Are there any "medium sized" monitors?

[CoolioTiffany]

Blue Spotted Timors are really cool.
Ackies aren't too bad either.
Tegus make awesome pets, and I will be getting one sometime this year.

Just choose whatever you feel you can take care of its entire life. Like stated before, please do your research. Monitors do have huge appetites and love a variety of different things. Also sometimes cage requirements can get costly (substrate, enclosure size, lighting, heating, etc.). So make sure you have the money to get everything for the monitor and fulfill its needs for the rest of its life.

[I<3Dreamsicles]

Blue Spotted Timors are really cool.
Ackies aren't too bad either.
Tegus make awesome pets, and I will be getting one sometime this year.

Just choose whatever you feel you can take care of its entire life. Like stated before, please do your research. Monitors do have huge appetites and love a variety of different things. Also sometimes cage requirements can get costly (substrate, enclosure size, lighting, heating, etc.). So make sure you have the money to get everything for the monitor and fulfill its needs for the rest of its life.

Yeah i saw the blue ones, and yellow. Id probably just get a normal one though because its just a faint blue and I dont think its worth the extra cost...

Tegus are alright, i think they get a bit bigger then i would want though (at least some of the ones ive seen) and they seem more sluggish then monitors?

Yep. Hopefully ill be able to build my own enclosures eventually but... pretty much all of the stuff im looking to get has to wait becuase i have a bunch of college to go through, and unless i can find a good apartment in a year or two I wont be getting anything for a while.

[Nadamamasboy]

With all due respect, the jump from a pet as easy to take care of as a ball python to a monitor is no comparison. Yes, adult Iguana's can be a handful from what I've heard but still a long way off; how long have you had yours?.

I suggest you do a ton a research, both here and on the many other monitor specific forums available. In the long run, it will help you make the most informed choice for yourself and the future of the monitor you choose. If you are questioning the ability to give it the enclosure it needs then perhaps a smaller monitor, although not what you think you want, is more in line with what you can actually accommodate. Monitors don't lay around like snakes & Iguanas, when they are active, they need their space.

I went from breeding Red tailed boas and Burmese pythons to my monitor and there's just no comparison. I don't consider myself an expert by any means but I did do a lot of research and suggest you do the same, the results will be very rewarding.

[I<3Dreamsicles]

With all due respect, the jump from a pet as easy to take care of as a ball python to a monitor is no comparison. Yes, adult Iguana's can be a handful from what I've heard but still a long way off; how long have you had yours?.

I suggest you do a ton a research, both here and on the many other monitor specific forums available. In the long run, it will help you make the most informed choice for yourself and the future of the monitor you choose. If you are questioning the ability to give it the enclosure it needs then perhaps a smaller monitor, although not what you think you want, is more in line with what you can actually accommodate. Monitors don't lay around like snakes & Iguanas, when they are active, they need their space.

I went from breeding Red tailed boas and Burmese pythons to my monitor and there's just no comparison. I don't consider myself an expert by any means but I did do a lot of research and suggest you do the same, the results will be very rewarding.

No offence taken, I know that. Ball pythons basically require ZERO care, im very aware of that, and thats why i love em!

Ive taken care of our green iguana, it is supposed to be my brothers but I had to teach him everything, and take care of it because he is/was to lazy/immature... Adults would be easier to care for i think, because when theyre young is when you have to start bonding with them and stuff so they are docile when they are bigger.

Not sure how long weve had him, under a year. We got him in very bad condition (it was pretty much a rescue) from some person who couldnt take care of him anymore, and seemed to have STOPPED taking care of him... He wouldnt eat for the longest time and was very skinny and unhealthy.

and yeah i can see that theyre alot more active. I like that about them, they dont just sit there (why i dont like tegus as much). I mean, i have no idea what my living conditions will be once im able to get one. I could build a enclosure no problem, but where ever im living at the time idk if ill be able to keep such large enclosures there, or where ever im at. (going off to college in august, and plan for at least 4 years, possibly 8 or more, to become a vet)

[mumps]

If you are going to college for 4-8 years, don't bother with a monitor. Or tegu. I don't know where you got the idea that tegus are lazy - they get that way when kept in tiny enclosures, however. I know a varanid enthusiast who keeps his ackies in a 10x10x6 foot enclosure and he thinks it's too small. With college and probably working as well, you will not have the spare time available to properly care for a monitor.

A 6x3x3 foot enclosure is the smallest enclosure size I could recommend for a monitor, and that would be for ackies, not dumerilii or doreanus or any of the other midsized ones.

Stick to your studies and do your research on varanids and get one when you become a vet. You and the lizard will be much better off then. Read my sig...

Chris

[suzuki4life]

If you are going to college for 4-8 years, don't bother with a monitor. Or tegu. I don't know where you got the idea that tegus are lazy - they get that way when kept in tiny enclosures, however. I know a varanid enthusiast who keeps his ackies in a 10x10x6 foot enclosure and he thinks it's too small. With college and probably working as well, you will not have the spare time available to properly care for a monitor.

A 6x3x3 foot enclosure is the smallest enclosure size I could recommend for a monitor, and that would be for ackies, not dumerilii or doreanus or any of the other midsized ones.

Stick to your studies and do your research on varanids and get one when you become a vet. You and the lizard will be much better off then. Read my sig...

Chris

do you own ackies?

[mumps]

do you own ackies?

Yup. 1.2 in a 6x3...

Chris

[redstormlax12]

Goodluck with pre-vet. If you dont mind me asking, what school are you going to for it? Im also attending college next year for the pre-vet program at a SUNY school then if all goes well, transfering to Cornell after 4 years of undergrad.

[suzuki4life]

Yup. 1.2 in a 6x3...

Chris

pics of your cage?

[j_h_smith]

Ackies are going to be your only choice. Anything else and you're going to need a much larger enclosure. I bred red and yellow ackies for some time. Great pets. Great "beginner" monitor. However there is much more to keeping monitors than Ball Pythons.

Good Luck!
Jim Smith