I think even if you're just getting a couple of monitors as 'pets', with no intention of breeding them, you're still better off getting something other than an Indonesian species. Most of them are either wild caught or hatched from eggs removed from wild caught, gravid females (many of the so-called 'farms' are a sham and simply a front for removal of animals from the wild), which is probably not the ideal industry to support, whereas there are quite a number of species that are captive bred and available.



Most Indonesian monitors of this group are also shy and subject to 'empty cage syndrome', making them boring so most people don't end up keeping them for very long. One sees very few images of adult indicus group monitors (including melinus) on these forums - new keepers post a stack of photographs of their newly acquired babies, then shortly after they reach adult size the frequency of posts disappears until they drop off the forums altogether and the animals end up on craigslist or elsewhere. I know that melinus are a pretty animal, but I think you'll get more enjoyment out of another species.

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