Reptiles

i just bought a nile monitor and im wonderin if anyone on heres ever owned one and got any tips advice etc. ive heard they can be a little aggresive when there older but i got a baby so im hopein to tame him now so anyone got anything for me

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Handle it handle it handle it handle it. Nile monitors, aside from crocodile monitors, are the biggest nastiest lizards you can own and they aren't the smartest of the large monitors either so it's hard to know when they are going to act up. If I was you I would take it back and exchange it for a water monitor - less aggressive, more intelligent, much more likely to tame down like a dog. I know people that trust their adult 7' water monitors with their small children - they would NEVER let even a medium sized child around their nile monitors.

They can be great pets but be prepared to give them a ton of space (8x8x8 minimum), feed them a ton of food, and never turn your back on them.

Awe, cute little water monitor



Better yet get an akie - Varanus acantharus. These are dwarf monitors with a personality like a big monitor

And never hand feed - always tong feed.

dwcannan said:

i just bought a nile monitor and im wonderin if anyone on heres ever owned one and got any tips advice etc. ive heard they can be a little aggresive when there older but i got a baby so im hopein to tame him now so anyone got anything for me

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hope you have the space?...they can get big...are they poisonous/bite?

http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.aspx?speciesID=1085

http://www.reptilespecialists.com/caresheets/nilemonitor.html

I had a ball python and I loved that snake...I actually still miss him.
Nicest reptile ever, I could of stepped on him and he wouldn't have done zilch.
Also I found he was very therapeutic...he used to give the best damn neck massages in the world lol
He was rather curious though
I could pet his head and he wouldn't mind. When I would do that I'd usually get bitten or get "the stare".
I say return it and get a Boa or a Python, they literally be turned into a lap pets hehe

I had one a few years back and ended up moving so a buddy took it. But it was the friendliest female.

As said about, you gotta handle him/her a lot. Everyday, any chance you get. Good thing you got a baby, so start now.

Do you watch 1000 ways to die. A guy ended up getting bit, got an infection. Dies in his apartment, then his 3 lizards ate parts of him.