Good beginner Monitor....

[BrentB]

Whats a good beginner monitor, besides a Savannah, that gets to be a fairly decent size and is a cool monitor?

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[NicoleRussell]

When you say "fairly decent" what do you mean?
If you have never kept a monitor you should try and keep something smaller so you can nail cage requirements, humidity and temps on a smaller level before getting into something large. Ackies are perfect starter monitors.
Larger cages are more difficult to keep regulated.
That being said Water monitors are HUGE, personable and beautiful. They also require large cages, and are fed meat/whole prey items which can be expensive.

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[herpkingdom]

It depends on your level of experience with them.

If you have some experience, then I would say a cool monitor in my opinion is a Nile or a Water Monitor. I have had both at one time or another and although they are a bit thrashy, tend to calm down after a while (a long while in some cases) and plenty of handling.

Make sure to do your research before getting any reptile. We have numerous care sheets on several species of monitor here on RTB. Here is a link to RTB's Lizard Care Sheets....
http://www.redtailboa.net/index.php?...tpages&subid=9

Another good idea if you don't have much expereince, is to find someone in your area that has one, and go hang out for a while and get familar with the animal.

Good Luck

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[Ed_r]

Yeah ackies or timor monitors are great. the rule of thumb with monitors is the more expensive the monitor, the cheaper the housing and maintanance is. Ackies and Timors are more expensive to purchase, but can be kepts in smaller cages and usually on an insect/pinky diet.

Where as a Nile Monitor, you can buy for $20.00 but cagine is very expensive as well as the maintenance Minimum of an 8'x4'x4' cage takes up allot of room and gets quite costly to heat and build/buy. Feeding is large meat prey items also getting expensive.

Ackies and Timors have some specialty requirements, but if your willing to keep up with the requirements, they are quite rewarding.

[NicoleRussell]

varanus gigantus (sp?) is an awesome monitor.

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[Ed_r]

varanus gigantus (sp?) is an awesome monitor

Varanus giganteus While they are wicked animals, they are far from a beginer monitor. Unless you want it to be your ending monitor too.lol j/k

Those are the same as the Perentie (sp) I agree they are really Awesome.

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[LdyDrgn]

Keep in mind Niles are one the most intelligent. They will only calm down if IT decides to. Pretty much anything you do with them has to be on their terms, LOL. I don't see Niles or Waters to be good beginner monitors. Ackies are good, though. They only get about 2' long.

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[NicoleRussell]

yeah the thing is any sizable monitor is going to be for an advanced herper. And this guy wanted something sizable.
I think niles are basically for advanced herpers who need to understand FULLY what they are buying. Green Iguanas are the same type of animal: readily available, inexpensive, and sold to people with no clue what they are getting into.

	Iguana Iguana

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[themoononastick]

i have an ackie and they are ace. they are a very VERY rewarding animal to keep.

they are bloody quick though. like... really quick. but if you handle them right they become very tame and eat out of your hand etc.

i reckon they are pretty smart.

i became so attached to mine that when he escaped and we thought we'd lost him we were both (grown adults) in tears looking for him.

great pet. great fun. extremely active though... they'll get up to some seriosuly amusing antics so don't skimp on tank space! it's cruel! mine lives in a FIVE foot long by two foot deep by two foot high viv. it wouldn't hurt to have it a bit bigger. oh, and they like to climb. and dig.

basically, they're great. not big, but great.

[haroldo359]

so timors are good starters?

[savannah_babe]

timors have some special requirements, but if you are looking for somthing that wont get huge, they are great. i have one and hes a sweet little guy. they do however have somewhat of a hefty price tag, but if you can deal with requirements, they make a nice monitor.

[blackthroat]

i have a blackthroat he is so docil hes doing tail flicking but he is not aggressive

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[MonitorMan87]

What do you mean by cooL? IMO all are cool. I mean its just your preferance.

But I would say go with a Nice Ackie or Timor. Nice sizes and easy to cage!

	In My Opinon IMO = In My Opinion and IMHO = In My Honest Opinion

[monitors007]

I agree with the suggestion of a timor if you are not looking for it to get big. if you can handle big, a blk throat or dumeril would be a good idea.my two that i just mentioned are big babies and the blk throat only acts like he wants a piece of you until you pick him up. i also suggest a white throat also if you can find one, but in my experience their personalitties are almost identical to the blk throat and sometimes in the look also, it all depends on what area they came from and what cb or wc genes it is caring in its dna makeup.but i suggest you only buy cb and not wc due to parasites and depleting the wild of these beautiful species.

[KATTIVO]

There are quite a few monitors out there that can make excellent pets and will calm down with handling. Just have to know how much you are willing to spend and how big an enclosure you can provide. I recently purchased a hatchling Quince Monitor (Varanus melinus) and this guy is just awesome! No scratching, tail whipping, running away, biting, .....nothing. Just super mellow! He even crawls out of his enclosure and onto my arm! Hope this helps!

Phong

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[NicoleRussell]

where did you get him ?

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[zenix]

i love the sav i got saved him from a petco they had him and another in a tiny 3 gal cage with a half log and a water bowl he wasent very active for about 3 days after i got him but once he started eating crickets he got alot more active and fighty but he never tryed to whip or bite me the sucky thing is i got him in a 10 gal tank til i biuld his new cage this weekend hes still small and its much bigger than what he was in

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[KATTIVO]

Originally Posted by NicoleRussell

where did you get him ?

I got him/her from LLL and it is eating like a hog and growing pretty fast. Still a very mellow and gentle monitor though.

Phong

	Hog Island Boa hogg