Convinced mom into getting a big lizard.

Discussion in 'Monitors & Tegus' started by Ryeshu, Mar 15, 2005.

  1. Ryeshu

    Ryeshu New Member

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    Hello guys, ^^
    I posted before on what type of lizard to get well now my mother finally said i could get one. I settled on a Black Throat Monitor. They had 3 sizes at the store a HUGE one like bigger than my dog, a medium one and a baby one. The middle one is the one i want. Are these lizards normally messy because he was tearing up his cage. Woodwhips in water he was clawing the glass he looked like he really, really, really wanted out of that cage. I feel so bad. Its gonna be about a month until i can buy him because i need to move first. In the mean time can you guys tell me how often they need to be fed? What teamptures need to be? Stuff like that?
    Thanks
    Rieshu
     
  2. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  3. KLiK

    KLiK Well-Known Member

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    dont get a BT as a beginner. they are literally BEASTS and have MASSIVE strength and if he isnt tame he can literally take your finger off or cause other serious harm. but this is your decision so heres the best info you can get on them http://proexotics.com/care_ionides.html these guys have been breeding and keeping them for years and they will guide you. if you need anymore help feel free to contact me on AIM J3573R339 or email J3573R339@netscape.net
     
  4. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  5. Hummingbird

    Hummingbird Well-Known Member

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    here's a question - how come you seem to have the room for a monitor (NOT small animals), but have (up til recently) complained that you don't have enough room to get your ball pythons their own seperate cages? jus' curious . . .
     
  6. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  7. Ryeshu

    Ryeshu New Member

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    For the reason that i just saw the new house im moving into and it is huge. I like bigger animals. I find it easy to handle my 5 foot ball python easier then my 1 or 2 foot ones. I want something that is gonna get retivativly big. So maybe 6 feet might be REALLY big are there any other lizards that go to about 4?
     
  8. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  9. KLiK

    KLiK Well-Known Member

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    a 5ft ball python is nothing compared to a 6ft or even a 5ft monitor. in my opinion a monitor is definatly more dangerous then a constrictor of the same size.
    savannah monitors get 3-4 sometimes 5ft, black/blue/green tree monitors 3ft, yellow ackie 2ft, red ackie 2.5-3ft.
     
  10. JEFFREH

    JEFFREH Administrator

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  11. Ryeshu

    Ryeshu New Member

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    Savannah sounds better then...
     
  12. ryzard

    ryzard New Member

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    Go with a savannah seriously. I've had blackthroats, dont get me wrong I love em to death, but they ARE beasts and not as easily tamed as a savannah at a young age would be. Just speaking from experience, it doesn't matter how tame mine are, if they are in a bad mood, watch your fingers.
     
  13. Ryeshu

    Ryeshu New Member

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    174
    Wow. The one in the pet store is just so cute...I guess savannahs are cute too but i really wanted a blackthroat. Are they really that mean? Is it possible to tame them with work?
     
  14. ryzard

    ryzard New Member

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    yeah, it is, it's just that they're like 6+ ft and HEAVY but I personally like it. When I was thinking about getting mine I knew I wanted something big and had all the resources to take care of him, but it was so much more work than with my savannahs. I tamed mine all the same, held them evey day, but I had a couple that it didnt even matter with, they were still evil. But with all my savannahs who were tamed the same way, I never had a mean one. That's why I recommended them, not to mention they are still huge lizards but not as massive as the b/t.
     
  15. Ryeshu

    Ryeshu New Member

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    Well, i am probally only going to get one monitor lizard. I want the blackthroat in the pet store. It seemed so friendly. Plus i talked with my mom who is like "So if Savannahs can be 5 feet. What is just one more foot." I would like the challenge and i would try very hard to tame it. I'm still stuck on wanting a blackthroat
     
  16. Ryeshu

    Ryeshu New Member

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    Im gonna get a book on Blackthroats soon and make sure to read up about them as well
     
  17. Ryeshu

    Ryeshu New Member

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    I'm starting to have a lot more questions now. So a monitor can't be something that is willing to have to pet it and lay around and watch TV with it like a dog huh? How good of a pet does it make? Also is feeding every day? Not like snakes right? Once the monitor gets 6 feet I am assuming it will be heavy. How do you get it out of the cage when you wanna handle it?
     
  18. ryzard

    ryzard New Member

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    Actually the savs typically get 3-4ft, but seem huge because they are more body and not so much tail. It depends on your monitor if it wants to sit around, it is much more tempermental than a dog and you'll never know what mood it's it. Even if it's a nice lizard to you, if it decides it want to (or doesnt want to) do something, it will have its way. Another thing to take into consideration is the tail length and power difference in the two lizards. A sav can't really hurt you with its tail, but a bt can. And it will at some point. Feeding differs between the owners, some say they feed theirs everyday (which I wouldnt recommend because they do like to gorge themselves and become overweight very easily) and some say every other day, and some say 3-4 times a week. Based on my personal experiences, I had to feed my blackthroats alot more often than my savs because they'd get moody, also savs store their food more so than a bt. And, yes, they are heavy. And as to your last question: Very carefully.
    BUT I'm only telling you the practicalities between the 2 lizards, and a sav is def more practical. But I'm in the same boat as you: I PREFER the bt better, I consider them MY type of animal, and no matter how much people are telling me what they think I should like, I would rather have what I truely want, and that would be my black/white throats. They just amaze me. So I see what you're saying. But there's also logic that needs to be put into it as well. For example, if you have any other pets, your bt may try to eat them. That's why I had to get rid of my cat, so it didnt become dinner! And it would've too. Just be careful, I'm sure you'll love whatever you get. And if you truely believe that you have all the resources and mental stabitlity to handle something that big and if it is what you truely have a passion for, go for it kid.
     
  19. KLiK

    KLiK Well-Known Member

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    most africans monitors (savs, b/t, w/t) are pretty lazy animals and will sit around if they know the area they are in. my sav would give me a quick nip to let me know i was in his way, but he didnt do it to draw blood just to get me to move. i fed my sav everyday 2mice, 1 in the morning one at night. if your animal gets proper exercise then its fine to feed everyday. a BT will try to eat anything that is smaller then itself such as a small dog a cat or another monitor (they eat savs in the wild). once the monitor starts to hit the 4ft mark it is not wise to handle it. they are extremely powerful and have very sharp claws.
     
  20. KLiK

    KLiK Well-Known Member

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    a 5ft sav is uncommon, and the extra 2ft on a BT is a huge difference. it doesnt matter how hard you try to tame it, it may seem friendly at one time and then go to kill you another. no monitor seems "friendly" and if it does then that means it is scared or ill. a healthy monitor will go to hide, if that fails it will hiss and puff up, if that fails, it will go to tail whip, and if that fails it will bite. a bite from a 4ft sav can remove a finger or two, a bite from a 6ft blackthroat can do the same plus more.
     
  21. KLiK

    KLiK Well-Known Member

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  22. Ryeshu

    Ryeshu New Member

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    Then why are monitors pets if they hate people?
     
  23. Ryeshu

    Ryeshu New Member

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    A sav looks too small. Im leaning more towardsa the blackthroat..
     
  24. ryzard

    ryzard New Member

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    You ever got bitten that bad Klik? To this day I'm still scared to put my hands near my sav's mouth, so I am uneducated with how hard they bite. Could it really take off my finger? I only ask because I my experience with being bitten w/ them is when they were smaller, smaller heads, smaller teeth.
    And that is one huge mf blackthroat.
     
  25. MichaelM

    MichaelM New Member

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    because people like to have big lizards as pets, like moniters and some will tame and some will bite but any lizard will bite you and a bite will end up like click said. thats like asking why do people keep venomous snakes as pets when they can cause death
     

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