Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am nearer to making a decision on my next varanid.
However, one issue I'm ignorant about are purchasing herps from far away places and not seeing an animal for myself.
In the past all the animals I have aquired have been local to me. Since I will not buy from a pet store, and there are no local breeders of monitors in my area (Indianapolis, IN) that I'm aware of, who can the community recommend as a reputable seller / breeder?
I am very interested on who to avoid, as well.

Thanks much in advance,

-Kit

I bought my savs from lllreptile.com. They were excellent when dealing with me. I would definetly recommend.

It depends on what species you are looking for. Better to do a Google search on the species you want, and check out the websites. The forum sponsors at the top of this page, is one place to start. Some species are not available as CB. Trust a business that is honest about the animals they sell. (Pro Exotics rocks!)

A reputable breeder will supply you with pictures of eggs hatching. Not pics of adults, and pics of eggs, but the eggs hatching. Why? Healthy female varanids lay eggs regularly, with or without a male. Its easy to get pics of eggs, and it proves nothing, as you could be sent an adult pic, an egg pic, and some WC baby, and told it was bred and born here.

For true CBB monitor ads, check out Varanus.net, click on the classifieds. They only allow the real thing there. CB is the ideal way to start.

You could try the classifieds here on KS, but know that they don't check for authenticity. Every ad will read CB, or if its an adult animal, it will scream "proven breeder sav/nile/bt!!". Its a total joke, proven breeder means, eggs were hatched from that animal. And where are all the $200 dollar CB savs???
Riiiiiiight.......

D.

There are a number of excellent folks who come here that are probably just as good but since I don't have personal experience with them, I will recommend two that I have had wonderful experiences with in terms of purchasing monitors from:

- Pro Exotics
- D n J Reptiles

Both provide excellent quality, excellent customer service, and excellent customer support....can't go wrong with either of them.

Rob Carmichael, Director/Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center - Lake Forest Parks & Recreation (IL)

A friend of mine got both of his Melinus from D&J, and theyre AWESOME!

After you decide which species is right for you (you can care for it through adulthood etc) then you look at a few reputable dealers.
The term breeder is someone who breeds monitors, that is very rare and everybody claims CB (captive born), but only a few people have monitors breeding, so check among those few. Proexotics has some CBB (captive bred and born), Frank Retes has CBB, Rob Faust has CBB, and a few others. Most people who sell them are buying imported babies calling them CB and selling them for 2-4 times what they bought them for, I know this from purchasing animals for my friends shop and dealing with wholesalers, sellers, importers etc. The animals most of the sellers have for $150-300 I can get from the people they get them from at the same obscenely low prices, but there is no substitute for a CBB animal.
Decide whats right for you and ask on here "whos reputable for this species?....".

Thanks everyone who has responded to my inquiry.

I have decided on the animal, as with all choices there is risk, but I have decided upon a Argus monitor.
Soon, I'll have to put my carpentry skills to the test to construct a larger enclosure, but I am fairly situated to house a single juvenile to sub adult.
the 7' L x 3' W, 3' T oak cage should be suffcient for at least 90 days.

Fear not, I am not getting the monitor immediately, because a serious food question has arisen that may in the end undo my intent to aquire an Argus. A question which I believe derserves its own thread.

Thanks Again,

-Kit