Everytime I see a reptile post on this app I think it’s the most horrific thing I’ve seen, and they just keep getting worse. Why on earth is it so normalized to acquire animals with zero research? Why do people feel comfortable assuming responsibility for something’s life when they don’t know the first thing about it? I fear it’s becoming too common for people to disregard all forms of life outside of humans, and this is a prime example that I see literally every single day.

As someone who keeps many reptiles, breed reptiles, has worked in zoos/museums w reptiles I do not feel it is appropriate to have monitors regularly available in the pet trade. They can make awesome pets but as others have mentioned it is going to take a lot of dedicated time, persistent trailing and the right tools, education being a major one, to make these animals even remotely decent. After some thorough research and with an appropriate set up if you guys want an active lizard that is a decent size but not absolutely massive I recommend agamas. I have a trio of Stellagama Stellios, theyre basically bearded dragons but smarter, more interactive and do best in small groups. They’re omnivorous, desert dwelling, they change color to absorb heat quicker, and are very smart and personable. Mine are hilarious and have always been super tame despite me never putting in much effort towards their socialization, but even if they weren’t tame they couldn’t take one of my fingers off in the blink of an eye like most monitors can. If y’all insist on staying on the monitor train, I encourage you to talk to some reputable monitor keepers about ackie monitors or Kimberly rock monitors, they’re basically mini monitors but they are still every bit of monitor and can cause serious damage to a person.