Quote Originally Posted by dakski View Post
OP, what other species have you worked with (snakes and lizards), what kind of time do you have, and what's your patience level?

Additionally, do you plan on handling a monitor/the monitors you get, or will they just be display animals?

That will help a lot.

My two cents, unless you have a lot of time and patience, monitors can be handful. Generally, Ackies are the easiest small monitor to work with, but the key word is work. Monitor lizards are smart, and not super trusting most of the time, certainly at first. It's not just about getting them used to handling, like say, a Leopard Gecko, a Blue Tongue Skink, or a bearded Dragon. Certainly nothing like many snakes who get accustomed to handling quickly and tolerate it well.

I had a dwarf tree monitor - rare and small, but a handful! Crazy girl. She never calmed down, would bite, tail whip, leap out of her cage, and waste on me. Never calmed down. I tried, but couldn't build the trust. Some are just like that. Ackies are supposed to be better, but overall, monitors need a ton of work and patience. Certainly the smaller ones never really get accustomed to handling. If you are lucky, they won't scratch, bite, whip you, or waste on you. If you are good and get lucky with one, they can be a pleasure, but need continued work.

Not for me, if you can't tell. I gave up my monitor after a year and went with another boa. I just couldn't get her to chill and she was handful on all fronts, getting bigger, and the reward wasn't worth the risk and anxiety.

I prefer more laid back creatures. There are other lizards with intelligence, like Blue Tongue Skinks (I have one, Frank), who are more sociable, but still know their keepers by sight.

Anyway, I really went on here. To be clear, I am not telling you not to get a monitor, but want you to be prepared and know what you are getting into. It's a lot of work.

If can help in any way, please let me know. I learned a lot during the year I had my monitor. I also know a few people who have larger monitors and have good experiences. I also know others who don't, and some are the same people. X worked with one monitor, but the others, not so much.

EDIT: Regarding Kimberly Rock Monitors, I have yet to hear of or see one that isn't very shy, frenetic, and fast.
I've had crested and leopard geckos for a few years and I've very recently (within the past few months) gotten sand boas and a hognose. I'm willing to put some time into them (maybe like 15-30 min a day), I'm relatively patient and willing to spend some time working with them. If I got ackies I would definitely want to handle them relatively frequently.

Your experiences do help a lot, I've done reading and watched videos on these, but nobody has really gone into detail about some of the challenges with them. Do you think the age of the monitor would make a difference? Like, getting a younger one would help get it used to you compared to an older one.

I'm not super interested in other lizards, overall they are a lot of work and money compared to snakes, so I'm not planning on getting any more except if they really interest me and I think they will be rewarding to keep. For some reason, blue tongued skinks and other large lizards (except monitors, they have always seemed super interesting to me) have never been appealing to keep.

I'm pretty sure that I'll wait on kimberley rock monitors at least until i have some experience with ackies (if I end up getting them), and from there I can make a better decision.