lwcamp

My advice is not to get either. Niles are, in my opinion, the second worst monitor to be kept in captivity (second only to the Komodo monitor, for obvious reasons). While they are beautiful, impressive, and hardy, they also get huge and tend to be completely paranoid and willing to back up their paranoia with teeth, claws, tail whiping, and projectile defication.

Savannas tend to become very docile in captivity, but have fairly specialized care requirements. Most captive savannas live for three to four years, seemingly healthy, before dropping dead of failure of the heart, liver, or kidneys. Why? No one knows. Apparently, most people do not provide some necessary aspect of their environment. It may be that they are kept to dry (savanna monitors are dormant during the dry season and active in the wet season) or possibly they are fed a diet to high in animal protein or maybe something else. If you do decide to get a savanna monitor, please please please buy and read the book "Savanna monitors: the truth about Varanus exanthematicus" first. It is by Bennett and Thakoordial, is available through the Bean farm (http://www.beanfarm.com/books/lizards/3.html), Pro Exotics (http://www.proexotics.com/supplies_books.html) or directly from the publisher (http://mampam.50megs.com/books.htm), and is the only book on the market that is any good about this species (the Balsai book is not very good and the Sprackland book is horrid).

Keep in mind that a suitable enclosure for either a Nile or savanna monitor will end up costing you $500.00 to $1,000.00. This is not to mention food, vet bills, lighting, and heating costs. As you can see from this, the initial purchase price of the monitor will be negligible. No need to be cheap and buy the lowest cost monitor available - look at some of the higher end monitor species available and you will not end up spending all that much more. Three species I recommend looking into are the ackie (or ridge tailed monitor Varanus acanthurus), the desert sand monitor (Varanus gouldi flavirufus, often called flavies), and the smaller races of the white throat monitor (Varanus albigularis, be careful since this is the same species as the black throat monitor, but the black throat races get huge). All three species are docile and hardy in captivity, being active, interactive, and inquisitive (unlike the reclusive Nile monitor or the lazy savanna monitor). I recomment the ackie the most, since they remain at a managable size. Desert sand monitors get a bit larger, but can stil be housed in an enclosure the size of a large sofa or dinner table. The white throats are getting large enough to be a real nuisance from nothing more than sheer scale, but many races stay small enough that if you've never dealt with an absolutely huge lizard you will not end up way over your head.

You can check out articles I have written on desert sand, Nile, and savanna monitors on my website http://pizards.com/hbd/.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Luke