savanna moniter or nile moniter help me decide - FaunaClassifieds
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Old 12-30-2004, 04:53 PM   #1
madragon
savanna moniter or nile moniter help me decide

i want to get a savannah moniter or a nile moniter and i can only choose on i can build a custom cage for each one but i cant decide which one i should get.can anyone help me out. which one is nicer, ect........... PLEASE HELP me!!!!!!
 
Old 12-30-2004, 06:30 PM   #2
SIVmac239
Savannah

I love my Savannah. Have had him for about 4-5 years. 4.5 feet. Super mellow, never has even tried to bite. Niles can be a lot more wily and they are a little bit more messy than Savannah's.


Matt T.
sivmac239@gmail.com
 
Old 12-31-2004, 01:16 AM   #3
bigdee
If you can build a large cage I would say get a savannah. Niles are not too nice from what I hear and they get really huge I believe 6'. I had a savannah I raised from a baby to about over 3' they have really good temperments.
 
Old 12-31-2004, 08:10 AM   #4
mmfrankford
Go with a savannah. You'll have a better chance of taming the savannah than you will with the nile.
 
Old 01-01-2005, 11:25 PM   #5
lwcamp
Quote:
Originally Posted by madragon
i want to get a savannah moniter or a nile moniter and i can only choose on i can build a custom cage for each one but i cant decide which one i should get.can anyone help me out. which one is nicer, ect........... PLEASE HELP me!!!!!!
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
 
Old 06-29-2006, 09:23 AM   #6
midnite
Id just like to say that theres a 1 percent chance out of a hundred of tameing a nile moniter plus they need alot of attension and are quite a hand full to look after because my friend owns 2 nile moniter, 1 of which is 8 and a half feet long the other own 3 feet long.the nile moniter can grow up to 9 and a half feet long in total lenth.where as i own 2 bosc moniter and alot more reptiles. Bosc moniters are a good and friendly pets to care for. But if it is your first lizard i would not advise buying one because they also need alot of attension.most people would think that bosc moniters live in desert areas where as they are subtarian animals they like a think layer of dirt mixed with some bark, that must always be kept damp so they can burrow.They are pritty expensive to feed as well you should feed them locusts that are gut loaded buy fruit. Before feedin them cover the locusts in calcium powder.you can also feed the a pinky or mouse depending on the size of your bosc also coverd in calcium powder once or twice a week but keep your eye on the lizards wight because they will always eat wot is put infront of them,and there main source of food that should be feed to your bosc are african land snails which are rather exspensive to buy but they contain all the vitamins for your bosc to keep it healthy and that is were most people go wrong because there bosc is not gaining enough vitamins whilst growing so when they get to adult size they are very unhealthy and suffer from liver and kidney problems and tend to die.

If you have any questions about reptiles please dont hesatate to ask me

midnite (Lance)
 

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