Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all, I am new to the monitors. I am more of a large constrictor kind of guy. Recently my roommate was asking me a bit about monitors and I didn't know the answer so I thought I would ask..

The first one was, is there a kind of lizard, monitor, or otherwise that he can tame to make a good "pet"? Hes looking for more than a beardie that wont bite him. He was more after an Iguana, or a Monitor, that he could train to roam (under supervision). I have had a few experiences with various Iguanas and unfortunately none of them were good. He is willing more than willing to do the work, and build the knowledge, I just wasnt even sure if it could be done..

Any info, expereiences, etc, would be much appreciated!

Thanks all!

Naw they aren't generally the play with kind of pet. No reptile is. You observe them like say a fish in a aquarium. A ferret would probably be a better choice for your roommate.

HAHAHA! I realize it is not commen if even possible, But he and I have both seen it first hand. Our friend had an Iguana that was similar but he moved away and I havent seen him for some time.

And all reptiles are not for looks only. I handle every snake in my collection almost daily. My retic, and red tail both roam under supervision all the time..

Savannah Monitor would be his best bet.

Thanks for the post! Have you seen people with success with this? The savanahs are pretty cool!

There are no guarantees, each monitor is an individual and will have its own personality. That said, some species tend to grow more trusting of humans than others. You might look in to savanna monitors, white throat/black throat monitors, salvator water monitors, desert sand monitors, argus monitors, or Dumeril's monitors, and avoid Nile monitors. Clearly, you will be looking for a larger species, since smaller monitors will tend to get lost if you let them out.

Only let the monitor out for relatively brief periods and only when supervised. These animals can cause an amazing amount of damage - they can tip over shelves, dig up house plants, rip drapes and blinds to shreds, even dig holes in drywall. Further, they do best in hot, sweltering conditions, so leaving them in human-comfortable climates for prolonged periods of time is not good for their health.

You will find monitors are much more active and intelligent than constrictors. They require larger, sturdier enclosures, do best if they have a deep substrate they can dig in, and need higher basking temperatures than are typically used for constrictors. They do not respond well to forced handling, taming a monitor is more a matter of leaving it alone until it comes to trust you and accepts you. Handling when it is stressed by your presence just teaches it that you are a source of bad things and makes it fear you more.

I have had a number of monitors which could roam around the house under supervision, but I kept these excursions fairly brief - essentially "treats" which allowed the lizard to engage its curiosity and explore new places.

I prefer monitors to iguanas as "pets" since male iguanas are prone to unprovoked attacks on humans when in rut. Monitors, at least, only attack if they feel threatened or if they know food is nearby (watch your hands when feeding!). Do be careful and always wear shoes when a monitor is loose on the floor - I've noticed a tendency for monitors to go after bare feet.

Good luck, and if you feel monitors might be right for you or your friend, I would suggest reading the husbandry advice on the Pro Exotics website (probably the best source of monitor husbandry on the web, and much better than any common pet store books, which are largely recipes for how to slowly kill a monitor).

Luke

Thanks so much for your post Luke! Very informative and just what I was after! It all makes great sense, and seems pretty straight forward. Sounds like more work than I would bite off.. I love the snakes. However I am pretty sure my roommate is really interested. Hes what I call electronically challenged LOL. But Ill get him on the forum before he makes any decisions. I just wanted to know if it was possible to make "friends" with a monitor. Sounds like with the right amount of knowledge, and time it can be done!

Thanks again!

Basically it's a long cycle of the lizard telling you he doesn't want to be friends and you telling him too bad we're friends til the end.

Usually that isn't a long cycle, it's a short one. When you do things on the lizards terms and not yours then it is a long cycle.

Cheers,
Mike.

I love it! Thakns for the post guys!

Now Im getting more interest myself..

Are monitors a lot more work then snakes? I breed my own rats so food I plentiful, with in reason... LOl. cleaning, lighting, cage size, etc..

Keep em coming...

I've noticed my savs aren't that tame, I just don't see the point of handling them, unless its on their terms as someone else pointed out. I've seen the youtube videos of people with so called tame monitors, in most cases they seem to keep their monitors on the cool side.

I'm of the school of thought that monitors should have choice in their temperatures. Mine can choose between 78F and 155F. My point is this, when you see these monitors on youtube that are being held like infants and you ask their keepers how their monitors temps are.... they say "oh around 100F on the hot side and 70 on the cool side". If I had that monitor under my set up he would act more like a monitor and not a rag doll.

Monitors and snake can't be compared. They are totally different. A monitor is more of a challenge and requires more resources than a snake.

You're setting yourself up for disapointment. "Tame" monitors are the exception not the norm. Even a "tame" monitor is not a domestic animal and is not predictable. Those who purchase a monitor hoping it will be a docile pet, that can be handled like a bearded dragon, often loose interest in the animal. This causes an unpleasant experince for both the monitor and keeper. The monitor suffers once interest is lost.

Odds are your monitor will not be "tame." Assume this when the animal is purchased. If you're still interested, go for it.

The big male Water I have eats 3 pounds of food a week, so does the female Blackthroat. Her mate eats 4 pounds a week. How many rats is that? Large monitors are expensive to maintain. My monitor collection puts away 14 pounds of food a week.

An adult Savannah should get a couple of small rats a week. They tend to get fat.

All diurnal basking reptiles will be a lot more work than snakes. Part of the reason snakes make such great pets is because many of them require very little in order to thrive.

I would say that you should really push your friend toward a bearded dragon. Some people claim that they actually "like" to be handled, which I personally don't believe, but they do very well in captivity, especially if kept in "monitor-like" conditions (hot basking spots, dirt to dig in, lots of hiding and basking options), and they will usually tolerate handling better than other lizards.

Monitors require so much care, and they make awesome pets if you are dedicated to feeding, heating, and building a large cage that might seem empty for months

"When you do things on the lizards terms and not yours then it is a long cycle."

What do you mean by this, sir?

Could you provide example?

"Basically it's a long cycle of the lizard telling you he doesn't want to be friends and you telling him too bad we're friends til the end."

That was your quote, basically what I said is along the lines of if you are going to force the lizard to do somthing it isn't designed to, or doesn't want to, you are going to harm it and its possible longevity.

If you do things on the lizards terms, IE instead of handling him and touching him, let him touch you that eliminates the stress factor involved in ripping them out of the cage and what not.

An example as you ask for, is I never pulled my Ackies or Water's out to handle them, not once. But yet they come out all the time....why? It could be becuase they trust me to some extent and have seen I am not a threat to them. In fact two of my Ackies come to the window on their cage and scratch to come out, I open the window, they crawl out on me, and go back in within 2 minutes or so hahahahaha. They like it better in their cage then out of it....wierd. Let your monitors trust you thats when the true interaction and the real fun of keeping them comes into play!

Cheers,
Mike.

Luke, great behavioral information, thank you...exactly the kind I have been looking for....esp. concerns of them roaming the house, and going after toes (I am barefoot most of the time!). To me, it's very helpful to present your own experiences rather than to repeat basic care over and over.

I have 10 monitors of 5 species and two of them I could describe as pets. One is a big female Blackthroat, whom I was just now visiting and she offered to bite me, but in a nice way. As those have said, they must come to you on their own terms. Also a big 6' duffus of a Water monitor, whom I can carry around like a log. Both of these I can let out. The others wish to be left alone, just fed.
Savannah Monitors can be pretty tolerant if raised right. Much study is required first for all monitors and proper housing, food and temeratures supplied. Also, they live for as long as 20 years or more so it is a long term comittment.

What's crazy is I have a cousin (grown man) who seen my nile and he just seemed to become very interested in monitors. He's never had reptiles or anything other than a cat (I know right). I told him to get into a leo first then maybe one day he could get into monitors. Two weeks went by, he felt ready for monitors. Lol. I told him that his best bet would be a savannah and to not treat it as if it was a dog. He's had one now for a few months and he's so frustrated at it. He's even thought of getting rid of it. He trys to handle it and everything. He calls me everyday with something new. I just wanted to post this as a warning for those out there who want to jump straight into monitors. This is the reason why there are so many unwanted monitors out there....

Over the years and several monitors I would say that 2 were close to a "pet" (in the terms that most people think of a pet acting. One of these I have is my almost 9 year old albigularis "Sobek", she is very very very tolerant and friendly. Keep in mind she has never attempted to bite, and seeks human attention, but has a horrible tail whip if she decided to do so. Keep in mind she is also a real captive bred and born albig and has been for a few generations before her (thats extrtemely rare now, very few if any are CBB and very very few are bred from CBB parents. Of course this doesnt always mean much because my flaviargus is tolerant of me reaching in the cage, but is bitey and as wild as a captive monitor is to be expected.
One of these tolerant monitors I had years ago was a bosc monitor that I had for several years.
Ive had several species over the years, traded a few off, gave them away, had some die, but they are all wild animals regardless of origin.

I've had luck housebreaking larger monitors, but the smaller ones never seem to fully overcome their apprehension. I just had my two Mangroves, Twilight and Tiki, out today. I've been with Twilight since he was a hatchling and he is now 3 years old and 52 inches long. I don't handle him much anymore, per se, I just kind of explore around the house with him. He is allowed to decide for himself if he wishes to exit his enclosure...I extend my arm and he comes out if he feels like it...which he usually will. He usually climbs around on me for a few minutes and then climbs down and heads for the tub. He knows where the tub is and how to get in it. He also likes digging around in a pile of laundry, sunning on the back of the sofa, and hanging on our THICK curtains. He seems to like standing on his hind legs for a rat when company is here. Oddly enough, he also likes to sit on a speaker, but only when we are playing Blue Grass music...go figure. We don't let him out every day due to his climate requirements, and he does like his enclosure too...6 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet. He came over and laid on my chest awhile today while I was watching TV. I do wear a thick shirt and gloves when we interact due to his sharp claws. Tiki is a hair over 3 feet and almost as mellow as Twilight, but she prefers to do as much climbing as possible...sometimes on me. They are both very tame, curious, and friendly animals, but I do tend to let them do their own thing when on "walkabout". They are fed every other day and I must confess that I talk to them every day....although they don't talk back, not yet. GOD BLESS...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

P.S. They seem to like being one of the family...but they're kind of like toddlers...you gotta keep an eye on them.