Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey,
ive been really interested in these animals for sooo long. Theyre just awesome. I used to own a colombia b/w tegu but it was evil and w/c and just...not for me. Later in its captivity my younger brother let it loose in the house and till this day i havent seen traces of tegu. Ive been looking into beardies but all my friends have them and theyre smaller then I like. But then again its personality that I like. Considering the fact taht I own soo many different bigboas I think i know for sure that I want soemthing bigger then a beardie. But not too big. I think this is stupid but I want a monitor thats reasonably sized and tames easily. Is there such thing??? thnx a lot for help.
Tito

Well almost all monitors reach atleast 3 feet in length. You can pick any monitor and have it be tame. Tame animals come with you working with them, some monitors just are a bit harder to tame but if you want a monitor thats bigger then a beardy/tame(easy to tame)/but not too BIG then I would go with a timmor monitor,ackie,or rock monitor. These are fairly pricey, the timmor is the lowest priced out of the three.

I personally don't like seeing the words 'Timor' and 'tame' in the same sentence, especially after an episode another poster had. 'Timor' and 'Incredibly skittish' go better together. However, Timors, along with several other species, are quite small. Mine is 22 inches.

Have you considered a large non-monitor such as an Egyptian Uromastyx? If CB, their potential to calm down is more in line with what you seem to have in mind, and the Egyptian uros get pretty big (around 3 feet in length). Plus, they just look so cool, with those spikey tails and those cute little froggy faces!

My Egyptian is great. He's about 4 pounds so 4 times the weight of the average beardie. (Not sure what that is in comparison to monitors). The only thing about Egyptian Uros is that they take a long time to grow. Many will grow until they are 8 years old and can live an estimated 40 years.

Those are great pictures! The one of him tucked under the covers sleeping is especially adorable. I have two Malis, and I've thought about getting an Egyptian. Uros are just so darn cute.

cuz it sounds like a monitor is gonna be really active in the enviroment which shounds neat. Those uromastx are awesome animals and are actually the size animal i want. thnx guys.
tito

The first couple of years I had them, my pair pretty much disappeared for the winter. They were the first reptiles I ever had, and I didn't know better than to get them at a pet store. I'm positive they were wild caught (parasites, skittish), though the store denied it at the time. Anyway, some keepers put them into brumation for the winter. I never have, and now mine are pretty much out and about all year around, though they usually don't come out of their caves if it's raining outside or there's a low pressure front moving through. Most of the rest of the time they're out basking or wandering around the enclosure. They do like to hang out and bask, but when they're moving, they can be very active and amazingly fast. I'd say activity-wise, they're not much different from my ackie or my sav, and in some ways they're more responsive to certain things in the environment (they are endlessly fascinated by movement, whistling, bird songs, and certain songs on the radio). I've never really tried to get mine used to being handled, but a friend of mine has some so calm her young daughter has been known to dress the poor things in doll clothes! They're also so unique looking that everyone who visits me tends to stand there watching them for a long time (which is strange because I would have guessed the big sav in the enclosure below them would have drawn more attention).

Since you said they're the size you want: Remember that there are many species of uromastyx. The one that gets really large is the Egyptian uromastyx. The others don't get nearly as large (more bearded dragon size).

Also, remember that pretty much any lizard you get is going to spend a lot of time sitting around basking, and most species tend to spend a good deal of time hiding, too. The really active midsize to large monitors require very large enclosures (like, say, a spare bedroom in your house).