whats a good starting moniter

[ball python 22]

im thinking about getting a moniter and i wanted to know a good moniter i should start off with and if you can point me in the direction of a good care sheet

[Jonas@Balls2TheWall]

Have you owned lizards before?

[ball python 22]

ive had a couple of beardies but no large lizard experience

[Jonas@Balls2TheWall]

I have never owned a monitor but have owned tegu's, just make sure to do a lot of research because large lizards in my opinion demand more care than beardies or ball pythons. They have very specific husbandry requirements, take up a lot of space and have a huge appetite. I have heard that Ackies are good beginner monitors.

[ball python 22]

thanks

[purplemuffin]

I agree on ackies as a good starter monitor, and an argentine b/w tegu to learn about BIG lizards!

[ball python 22]

do you know of a good care sheet

[Skiploder]

I agree on ackies as a good starter monitor, and an argentine b/w tegu to learn about BIG lizards!

Do you have any ackies?

Maybe you can give the OP some handy advice.

[mumps]

Your "what kind of monitor to get" question leads me to the following conclusions:

1. You have no idea what you might be getting yourself into.
2. You have done no research whatsoever, you haven't even looked at a lot of pictures to see what appeals to you.
3. You don't know if you want a small one, a medium sized one, or a large one. Or even a super large one.

The first things to ask yourself are these questions:

1. Do I have a lot of space available? Even small species require large environments comparable to their size. This is a ball python website but monitors do not fall into the same kind of "easy to take care of" category that ball pythons do.
2. Do I have a lot of money? Monitors are not the "feed once or twice a week" type of pet. You will spend many times the amount of money needed to feed a ball python.
3. Do I know how to establish trust with aggressive reptiles? A lot of reptiles can earn your trust rather quickly; but monitors are intelligent and inquisitive and it takes a lot of patience to earn their trust completely. It can (it has for me) take over a year to establish the trust of a wary specimen.
4. Am I aware that "care sheets" of any value simply do not exist? That's right. I've looked at a LOT of care sheets for monitor lizards, and am yet to find a good one. Save yourself the time and explore other options for gaining information.

Don't just run out there, buy a baby WC exanthematicus, and kill it slowly.

Chris

[Skiploder]

do you know of a good care sheet

No, no good care sheets.

.......and there is no such thing as a good beginning monitor. There are some monitors that are easier to care for than others, but ALL monitors require lots of time, money, space and knowledge to maintain.

Ackies are NOT good beginning monitors, they are a species that have slightly less demanding care requirements compared to larger monitors. They are less expensive to feed, slightly less expensive to house and cannot send you to the emergency room if they decided to bite you. They are one of the easiest monitors to keep, but the husbandry skills required to properly - and the key word is properly - care for one are substantial. You cannot compare keeping even the smallest monitor to keeping a bearded dragon or a snake.

Even the amount of time required to properly research the housing requirements alone is substantial. They need adequate room in three dimensions, adequate thermoregulation zones, a specialized substrate, etc, etc. That means that you must build them an enclosure that fits the bill - there are no pre-made tanks you can buy, no turn-key set ups that will work.

The information is out there, but not in the form of a cookie cutter care sheet or a four line answer on an internet forum. As with many things in life, there are no short cuts to attaining the knowledge you are asking for.

A good first step would be to peruse Varanus.nl. Lurk and learn. Don't spam the forum with questions that can easily be answered by investing the time to properly research the subject.