whats a good starting moniter

[Skiploder]

yes i know they are more expensive to keep take a lot more time than ball pythons yes i have the space im just asking what species i should start off with first

What do you know about the basics of varanid husbandry?

Answer that question and we'll go from there.............

[kevinb]

People say many of things are difficult. they are only difficult if you don't fully understand what your doing. Juat becase I haven't keep one doesn't mean I don't know about them. That's pretty presumptuous to assume I'm a complete moron. I have kept many difficult species, may not be monitors, but the same applies I did my research and succeeded.

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[ball python 22]

What do you know about the basics of varanid husbandry?

Answer that question and we'll go from there.............

the enclosure should be twice as long as the animal it self and and as wide as the animal is long but bigger is better

[Skiploder]

People say many of things are difficult. they are only difficult if you don't fully understand what your doing. Juat becase I haven't keep one doesn't mean I don't know about them. That's pretty presumptuous to assume I'm a complete moron. I have kept many difficult species, may not be monitors, but the same applies I did my research and succeeded.

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It's interesting - you've accused people of impugning you and calling you moron - when that hasn't happened, so stop acting like a defensive kid and compose yourself.

People read these forums looking for advice, Bad advice takes many forms - wrong information, spreading hearsay, etc. Another form is giving advice when you have absolutely ZERO experience to back up what you are saying.

Instead of getting all huffy and puffy next time your bad advice is questioned - try this instead - avoid the whole mess by prefacing your "advice" by offering the caveat that you essentially have no experience to back up your recommendations. That way, someone genuinely seeking informed opinions can easily differentiate between your advice and the advice of someone who has actual experience in the subject at hand.

No snake or other lizard approaches the captive husbandry requirements of varanids. Period. If you had actually successfully kept a varanid instead of simply reading about them on forums and books, I think you are probably intelligent enough to not have made such an asinine claim.

[Skiploder]

the enclosure should be twice as long as the animal it self and and as wide as the animal is long but bigger is better

Really?

What else?

[mumps]

I recommend Komodo dragons!!

I have not kept one, but I have seen cool pictures of them, and they are awesome!!

I always take lizard advice from someone who's collection consists of 3 snakes!!

Chris

[varnoid]

savannahs are my favorite but they are smaller than most monitors well atleast ackies but they get big but not too big and there so happpy and fat and lazy but you would really need to try to feed a savannah on only insects not mice ..in the wild the mostly eat bugs

[JohnNJ]

I know of two real monitor forums and both of them are extremely hard on newbies.

I guess it's all monitor people that are extremely hard on newbies. Another good reason to NOT get a monitor.

You "experts" have been great. Peace out!

[kevinb]

I guess it's all monitor people that are extremely hard on newbies. Another good reason to NOT get a monitor.

You "experts" have been great. Peace out!

I agree. You can't win with "experts".

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[Michelle.C]

I always take lizard advice from someone who's collection consists of 3 snakes!!

Chris

I agree with most of what has been said on this thread, but that's unfair. I know people with one snake (or none) that are more experienced than anyone I've talked to. What's in your current collection shouldn't define your experience as a keeper.

That being said, I know people with dozens of snakes, lizards, etc. that I wouldn't take advice from when it comes to caring for a roach.

I do agree when it comes to keeping Monitors you should SUCCESSFULLY kept (or still keeping) one to give advice. I could have regurgitated information about keeping them all day, but it takes actually keeping them to understand the information and be able to properly convey it to others.

Honestly, if you can't handle the Monitor keepers, you won't be able to handle the Monitors. They are the easiest thing to deal with. They won't claw you, sling feces in your face, shoot out of their enclosure leaving you on a mad dash to wrangle them back, tail whip you, or bite you so hard you are brought to your knees. While there are a lot of species that are considered "docile", all Monitors have bad days and will let you know about it. They love to communicate with their handlers, even if that means becoming sick or dying.

In my opinion, OP should do vastly more research before entertaining the idea of keeping any sort of Monitor or Tegu.