Monitor lizards - Who is right for them?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bcr229

A monitor in an apartment.

:O

If she keeps it I foresee an eviction and a very large bill for cleaning and repairs to the apartment afterward.

Situations like this one are why landlords have no-pet policies.

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I had the same reaction.

When I was young (like, 7), and said I wanted a lizard as a pet, my dad said no because at the time im sure he knew I wasn't old enough to take care of one on my own, and I was mostly ok with that. Well, my moms boyfriend at the time wasn't, and of course wanting to be impressive, bought a Savannah Monitor.

Sounds like an AMAZING idea, amiright? Pretty sure at the time I was hoping for a beardie.

The thing was a baby when he bought it, of course. "It wont get that big, dont worry about it". It lived in a glass tank, actually decently well set up when I think back on it. Needless to say, though, it wasn't a good purchase. It was aggressive as all hell (had to keep one finger out of the glove so it had something to grab when he needed to be moved), I always felt guilty about feeding it live, and as all monitors do, it grew. Of course, none of this was the lizards fault, I have no doubt that the man kept it in not so great conditions, probably was rough when handling it, and im sure the lie feedings didnt help at all with the aggression. My mom eventually got too scared of the animal eating her cat, and forced him to give it away.

Eventually, 2 years ago, I found out the second owners improperly cared for it and it died. Poor thing...

Needless to say, monitor lizards are NOT meant for confined space, or at least one that wont take up a decent portion, if not permanent portion, of your room. As stated above, most are free roam for this reason.

Would I keep a monitor again? I would LOVE to. But being 18 currently, with no house of my own, I don't plan to until well in the future, if ever. The way that this girl is keeping them currently is extremely irresponsible, and yes, it could be extremely dangerous to other animals. They are extremely intelligent, and though it may have bonded with her, they are veracious hunters, and will honestly use that intelligence to grab any animal they find to be to their liking.

Amazing animals, but not for someone to just randomly grab and place in their home without research. Sadly, I had to witness that myself.

when i think of keeping big lizards i think of Dave Durham and his YT channel. if you haven't checked him out yet, please do. he has a lot of land and BIG lizards, and i think he usually allows some of his lizards to free-roam the yard when the season is right. he has built huge enclosures and pens for his pets and obviously has the resources to care for them all.

this is the video that made me love his channel; it's just so cute listening to this old man dote on an iguana lol. :)

EDIT: Dave Durham owns a black-throat. maybe we should point him over to her channel and see what he thinks...

First of all just want to add some things, its a bit mixed up she bought what she thought was a black throated monitor and didn't realize until a month later and she posted a video on and people saw it and corrected her. But what she currently owns is a rough necked monitor.

She also thinks it bonded to her, because it will be calm and let her pet its head like a dog or something, when correct me if im wrong. Dont rough necked monitors freeze up as a self defense? I dont think its acting tame its acting scared. But she thinks its all okay and happy with her.

Well - generally yes - Monitor lizards are not for people who beginners to keeping reptiles.

But there are some species which are considered good "beginner" monitors. Generally those species are best kept by some one who has a modest amount of experience which keeping such lizards aa bearded dragons, and leopard geckos.

Smaller monitors such as the Ackie or Ridge-tailed monitors are considered one of the best "beginner" species of monitors.
1. They are very hardy, tough monitors
2. They tend to stay fairly small - usually about 20-24 inches for a large male, females are slightly smaller.
3. They tend to be fairly easy to feed (mostly live insects) and keep (desert/semi arid type habitat, with a very hot basking spot (131 F/55 C or higher), cool night time temps should be above 75F/23.9 C. As adults can be kept in a 4 feet/120 cm x2 feet/60 cm x2 feet/60cm vivarium. Juveniles can start out in a 40 gallon breeder vivarium.