small monitor or good beginner monitor?

What are some of the smaller monitors out there?

How hard are they to care for? Most of the problems I hear of people having with monitors are space issues with large breeds or parasite issues with WCs... Is a smaller CB monitor difficult to care for? Aggresive?

How big do the blue tree monitors get? What size cage requirements? Aggresive? They're pretty :)

I'd either go for a Ackie (Varanus acanthurus), or if you have the space a Savannah Monitor (Varanus exanthematicus).

Ackies stay quite small, and they can be "tamed" down a bit.

Savannah's are quite large, but they can be "tamed" down a lot.

Personally, I like Tegus more.

Just make sure you get a CB, well acclimated animal and you'll be fine. Each Monitor/Tegu has it's own specifics of care. Most are pretty simple to care for. Proper basking, UV (if required), decent sized enclosure, lots of food.

Certain Dwarf Monitors are quite fragile and wouldn't be a suggested beginner at all, however; these animals are generally in the $600 plus price range.

Blue Tree Monitors have just started becoming available to the pet trade. Most are quite fragile. I'm not sure on Captive Size or Care. Sorry.

The best small monitor to start out with are either yellow or red ackies, they are very active and are the easiest to care for. They can live in a 4x2x3 with a sold top +foot of dirt and around a 130 to 140f basking spot and mostly eat insects. Ackies will come right up to you there not shy at all and average 15 to 24 inches.

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How big do the blue tree monitors get? What size cage requirements? Aggresive? They're pretty

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Def. stay away, tree monitors are best left to more experienced keepers, they require alot more then most monitors. They get in the 3-4ft and are the largest of the tree monitor species, they need tons of hides, high humidity, and need to settle in to captivity as 99.9% are WC. Some people say there's are CBB ask for proof (egg pics,breeding,hatching). They need a extremely tall cage in the range of 8ft tall as they feel safer/better over your head

Whats the largest cage you can have?


Bryan

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Originally Posted by BSM

Whats the largest cage you can have?

Bryan

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I don't know but I can't imagine I'd be real limited... I'm looking to move right now and planning on getting a 2 bedroom so I can have a reptile room. I'm in the process of switching the BPs to tubs so the room will be pretty empty. I'm looking to hopefully get a chameleon and a chinese water dragon too... Nothing set in stone, just researching and drooling over pretty scaley things for now. :D


Sounds like I'll be looking into Ackies... That's a type of monitor? I've heard of Ackie but I don't know that I've seen one. I'll have to google.

Thanks.

here are some pics of my 1.2 trio of yellow ackies that i have just sold. I didnt plan on selling them but i have decided to only work with monitors from the gouildi complex for now.
http://i476.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/P1140024.jpg

http://i476.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/P1140058.jpg
http://i476.photobucket.com/albums/r...s/P2040122.jpg


Bryan

For a small monitor species, I would recommend ackies as well. Yellow ackies will be cheaper, are smaller than red ackies, and are generally more mellow.

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Certain Dwarf Monitors are quite fragile and wouldn't be a suggested beginner at all, however; these animals are generally in the $600 plus price range.

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Actually all of the dwarf monitors in the US are pretty hardy monitors. The rarity and price of species like v. caudilineatus is why most people do not keep them. You don't find many beginners willing to wait 6-8 months for some to become available then drop $4500 for a trio of v. gilleni even though they probably the best monitors a person could ever own.

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Originally Posted by daniel1983

For a small monitor species, I would recommend ackies as well. Yellow ackies will be cheaper, are smaller than red ackies, and are generally more mellow.



Actually all of the dwarf monitors in the US are pretty hardy monitors. The rarity and price of species like v. caudilineatus is why most people do not keep them. You don't find many beginners willing to wait 6-8 months for some to become available then drop $4500 for a trio of v. gilleni even though they probably the best monitors a person could ever own.

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I had heard that Varanus glauerti were pretty fragile as neonates. Along with a few others, maybe I am remembering them incorrectly.

While I'm not really interested in most Dwarf Monitors, a friend of mine breeds them. So I don't know an extreme amount about them, but I get some trickle down knowledge from a few breeders. :)

The 4x2x3 you speak about sounds alot like a 55 gallon tanks measurements. If a 55 is all you need for one animal I might be getting an ackie soon. I'll have to research the other requirements though.

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Originally Posted by southb

The 4x2x3 you speak about sounds alot like a 55 gallon tanks measurements. If a 55 is all you need for one animal I might be getting an ackie soon. I'll have to research the other requirements though.

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A 55 gallon aquarium is a less than ideal choice for an ackie. They do a poor job of allowing for proper humidity levels, they lose heat fairly fast, they aren't strong enough to hold the deep soil subsrate that ackies love, etc., etc.

Ackies have very specific needs in terms of basking temperature, humidity, substrate depth and type, hydration and thermoregulation requirements. Glass tanks make it very difficult to meet these needs.

So even with a custom lid thats not vented like a screen top, it wouldn't hold the humidity in good enough? Thanks for letting me know. I read somewhere the sub needs to be around a foot deep for an ackie. Sounds like alot of stuff lol.