What's a good first monitor??

[Dutchy88]

so I've only been in the game about a year now and have Pygmy dragons and a banded gecko but I'm looking to upgrade to something a bit bigger a bit more of a predator . So I've decided monitor is the way I wanna go after doing some research I've narrowed it down to 4 monitors,gilleni,ackie,scalaris and tristis. Just after a few opinions from ppl that are monitor owners. Wats the best for me considering its my first monitor? Average price rangers? And ease of obtaining ( wats hard to get or rare for ppl to sell)?

Cheers dutchy

 

[saximus]

I've owned Ackies and tristis and out of those two I would suggest Ackies from your criteria of price and ease of obtaining. They are also probably the most amiable to handling out of the four you've listed. Gilleni are also gorgeous monitors but pretty difficult to find from my experience.

 

[Chicken]

In a month or so all of those will be readily available (accept maybe v.scalaris), as a first i recommend ackies as saximus said,
if you have the space and time then go for a tristis but they're not handleable IMO.

 

[yewherper]

I have ackies and tristis. I love the ackies they are always out and running around. My female sometime will walk out of the cage on to my hand. Whereas my tristis are a bit more flighty and arnt as easy to handle.
I find the ackies are way more colourful (reds and yellows), as compared to tristis which are mainly black and less colourful.
Ackies would be the way to go in my opinion.

 

[sniffmylizard]

Ackies are the way to go as a first monitor. Plenty of character and fun to watch. If you check youtube and type in "Amazing Ackie Monitor" you will be sold. If you do your homework you will see how popular they are here and around the world. I have a breeding pair which I purchased as adults and they are great to watch. The girl doesn't like to handled but the boy tolerates it. I also have a pair of baritjis which are very similar to ackies and the boy is almost as tame as the one in the youtube clip.
Ackies should be available very soon from all over the place and they range from about $250 onwards.
BEWARE once you own your first monitor it will lead to an obsession.

All the best with your decision.

 

[Monitor_Keeper]

In all honesty all of them 4 mentioned monitors would make a great first Varanus but in saying that I would advise 'ackiies' or 'gillens'.

Ackie hatchy price: $150-$250 ( different locality and nicer color and greedy seller etc come into play )

Gillens hatchy price: $150-$300.

 

[sharky]

Ackie Nuff said

 

[Stevo2]

I'm going with Tristis, but that's mainly because I have this HUGE arboreal style enclosure that I'm looking forward to decorating with hollow logs, etc, to make a great tree-monitor enclosure

 

[MyMitchie]

Ackies are the way to go as a first monitor. Plenty of character and fun to watch. If you check youtube and type in "Amazing Ackie Monitor" you will be sold. If you do your homework you will see how popular they are here and around the world. I have a breeding pair which I purchased as adults and they are great to watch. The girl doesn't like to handled but the boy tolerates it. I also have a pair of baritjis which are very similar to ackies and the boy is almost as tame as the one in the youtube clip.
Ackies should be available very soon from all over the place and they range from about $250 onwards.
BEWARE once you own your first monitor it will lead to an obsession.

All the best with your decision.

I almost died at how adorable that monitor is!!!!!!!

 

[user 23122]

If you can get past the whole handling thing ( let's face it no monitor thrives with regular handling) I think aboreal style enclosures look the part nothing like watching a tree dwelling monitor exploring a well set out enclosure of hollow logs and elevated basking spots. In saying this I would go a gilleni or scalaris although I have never kept ackies I have several brevicauda which are a terrestrial species and although they are awesome to watch feed time they are nothing compared to gillens monitors for pure personality and overall entertainment

 

[black_headed_mon]

I'd go tristis!! Taken 2yrs but at least my male kinda trusts me now.... I feed 1 woodie at a time so he catches it and comes and smashes it on the glass..... Very entertaining


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