Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi, i am really looking forward to getting my first monitor. I have a 75 gallon tank with everything but the substrate and the lizard. I know I will need a bigger tank for it so im planning on building a big one for him. I would like to get either a savannah or nile and im kinda steering towards the nile. If you have any suggestions to help me with my decision that would be great. also a 75 gallon would be ok for a baby nile or savannah right? Thanks for your help.

Ackie Ackie Ackie......if this is your first monitor, Savannah or Nile isn't the way to go (although I love them). I'll bet the reason why you are leaning towards the Sav or Nile is because of the price. Save your money for a little longer and go with a smaller, more amiable monitor, like the Ackie. Trust me, you'll thank yourself in the end. My two cents.....

well thanks for the advice but i really want a big lizard and thats one of the reasons i wanted a nile or sava. I am fourteen years old and I keep pythons, Boas, chams and i have been breeding beardies for a coulple of years now. But ive always wanted a lizard that is big enough so i can let him walk around my room (basement) and outside without having him run away or slide down some hole or crack somewhere. I have looked into ackies and they look really cool but I just got spellbound by the niles. and its the big adults that I like unlike most people I look forward to getting a little baby and watching it grow to a six foot monster. And i would spend over 2 hundred bucks on a nile if i had to its just the iceing on the cake that its only 30 dollars. So i guess what im asking is i want a nile and if anyone knows some pros and cons or comments about them it would be great if you could tell me.

P.S.
Theres nothn wrong with ackies those things are awsome Im just looking for somthin bigger and challenging

Dude, an angry Nile could eat a 14 year old! Haha, I'm just kidding dude. But do be careful, most Nile's are not very nice.

A blackthroat would be a better than the savannah, and a water monitor is a much better choise than the nile. You should go with the water monitor. They cost about $100, but they are much nicer, and there is much better interaction potential with these lizards. I had one, and he was the best pet I ever had. He would hang out with me at the beach, lick food off my finger, and seemed to enjoy all the attention I gave him. My girlfriend does not like lizards, but she absolutely loved Diamond (his name). Unfortunately, he died a month after I got him because of worms. I have not cried over the death of one of my pets since my cat died 14 years ago; I truly love him and deeply miss him. It may not be good for a first monitor, because you have to pay special attention to their temps and diet. If you think you can accomplish the husbandry requirements of these lizards, then by all means get one. The best place to get may be Proexotics (where I am getting my next one). I have two niles, and these guys are real jerks. Cool to watch, but major @$$ holes. Hope this helps, and good luck!

1. "I had one, and he was the best pet I ever had. He would hang out with me at the beach, lick food off my finger, and seemed to enjoy all the attention I gave him."

2. "Unfortunately, he died a month after I got him because of worms."

Although monitors can become quite 'tame', I would bet that '1.' is the direct result of '2.' Yours was particularly tame, even though you only had it for a month, because it was dying. Healthy monitors don't die of worms in a month. Why would you recommend an animal as a great 'pet' when you've only ever had a sick one for a month and have yet to experience what they might be like when healthy?

As for herper1990, I find it hard to imagine that a 14 year old is going to house an adult Nile, water or blackhroat properly. These are big, active monitors and require a lot of room. Very different requirements from a boa or python of similar size. No, you can't have it free roaming to make up for lack of space, unless you turn your room into the tropics by keeping it at 30C with hot basking lights and high humidity.

"Why would you recommend an animal as a great 'pet' when you've only ever had a sick one for a month and have yet to experience what they might be like when healthy?"

Well, I guess I should had added that my friends have had healthy ones, and they are very tame and "friendly" (I know alot of you guys insist that are not friendly, only that they tolerate people) all the way to and inluding adulthood.

A nile for a 14 year old? Not a good idea. The first monitor I ever encountered was a 4 1/2 ft nile. It took all I had to hold him and I'm not 14. Think about a 6 ft. monster with a bad additude that wants to use you for a chew toy. But thats just the teeth, you also have to worry about the tail and claws.
I wish I took pics of the stitches the niles claws got me.
Think about it.

Scott
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Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

that wonderful habit of defecating all over you!! I have had several niles over the years and every one did that to me. A nile is NOT an animal that you want free-roaming in your house and it's FAR more likely to run away or slide down some hole or crack than the originator of this post seems to think. Certainly not a good choice for a 14 year old. Billy

>>A nile for a 14 year old? Not a good idea. The first monitor I ever encountered was a 4 1/2 ft nile. It took all I had to hold him and I'm not 14. Think about a 6 ft. monster with a bad additude that wants to use you for a chew toy. But thats just the teeth, you also have to worry about the tail and claws.
>>I wish I took pics of the stitches the niles claws got me.
>>Think about it.
>>
>>Scott
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>>Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

I will not try to talk you out of getting a large monitor. The reality is that the more people try to talk you out of it, the more determined you are likely to get to have one and "prove" everyone wrong.

However, a nile is the poorest choice of all the poor options you are considering. Niles are cute when they are babies. They run, hiss, whip, bite, and crap. It is cute. Then they get bigger. Most of them do the same thing, only with more force and more energy. Then they get to be 4-6 feet. At this point, if they manange to bite you, you will likely need stitches. If they scratch you in defense mode, you will likely need stitches. Explaining to mom, dad, and the doctors is unpleasant. A rare few niles calm down, most do not. Every potential nile owner "knows" someone who has a "tame" nile. That's wonderful. However, for every one of those "tame" niles, there are dozens - perhaps hundreds - that never calm down. Trust me, I've been offered more niles than I can count because it is too aggressive and too big.

Letting an animal free roam around a room or basement is not an easy adventure. At least not if you want the animal to live for a long time. I keep animals loose in a converted bedroom. It took me years before I was comfortable doing that and it is an ever changing process. A loose monitor will find the things you never thought to consider and will cause problems. Accept that as fact. That fact, in and of itself, is not the problem so much as your ability to correct the problem once it is found. I own my house. I can knock down a wall if I feel like it (and I have to some extent). You are 14 and most likely do not have that option.

You are 2 years away from getting your driver's license, give or take a little time. 2 years away from having the freedom to stay out all hours of the night with a car, significant other, and friends. Money will flow freely for all the things that 16-year-olds do. A large, money sucking, monitor will seriously inhibit your ability to do things with friends. Monitors are not like snakes. Monitors need to eat every week. A 4-6 foot nile will need a lot of mice or rats every week $$$

If you are intent on a large monitor species, get one your parents or whoever you live with now will be able to care for when you disappear for weekends, weeks, or do not have time. College, if it is in your future, is only 3-4 years away. Someone will need to care for the animal while you are away. My mom was a trooper. She cared for a caiman (while I was in college), water monitors, arguses, savannahs, and iguanas. She was truly scared of the arguses and very nervous about the prospect of caring for niles. None of that was fair to her.

Consider long and hard about why you want a nile or large monitor. Pick what is best for your situation now and in the immediate future.
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^x^ Bloodbat ^x^
Monitors, monitors everywhere
and all the food they ate.
Monitors, monitors everywhere,
their parents loved to mate.

Excellent advice for the young man. I'm sure it is "cool" to have this big monitor and think it will be just like having a dog. As all of the more experienced keepers say, some will become "tame", but are they really tame or just tolerating us? I only have ackies and a storrs, and the older ackies are actually friendly. They will crawl up my arm while cleaning the cages and love to be scratched on their necks. The young ones and the little storrs are not to that point, and I don't know if they will ever be, and I can live with that. Getting a large monitor and hoping for this animal to be "tame" is just not a good idea for anyone, particularily a 14 year old. Monitors will act as they please, not as you would like them to act. Ultimately, you will have to make the choice, but the choice you make will not only impact you, it will also impact the animal. There are so many Niles that are in rescue, that have been let loose or are dead because they were so cute when they were little, but are not cute very long as Shvar said. Think long and hard about what everyone has said and hopefully you will make the right choice for yourself and your monitor.

Pam

I wish you could hear the young man who left a message on my answering machine yesterday.

"Yeah, uh, I was like wondering if you had any really big monitors for adoption. I want something over 6 feet long. Maybe a white throat, but it doesnt relly matter, as long is its over 6 feet."

I kid you not. Itll be interesting cross examining this kid... that is IF I call him back. If Im bored enough, ya never know.

Good post Bloodbat. Ahh the innocence of youth.

Hmmm, well that's just about what I would have said. The only thing I have to add regards letting a large monitor roam free about a room, house, or apartment. I tried this for a while, and found that monitors can be extremely destructive. I've had Niles claw holes through drywall. They climb on everything and knock stuff down. They ruin the drapes and blinds by climbing up them. They dig up your plants and scatter the soil all over. You have to be very careful with the heat lamps so the monitor does not knock them over and start a fire. Niles are the worst for free roaming, because they are paranoid and want absolute security from a hiding spot. If you are able to get them out of one hiding spot, well, it can't be very secure, can it? Time to find a new one. Imagine a giant lizard firmly lodged in some piece of furnature or major appliance and refusing to come out. They can get places that even a contortionist cannot get into, often requiring disassembly or destruction of the chosen piece of furnature or appliance in order to extract the lizard.

Luke

im also 14 i have a black rough neck that aint full grown yet and i am building him a cage 3 by 3 by6 . she is only 23" she eats so much 3 hopper evry 3 day with 1000 crickets evr 1 and a half week for 20 dollars for a box. listen they aint trying to put you down about what your looking to get i hadd the same problem i was looking to get a black throat thank gog they told me wait till i get a job bc my 23" brn burns a hole in my pocket with just food. if i would get a bt i would be broke and using some of my college money. but they aint trying to put you down butmost monitors are like walking trash cans alkl they do is eat. but i would look into ackies i was gunna get one for my birthday but got a trip to the show in pa in nov 15 my b day. but monitors are kool but do eat a lot so look into something you like and can feed ackies i think eat just crickets all there lives but i dont no but this fourm is great to learn new things. but good luck with what ever you pick.

tom
1.1 bearded dragons
.1 black rough neck

Well both of them aren't "beginner" reptiles, but if I had to choose I'd go with the savanna. Because Niles get bigger, meaner and more expensive. And every I've seen was in a room sized cage, or a room of his own! But in the end it's your decision so get what you want, but just don't make the animal have to suffer.

Goodluck,
haveagreenday