But for this Halloween party, he's a monitor lizard

I have the money and room for the set up but my question is realistically should I get an ackie how much maintenance are they, how hard is day to day care? Do I need to breed feeder bugs?

I had a bearded dragon for 10 years and it was fine but i honestly found her to be a bit boring. I've also had a ferret and giving her free roam time every day and dealing with the chaos was a bit of a chore. I am a SAHM with a young baby and a cat I don't plan on leaving them unsupervised but how are they with kids around, the cat is old and hides when seeing other animals.

Would it have to be my only pet? would it be a good pet for kids to grow up with? how much work is needed it get them to be tame and docile and if a few months went by without handling during busy seasons would it be ok?

TLDR is this a good family pet or would it be too much lizard?

I have an Ackie who is just about 2 years old in a 4x2x2 PVC enclosure with mesh top. This is a new habitat for him as we had to get rid of his old 2x4x4 that we had built ourselves, when we moved recently.

I am looking for advice on setting up his heat and UVB. I currently have a 22" t5 UVB in a reflective hood outside the mesh on the warm side. Should I move it inside ? Is that sufficient UVB?

For heat, I used to use Arcadia 150W Halogens mounted inside in a large domed reflector hood. They don't appear to make the 150s anymore, only up to 100w. Is that sufficient? What Wattage of bulb should I get, and about how far away should I mount it from the main basking spot? I have a temp gun, but I need to know what to buy and how best to set it up in the first place.

I think I want to cage the bulb as well, and I know that reduces the heat and light output by about 40% I think.

Any and all advice for this situation is appreciated, thank you!

I found the first pictures I ever captured of Quillion "hating" something and wanted to reshare the images 😂 Bonus pic: Halloween costume that he probably won't let me ever put on him. My parents are visiting this weekend for me bday 🎈 but I'll try to post again soon! 🧡

Today Corime is officially 1 year old!!!!! I TRIED to give her a small fuzzy(image makes it look bigger) that my hog refused, but she was very unamused. So, she got a small bowl of egg which she was very happy for! (Will not eat all of it)

Lizard mukbang in the comments

Baby Ackies are thriving. I like to try to provide a variety of different food to my animals which I think they appreciate.

I've has this guy for a month now. He's 2 months old. I feed him 3-4 big prey items or 7-8 small prey items a day. Sometimes I find him bulky looking, other times lean as I like my animals to be. All 4 pictures were taken within 10 minutes of each other.

Had a taming session with my baby and she climbed on my arm and nearly slipped and I reflexively tried to catch her and spooked her 😔 anywayyy cute video of her being confident

https://makerworld.com/en/models/3243349-realistic-flexi-baby-monitor-lizard#profileId-3675033

As said in the title, I'm weighing the pros and cons as a first time digging lizard owner, my previous lizard (created gecko) was arboreal so I'm doing a lot of research about the differences. Smooth gravel mimics their natural environment best but doesn't hold moisture as well as the others, and as someone whose moisture technique will have to be "watering can every evening and testing humidity in the morning and night" I worry about it drying out. I was warned about impaction if I use sand substrate but have also read that sand doesn't necessarily cause a higher risk of impaction from other sources. I've been told against Cyprus mulch but I can't quite remember why and I didn't save the reasoning in my notes.

Thus, I turned to Reddit. Which would y'all recommend and why?

People don’t lie when they say how fast these guys grow. The first picture was taken in August and the second picture was a few days ago. It’s absolutely insane!

Varanus albigularis microstictus 0.1

Hey, i was wondering if anybody has ever dealt with something similar. My ackie has a crooked toe on the back right leg where the base of the toe points upwards rather than being flat. It seems like the “knuckle” is hurt somehow? Either way this issue seems like an old injury that doesnt affect her at all.

She also has one toe on the front left that always lies flat on the ground. I find that there is a bit of swelling at the tip of that toe too. Could these be just old injuries? Could it be gout? I have had experience with gout before in another species and i’m very afraid that its gout

Quill ran off with the sock today - he didn't want me to take it away from him 🤦🏻‍♀️

Hey guys, I’m really curious and kind of stuck here. My black-throated monitor (Varanus\ albigularis) has had a lump for almost 2 months now (circled in red in the photo).

- AI tells me it’s a cloacal prolapse.
- exotic vet said it’s just fat tissue.
- One vet recommended getting stitches.
- Another vet said there’s no need for stitches as long as it’s not causing any issues/symptoms.

I’m honestly super confused.

For context, the lump is located right near its vent. Aside from that, its appetite is totally normal, and it has no trouble pooping or peeing at all.

Have any fellow monitor keepers ever experienced something like this? I’d really appreciate any insights or advice!

(Sorry about the white part, a dumbass tried stalking me with the reflection on the glass and background😭)

Shes a bluetail montior, and im 70% sure its a she because i didnt see anything come out when she shit.

Ill try to get a top view, but she is very spicy and guarded so i dont even attemt to grab her or take her out. This is her after a small meal, i feed her 3 times a week with varity or meat and bugs(going to try out grasshoppers and shrimp. Told she was not a fan of snails or worms.) I think shes not....fat fat? But it she is let me know please.

She has a weird obsession with biting my fingers after coming over on her own 🌝 at least she’s curious

I posted this on the other thread but did anyone meet these guys or see/grab any photos of their big blue tree monitor on Saturday? The dude was SUPER photogenic. Trying to find some pics on my wife’s phone.

I noticed that she doesn’t shy away from my hand so I wanted to see what she would do if I pet her and she did a little splat? Was that a good sign or a leave me alone sign? I’m not that good with her body language yet

Hey guys !! So this is my little asshole Solas. Im just looking on tips you guys would recommend to get this little guy more tame 🙂

Now im not completely hopeless when it comes to monitors as I have a 2 year old savy. Raised her since she was about 3 months. she was pretty spicy too, but w tong feeding her, handling, and a LOT of time, she's extremely tame now.

The difference and problem im having is this little mf BITES , constantly. My sav would mostly just whip me, so I'm kinda struggling on how to minimize that. Even trying to simply put my hand next to him results in it being cut up. I don't mind it right now, but not something I want to keep happening 😅 I also recognize that there's obviously a difference between the two, and some monitors may never actually be tame, but i wanna try my best for him 👏🏻