guys i didnt mean for this to be so explosive. i guess i should have been more clear in my intentions when i asked about a good harness. i'm not doing it to be cool or to get attention just because. i'm doing it so he gets a bit of sun and also so i can take him out of his enclosure for education purposes.
really, i have already have dogs...i have 4 at home and i take care of about 400 (with the help of a staff of 25) at the local animal shelter, ok, i really dont need to "get a puppy"...i'm not taking Vinnie out for a walk like my dogs...far from it. the harness is for safety reasons. it also puts the public at ease seeing that he is partially restrained and that we are using precautions...it's like when a handler wears gloves while handling an animal. he may not wear gloves at home when he takes the snake out of the enclosure but in public he has to. so he can keep the audience calm and focused on what he is teaching them.
i take him outside and sometimes out in public for education reasons like when my organization has a field trip come through, we put leashes and harnesses on the larger lizards (iguanas, sav. monitors) when we remove them from the enclosures to let the public see and touch them. if he is grumpy that day, he doesnt go out. he is being held while on the lead in these situations. he goes for very short walks in my backyard. and i'm not about to just take him walking down the sidewalk in my neighborhood. i'm not stupid.

i'm not about to put a tegu or nile monitor on a leash. that is not going to happen.
and the statement "he may bite someone, what then?"....maybe he will. but so may my dog when i take her on a walk, you never know what may happen. it's all about responsible handling and care. i warn people not to touch his face or head. if they want to touch his skin i show them where. Children are under the impression that reptiles are slimy and yucky. i would have the young children handle a piece of shedded skin instead of "petting" vinnie. it's safer.
look, i work at an animal shelter. and we're working hard to set up education programs for students and adults. we want people to see the animals and we also want to spark interest in young minds about reptiles and to learn proper care. people just dump reptiles out into the wild here. they dont care, they think that "oh it's florida, it's warm enough, they'll survive on their own" and some do and destroy the natural ecosystem. and i want people to realize that cute little baby lizard in the pet store will become a 3-4 foot monster in a few months.
i know you all care about the animals and their proper care, i do too, very much so. at the shelter i see many mistreated reptiles come through and so many "disposed" iguanas, monitors and boas. it breaks my heart to see an adult iguana come in severly malnourished and near death because all its owner fed it was iceberg lettuce. or a ball python come in with it's face badly scarred and half eaten away by the live rats its owner tried to feed it. or people dump off monitors because they have grown too big to handle and they're not cute little things that fit in a 20 gal tank. it's totally preventable. we want to educate the public about proper care. so they realize that yes these guys can become big and a lot to handle. i cant stress that enough.