Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi I was looking at something last night on kingsnake.com and it really caught my eye. It was a blue/black/white Nile Monitor. I was originally looking for a water monitor but this thing is just too gorgeous to pass up. Anyways, I would like to know a little more about this type of Nile. Has anyone heard of them or seen them before? What is your opinion on it and do you think its worth $575?
Click link to see said monitor.

this animal looks like the bluish nils from egypt.
very nice!

That is a very pretty Nile. Thank you for the photo. Do you have any information about them? Are these blueish looking ones from a different locality then the others that have the yellowish-brown and black look? What about value worth? Would you consider them more valuable?

Hello,
I think Jobi has given you a positive identification on that blue Nile. The bluish ones were once very commonly imported and somewhere I'm sure still are... Anyhow, the animal is worth the price if you like that lizard and have the money to pay for it. Who cares if I think it is worth $2 or $575 dollars as long as you are going to like it enough to care for it for the next 30 years? Do you think that lizard is worth a dollar per day? I think so. You will be sure to pay at least that for it in electricity. I hope you have plans to spend much more than $575 on caging that giant.
Plainly put, don't buy that animal if you can't immediately find the value of it within your heart- You will fail You and It. They require lots of caging expense, feeding expense, electric expense, old fashion hard work and time. Now what is the lizard worth to You- Mike S

As poetic as that sounds. I'm afraid it has nothing to do with how much I find its value in my heart to be. Sounds like something a merchant would say to someone they were trying to sell something to. In order to get them to feel pressured into buying. You can love and value an animal that you paid a fair price for just as much as one that is grossly over priced. I found another man selling a 4ft Nile that looks almost identical to the other person's. And they priced theirs reasonably, at $135. I guess my point is. Are you agreeing that its alright for a person to trick someone into paying 5 times more then something's worth, just as long as that person buying is happy with what they got?

People pay huge amounts of money for leopard geckos that someone bred and came up with a cool name for, same goes for the ball pythons. Seems everyone wants what is the rarest and that dictates the values of most herps. If that monitor is miles ahead in color of 135 dollar ones then it is worth whatever someone is willing to pay. Their are certain colors that are truly stunning and they should be worth more on the same note as the geckos and balls,beardeds,ect. if that makes any sense?
Bob
www.herphatch.com

Oh and also I'm very aware of the cost involved in a large monitor. That's not even questionable.

iv been working with monitors for 30 years non stop. I imported 3 outstanding blue and white baby nils last summer witch I paid much more then the price asked for your animal.
why you may ask?
well to me they are worth it, at present the only monitors of interest are exanthematicus and niloticus. regardless of what anyone says they need to be captive bred and they have more value then all other species of monitors.
I can say without a dought that cheep african varanids have been more profitable to the pet trade then all other varanids combined. pepoles have known them for decades, they have optained them with caging,lamps,heat gagets,minerals and whatever els, oh dont forget food. yet 99.9% die within a year.

next year pepoles will get them again, they will spend $$$ to have thire exotic dream in a cage again and again year after year, generation to generation and so on.

if you like them get some and enjoy, what you pay or ask of them is not an issue at all. however if your goal is to feed your family with designer reptiles, think by products cause you will never make more profits selling monitors as you will by selling food, cagings, lamps, media, and such. cbb reptiles are ment to be disposable. trust me I know of not one of the 10,000s iv sold to be alive today, thats why I only do skins nowadays.

Hello Neorep,
It seems that you missed the point of my post- You said "this thing is just too gorgeous to pass up"- did You? Because You found a healthier option, one with better color perhaps a cheaper lizard...? Perhaps all of the aforementioned... Whatever it was you are reluctant to spend $575 on the monitor you said was "just too gorgeous to pass up"-Best to You- Mike S

Hello Neorep,
I spoke to a friend today and better understand your position on things a little. Just try to see past the prices here and appreciate that all of these animals have great value to their owners especially after the time has been put in with the animals. Usually if someone is asking a higher price than another there is some resounding qualities about that animal that qualifies that price. You may inquire with the seller to find out what these qualities might be... I have a savannah monitor, a young adult male that is about 30 inches and is almost solid muscle- lean and strong- he lives on super worms and adult mice and having raised him from a baby I would not trade him for $575. I really enjoy His company and time. Just one opinion about one particular animal. Best to you- Mike S

I understand where your coming from and what your getting at. I suppose I'm very cautious of scammers. That I sort of forget some times that, that sort of thing just might be the case. I've had people sell things to me in the past that they claimed were excellent and then I get it and its pretty much dead on arrival. Or close to it. Bought some Savannah monitors last year. The guy sent me dehydrated, sickly monitors that died within an hour of me having them. Then replaced those with some wax monkey frogs (cause he supposedly didn't have any more monitors for the season even though he is a vendor) that had blisters and missing skin all over them.