Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I think these are my favorite monitor lizard. They are just so darn expensive I could never afford one. What makes their availability in the pet trade so low?

well for one, they mainly came from 1 breeder here in the states...secondly they need huge enclousers..similar to a croc monitor. i think the original breeder of these has stopped producing, so i believe whats left in the hobby is residual remnance of his offspring, also i beleive JME produced a few babies. perhapse he can breathe new life into the lace monitors available here

They are not available for export from Australia either.

Mike.

yes, thats anothere point i thought of after i posted, but there is no edit post here, so i figured someone else would bring it up

theyre so rare because theyre the largest australian monitor on the market. the mulga monitor is 2000 each, theyre also from australia, and grow only 1.5 ft. pilbara and kimberly rocks are 1000 to 1500 each too. the only true aussie monitors that are cheap are black heads and ackies, avg price of 150 for ackies, 300 for black heads. the fact that they need amazingly high temps, heavy day night temp drops, and a huge enclosure only help to the rarity of these amazing lizards. i personally think theyre the coolest of the larger monitor lizards, and are only second to dwarf species in my book.

I think this is the most beautiful of all the aussie species, certainly I would say laceys are a close second, but the rarity, color, and size of Perenties is amazing. That would be my dream monitor someday....someday. haha.

And where did the average price of $150 for ackies come from? I am hard-pressed to find them for less than $250; even yellows are still up there in price. Unless you’re talking large qty discounts, I don’t think you’re getting ackies, from a quality breeder for $150, period. Try double that.

Mike.

check the classifieds, theres quite a few for 150 to 200, baby yellows. reds are around 250 to 300 for babies, and black heads are 300 a baby all on the classifieds. perentes(sp?) are offered so rarely that i actually forgot about them, but i still like the colors and pattern of the lace monitors more.

I recently produced 5 lacies and the last one just sold. They're terrific monitors to work with but they require a very large enclosure.

Frank Retes used to breed them and we can thank him for the few lacies that are currently available. I haven't heard of anyone else breeding them in the States but I may be wrong.

It's more difficult to sell them than you think. When I posted adds I had a bunch of e-mails but very few capable keepers. I was very careful and wouldn't sell them to just anyone. These aren't a lizard that can be set up in a Vision cage.

If you have the space, they're incredible. Very intelligent and interesting captives. If you don't have the space you're asking for trouble.

The dwarfs are far more manageable and can also make very interesting and fun captives:

whats that last pic of? the fact its patternless is throwing me off majorly.

Leucistic (white) Varanus Kingorum.

Those are some really beautiful animals there. I would have to rethink my opinion on which is more so, them or giganeus. I am just curious what is the enclosure size that you keep them in? I know you have posted it before I just forget off the top of my head.

Also, did you put together that dirt mixture yourself, or is that right out of the ground and into the enclosure? I am just curious, as I am reworking the dirt in one of my enclosures and looking for some new things to try.

Thanks for the pics,
Mike.

dude awesome animals! i would do anything for some pilbara(spelling?) rock monitors! but right now im just trying to get my desert monitors to breed! maybe this will be the year!
cheers
jake