Reptile & Amphibian Forums

All I see in pics in the classifieds and on the web is young baby, niles, waters and crocs? Any one know why that is.
I was thinking that many people buy them because they are cute as babies but begin to grow quickly, very quickly. Then the people drop them off at b grade pet stores or just put them down, is that what ussually happens? Is it the cost of feeding? or with niles and crocs the aggressiveness? just curious.
Also I have a water monitor and am converting a bedroom into an enclosure it is 15X15 does anyone have any ideas on how to put the substrate in without it damaging the floors?
thanks
tony butler

Large monitors move easy, most move by word of mouth, the ones that that end up in classifieds are the ones that are usualy overpriced. Thus, the $2000-4000 7 footers. You virtualy never see a 7 footer cheap.

Converting a room into an enclosure, get ready for a mess and smell.

95% or more die within the first few weeks/months. Same with Savs and waters. If not the country would be overflowing with them. Just check out the import numbers.

Hmmmmmmmmm a good business would be to teach people how to raise them then get them back for hides(oooooh how nasty) once they are large enough. Didn't say I wanted to do that, just that it would be a good business for someone, after all, they are just going into the garbage/toilet now. FR

I hope you 2 are reading this

not so sure about the monitor question, but as far as the enclosure question ...
i would deffinately say to put down a floor such as tile or coat it with surfaces used for garages. you want to make sure the surface can hold water and last as you will not want to have to refinish the floor later.

And or do not have the inclination to do so correctly, they just want a big cool monitor to impress or scare people with. Unfortunately, the animal will not live more than a few months at best so therefore it never gets big, and is replaced in many cases with yet another cheap import.
When you see a big monitor for sale in the classifieds they are expensive, but how do you put a price otherwise on all of the time, food, effort, blood, sweat, tears, and pain of keeping one correctly then to sell it?
Lets answer your question with another, how many large (4ft plus) bosc monitors do you see on these forums? How many 6ft plus niles do you see? How many large examples do you see of any inexpensive imported species? It all comes down to how they are kept and the effort put into them by their keepers.

I agrre with SHvar! Most people dont do their homework! Oh and for the record I have a Bosc that will be 3 in Sept. and Hunter is 44 inches!

As others have said, most do not live to see their first year. Sad but true.

Regarding housing the salvator, well, you've got a lot of work cut out for you. Don't just worry about the floor, large monitors can dig through drywall so think about armoring the walls as well. The heat and humidity will cause mold to grow everywhere. The best thing I can suggest is to build a room sized box inside your room, seal it and coat the walls with something impermeable to moisture, and put the lizard in that.

Good luck,

Luke