty soon (as soon as I take the time to do it).

Check out various forums, not just one, consider the sources and everything that you read. You'll have to sift through some garbage here & there & you'll learn who's got credentials and who don't, but keep pressing forward.

Each forum's "search" button will open the door to an abundance of previous discussions on whatever topic you're looking for. Use it, it's invaluable.

If you can't find the answer to a question you have, please don't hesitate to ask. You couldn't possibly ask any dumber questions than I have over time. Ha! Ha!

Take care & see ya 'round!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

...If I ever have too much time on my hands I will be sure to search your post to find out what truly dumb questions are then. Thanks for the welcoming. What type of monitors do you keep?

Ha! Ha!

I've got a nile monitor and a pair of savannah monitors. I'm still a lil' wet behind the ears. I've had the nile for almost 1 1/2 yrs the male sav for almost a year and the female for a few months. Nearly 40 years experience with snakes, mostly as a causal keeper. Husbandry details are different but husbandry principles are the same.

Take care!
HH
-----
Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American