Back Again for Monitor Guidance...

[MrLang]

We'll see if I ever actually bit the bullet and get in to monitors but I've considered it for a long time and am pretty sure it will happen at some point. Here are my thoughts and I'm curious if anyone can suggest or shoot down any particular species based on these:

-As much as I think I have the time for regular handling, it usually doesn't happen. Life as an adult is busy and other things always take precedent. Ideally I could handle them from time to time but I realize infrequent handling is not likely to lend itself to a positive handling session when it is so rare. This is maybe an impossible wish. If I had to choose handling or no, my past behavior says no handling is most realistic.

-Cage sizing requirements - 6 x 3 floor space is BIG and probably the max I'd ever want in my house. A tall cage is a good idea since it leaves a smaller footprint but no particular preference on height. I know some of the larger monitors can be kept in this size but it can be frowned upon.

-Activity - I like pets that are interesting to watch. I've had bearded dragons, they just sit there. I have balls, they just sit there. Monitors appeal to me because they are a bit more engaged and intelligent.

-The main appeal to me is their dinosaur-like behavior and presence. This plays off my intelligence comment above. Something that is fun to watch is probably highest on my list of preferences.

-Breeding - I love the idea of breeding but wouldn't want to breed something for the sake of breeding it. This also plays into the space requirement since multiple enclosures may be required.

I've got 1 obvious good fit in mind but I'm curious to solicit feedback from the community on this. There are so many different species I don't want to corner myself by what is most common. I'm really open to any ideas or feedback people have. I am especially interested in anyone who has or has owned Ackies before. What is the experience like given my above criteria?

I really appreciate any input from this community and I know there are some true monitor pros lurking. Now is your time to shine!

[Darkbird]

While I wouldn't by any stretch call myself a pro, I have done a lot of reasearch, and have been successfully keeping ackies for the past couple years, so I might be able to help. To me, ackies are everything thats great about monitors, just in a more manageable size. They can also be a little cheaper to feed, as breeding a tub of dubia roaches will cover a lot of their dietary needs. As for interacting with them, that's entirely a measure of how much effort you put in, though I would say in general that ackies will always be a little more flighty than their larger counterparts, simply because they never get large enough to totally lose that "everything that moves wants to eat me" attitude. This is not to say they can't be tamed, and I have never put much effort into it with mine. Yet they still come running up hoping for food whenever I open the door. And have almost no fear of my hands.

[MrLang]

Thanks that is helpful and along the same lines of my thinking. I've bred dubia before and would happily have another pet that feeds on them readily. Here's a weird question that doesn't pop up in care sheets: If you are supposed to give them dirt and deep substrate for burrowing etc. how does cleaning work? Do you reach in and spot clean visible messes or let it go wild for a while and replace the whole thing? Both? How often / how involved is the process of digging out 10 inches of substrate for them? Do they get irked when you destroy their burrow in that process?

[Darkbird]

Actually, you don't have to do anything to clean it, pretty much ever. One of the great things about having a bio active substrate is that the waste breaks down naturally, and does not leave the cage smelling. Smell was actually one of the reasons my wife didn't want me to get back into keeping monitors, but that was from back when I had used the old outdated methods of keeping them. One cage has been going for over 2 years at this point, and has no smell other then the normal smell of wet dirt on a hot day. Live plants can improve the situation even more, but even little ackies will be hard on them.

[MrLang]

Crazy - I will have to look more at bioactive substrates. Any other input on other species or are these guys kind of the go-to for my given description? I guess it's good to know my research landed me in the right spot but very interested in other input on less mainstream species. Also curious about anyone with experience with some of the smaller tree monitors.

[Darkbird]

Ackies are the only thing I have direct experience with that will still fit in the space you outlined. There are other dwarf species, but they tend to show up even less often. Tree monitors are on my list of "definitely will have" species, but so far all my knowledge is research, as I don't have a proper setup yet.

[MrLang]

Anyone else? How about Timors?

[Skiploder]

Ackies or either of the tristis species would work well. Gilleni if you can find them would work as well.

Storri do not do too well in pairs, so unless you are keeping an individual, you can cross them off of the list.

Spot clean visible gobbets of poo.

[MrLang]

Thanks for the input guys. Just saw yours Skip. Going to look into the other species now. Would you say the ones you mentioned are more or less skittish overall? One thing drawing me to Ackies is that they aren't too shy. One thing deterring me is the depth of substrate. So if there is an arboreal species with less of a substrate requirement that is still a good display animal that is appealing.

I'm doing some napkin math on the weight of the dirt in the enclosure and getting a little freaked out. Do many people need to consider the integrity of their home and enclosure position with this in mind? It's deterring me a bit from the ackies just because if I want viable clutches I'll need it on the deep side of the range.

[Darkbird]

Yes, I do take the structure, both of the cage and the area it will be placed, into consideration. Think of it this way, would the spot you are considering hold a comparable sized fish tank? Because a monitor cage still won't weigh nearly as much, and like an aquarium the weight is spread out. For an ackie cage, just as an example, you wouldn't be putting nearly the strain on the floors as a cage for a sav would be. I know of at least one person who has added additional support for his living room floor to support the weight of his sav's cage. But so far I haven't had to do that for my smaller monitors.