Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

I have a decent amount of experience with reptiles, mainly snakes, but I have had a few lizards a couple of which were monitors (Nile & Ridgetail).

I am interested in keeping just one lizard as a pet. I have plenty of room to build an adequate enclosure and I am very diligent with my husbandry practices.

I would like to avoid the larger lizards such as Niles, Crocs, White Throats, etc and I would like to have one that is handleable.

I understand that all animals are individuals and can behave in manners inconsistent with their species so we can put that topic to rest. What I am looking for is not an animal that can necessarily be tamed easily, but one that is trustworthy once tame.

I would never be completely comfortable with one because of the potential damage that they can inflict, but I would like to know that I can at least tell their mood and know when to back off. For example, I have had many different snakes and they say that boa constrictors make great pets, but I have been bitten most by them because they gave me no signs (heavy breathing, recoil, nothing) Almost every time they were already in my hands (clean I might add). On the other hand I have had Carpets that I felt more comfortable with because they wore their attitudes on their sleeves.

Sorry for the long post, but I would like some good suggestions that I can start further research on. Some, I already have in mind are

Black Roughneck
Peach Throat
Yellow
Timor

thanks in advance
Jeff

you should consider dumerils monitors if a medium sized active,easy to handle lizard is what your after.
The males tend to be around four feet and the females are a just a little smaller. They are arboreal,aquatic, terrestrial so there are many suitable housing options. They have a lot of personality and are a lot of fun to work with.

That was some good advice concerning Dumeril Monitors. They are not so beautifully colored as adults, but raised from hatchlings, they are about as mellow a monitor as you are going to find.

Cheers,

Michael

>>you should consider dumerils monitors if a medium sized active,easy to handle lizard is what your after.
>>The males tend to be around four feet and the females are a just a little smaller. They are arboreal,aquatic, terrestrial so there are many suitable housing options. They have a lot of personality and are a lot of fun to work with.
>>

Thats a beautiful looking little guy! Man, if they only stayed that color

When someone asks a question such as you did, my first thought is, they should not have a monitor until they can decide for themselves. Thats just my first thought.

You have your own set of rules and your own set of experiences, that may or may not be accurate. For instance, all reptiles warn you they are going to bite, even boas, you just have need to learn about the animals your working with. Consider, some people no matter how long you have had a type of animal, never look deep enough to see the warnings. For instance with boas, they tilt their heads up(nose up) prior to biting. A tiny push on that nose and make it go down, makes the individual go submissive(just one of many traits boas have)

If you have set the rules you have, then picking them by species is most likely not the approach you want to take. You want a rare individual monitor that has completely accepted captivity and became exceptionaly tolerant to humans. My suggestion would be, fine someone that has a monitor exactly like you want and buy it off them. The reason I say this is, its not about species.

To make it worse, its often more about the human keeper, then it is about the monitor or any reptile. You can find someones perfectly tame monitor and have it not be tame with you, as its more about the keeper.

All and all, I have seen pet type individual monitors of all species, from niles to crocs.

Personally I like to raise monitors from hatchlings, then I have no excuse but to blame myself for any short comings the monitor may end up with.

Last night, I took a wicked ackie bite, hahahahahahahahahaha, you see, I am training this one male to run up my arm and feed off my shoulders. Hes real real good at it. Except last night, he decided the webbing between my thumb and first finger was real tasty. Good Luck, FR

I hear what you are saying, but certainly my question can be answered on this level. I understand that there are no garauntees and I know my animal senses will never be as acute as yours.

That said we can definitely generalize behavioral traits of different species. If you took 100 Niles and 100 Dumerils, I'll bet a higher percentage of Dums will be tame given similar treatment. All I'm asking for is to narrow my search. Why should I bother looking into an animals that have a tendency to exhibit behaviors that I am specifically not looking for?

Whatever I end up with will be a hatchling so the training will come from me good or bad. I'm just looking for ideas.

Well, its not about my senses, hahahahahahaha and thats a good thing. Its about you and your abilities.

When you mention a 100 of these and a 100 of those, then it boils down to taking a chance, thats why I suggested you find someone willing to sell one that behaves the way you want. If you want to take a chance, then have at it. What happens if you get a mean or nasty dum's? Then what?

Also theres more to keeping a monitor then how tame they get. Theres more important things, like, how much work, how often do you "have" to clean cages, etc. Also water type montiors are a ton and a half of work. And niles and dums are both water type monitors. Of course you can always choose not to give them what they are designed for, thats your choice.

What keeps me interested in monitors is their activities. For me its about keeping monitors that are fun and educational. Species that do things and do them in front of you. Species that may include you, not exclude you. To me, they need to be fun(and not too much work)

Many here are in the mindset to give burrowing type monitors a cage they can burrow in. Or tree type monitors, something to climb. Along the same vein water type monitors should be allowed water or bogs/swamps(dum's) to live in.

I would rather you be saying something like, I really got to have a, so and so, I cannot live without one/bunch, can someone tell me why I should not have one/million of them, hahahahahahahaha. Good luck with your choice.

I am simply starting the research. These are the beginning stages and I may not even end up purchasing one. My first desire is to look into species that are not too large and have a greater chance of being tame to a degree.

I am not one of those people you see walking in public with animals on my shoulder, I would just prefer an animal that is not too flighty.

I am also concerned with husbandry requirements but I just haven't gotten to that yet. I would still like an answer top my original question.

Hey, If you don't know the answer to my original question, don't be embarassed

I wish you luck and happy monitoring. FR

n/p