Reptile & Amphibian Forums

im looking for suggestions on a monitor species.... terrestrial, able ot be tamed, not too expensive, not larger than 4 ft total length.

i like tegus but i would just like to get an idea of what else has these characteristics

thanks!

Savanna monitors don't get over 4ft and are easily tamed. I would suggest a Blackthroat since they make such good pets, but they can grow 6ft! Good luck with whatever decision you make! BTW, if you are getting a tegu, don't get a columbian black and white. They can be very hard to tame compared to other tegus.

so far i think im going for a red ackie to start the collection.

also... if any of you were in highschool, and really wanted a large monitor, but were planning to go away for college, what did you do? (considering your parents will not care for it)

>>so far i think im going for a red ackie to start the collection.

This would be a good starter monitor.

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>>also... if any of you were in highschool, and really wanted a large monitor, but were planning to go away for college, what did you do? (considering your parents will not care for it)

Not get it unless you have someone who can, wants to, and knows how to care for it when you are gone.

Out of school and out of the army. I know theres no way I could have kept one properly even before that because of lack of money, lack of direction in life, and lack of stability/maturity. These are things to think about, I was a very active mature teenager at that time in my life, I can look back and see theres no way I could have cared for them properly, I even had trouble with proper husbandry, caging, and keeping up with food after I was working full time, a few years of college behind me, and being out of the active army. If you have the money to spend and time for it and ackie would be a great choice, until youve had some experience with monitors, large species are not a good choice at all (time money and lots of space needed).
Good luck, and hope to see pics soon.

Sound advice, even though you don't want to hear it. I had a collection of herps from my teens through early twenties I eventualy gave them all to a pet store in the end. With establishing myself in the world and a child at a young age there was little money or time left not to mention all of younger
lifes pursuits. I'm 33 now, and have just started to renew my interest in herps. Its a expensive hobby if your gonna do it right, husbandry and feeding. It's much more enjoyable now that I have time and money. Think about it, Clint

My old bosc was 40 inches in a year, and 4 ft 6 inches from 1.5 years old on, until he died from a combination of bad vet advice and bad husbandry at that time, had him for over 5 years.
I have an albig female that grew to 6ft in less than 2 years now, shes now 2 yrs 3 months old. I once saw a male Blackthroat that was 7ft 3 inches long and around 53 lbs (overweight). Of course Ive had people see pics of Sobek and thought she was a "savannah monitor", technically she is a "semi-arid to arid grassland and woodland monitor".

30 inches (red ackie), there are other dwark species that get from 8 inches to 30 . The bosc (savannah in American pet trade) averages between 30inches to over 4 feet (rare specimens)(I had a 4ft 6 inch male for years), they can reach 40 inches in a year. Id definitely stick with an ackie, they are awesome monitors, very active.

well... if i go to an expo and ask the dealer what the average size of his bloodline is, a monitor bought from them should not greatly exceed the size they tell me, right?

from your past experiences of those that had red ackies, what was the size (including tail) of your adults?

and lastly, how much would they go for straight from a breeder at an expo? the westchester, new york show i plan on going to, if that changes anything.

Yellows are from $90 to $250, and Reds are from $300-$500 sometimes. Reds are known to possibly reach 30 inches, I have a 1.5 yr old red male whos around 22-24 inches. Check the classifieds here and check Proexotics, and some others, get them young and small and raise em up.

might be a stupid question but:
can you house a yellow with a red?

also, whats minimum cage size for two adult ackies? (say they were 24"

If you were given the option how big would your prison cell be to spend your life? I use a 4x2x1.5-ft cage for 1 red ackie.