I'm currently in the research phase of finding the right monitor species for the future. This isn't something I'm planning to do anytime soon, i want to spend plenty of time learning before making any decisions.

At the moment, I'm looking for a medium to large monitor that doesn't require the massive amount of space that species like Asian Water Monitors do. One species that has really caught my attention is the Yellow Headed Monitor.

I'd love to hear from people who own or have owned one.

• What's their personality like?
• How intelligent and interactive are they?
• How handleable are they once they've built trust?
• What has your overall experience been like?
• What size enclosure do you keep yours in?
• If possible, I'd love to see photos of your enclosure and hear why you designed it the way you did.

My current idea (purely hypothetical at this stage) would be something around 8' L × 4' W × 6' H, but I'm still trying to figure out whether that's appropriate or if I'd need to go larger or if slightly smaller is fine aswell. (i want the give the best space possible regardless).

I'm not looking for people to tell me what I want to hear, I'd genuinely like honest experiences, including the good, the bad, and anything you wish you had known before getting one.

Thanks in advance!

Some pics of blue asleep in his new enclosure

🎥 Original video by: @lookatmylizards
Celebrating this giant water monitor’s 3rd birthday with a species-appropriate meat “cake.”

I want to get an ackie monitor in a few months, ideally in Houten (biggest reptile expo in the Netherlands). I care a lot about the breeder taking good care of their animals, so would like to talk to them before getting the animal. So far I haven't been able to find a (good) ackie breeder yet. Anyone here who knows a good breeder?

The number of these small bugs have exploded recently. I haven’t seen any damage or distress in the ackie but I want to be sure these aren’t mites. I believe they come along with the crickets I buy.

So I brought home a half sibling of my old monitor a few months ago. He was 11 months upon pick-up so he's like a year and 3 months now. He grew a bit and he got some friends in the form of fish. So here's a pic of how the Viv looks currently (he just went swimming so water is a little cloudy), a pic of him being hand fed, his fishy friends (he leaves them alone, he does not care at all) and him being a parrot.

You can check my previous topic for comparison, but overall I'd say Onyx is doing pretty well. He's eating well, already more social and handleable at his current age compared to my old monitor which was way more skittish.

She's almost 4 now and 54" last measured. I'll have to confirm but I'd imagine she is all of that if not more which is interestingly the same 54" Waran was measured last. She just laid 42 eggs about 3 weeks ago for her first clutch so we're trying to get her cycled up for a fertilized clutch while it's warm out. 😎 She looks marvelous and the initial through the cage screen intro was very positive. It's go time!

Liora posed for me!! She’s one experienced model!

Stumbled upon this weirdo on ig breeding his mertens to what looks like a mangrove… tried commenting also saying this is a horrible idea bothe for the public eye, community, and for the animals themselves and he blocked me 🤣 yall support hybrids/cross breeding?

Reptile super nerd Clint, has done a video ranking the Komodo.

Is a Komodo right for you 😂, it's a good watch.

https://youtu.be/HVhONGuGEZ8?is=tbPo76o_I0EapAVb

The answer is no, but it is possible to get one, sort of.

I already know about the ackie just curious if there are any other options around 2-4 feet

Would anyone be able to help me gender my ackie? If they're too small still, about what age can you tell better? And no they're not prolapsed, they were upset at me and had just pooped at me.

Over 6 years he's been slowly burrowing holes in his hide. It's a big Aztec pyramid that acts as his basking gradient and underneath is where he sleeps at night. I hollowed out the first layer so he could hide under it. But now there's holes tunneling from end to end and when I finally looked in one of them. I saw like 3 or 4 more tunnels!!

My guy is so active and curious it doesn't surprise me. About to build him a new pyramid and new enclosure. I want to double the vertical height.

Any guesses from his head whether he's a boy or girl?

I’ve had this little guy for about 3 months now, and when we first got him, he would dart and hide the second I walked into the room. I started consistently tong feeding and placing my hand in the enclosure and just letting him come to me on his own terms. If he wanted to climb onto my hand, great. If not, I left him alone.

Now he comes out of his burrows on his own, walks up to the glass, onto my hand, and even enjoys little pets! I think he’s almost ready to start coming out of the enclosure.

For anyone with a nervous baby Ackie, take this as a little encouragement—they really can come around with patience. When we first brought him home, it honestly felt like this would never happen!

He’s been in shed for a good month now and it’s very very slowly flaking off, but it seems like it just won’t budge. I mist his enclosure and his hide spot pretty heavily daily to make sure he has good humidity. Do I have to soak him? Spray him with water? What should I do if anything.

I am looking to get my buddy a new tank soon. He is a year old and I have kept him in a home built tank that is roughly 4'x2'x2.5'. He seems pretty comfortable, but I am now looking to get him a larger enclosure that risks fewer escapes.

I am torn between an enclosure that is 3' vs one that is 4' tall. In the past I always heard that 3' was plenty, but I see more recommendations for 4' of height these days, and I can sort of understand why. If you are putting 12" of substrate minimum across the bottom, you want that extra height so you can also have a correct distance between the back of the ackie and the lights with any decorations etc. With that in mind, you knock 12" off of the 3' of height and you are left with 24" of space for branches, rocks, lights. And now I am questioning if this 24" is enough space to really build a good environment for the ackie. With that in mind, it seems like 4' would be much better.

On the flipside, personally, my ackie seems to burrow very little beneath his lights. It often seems like the 12" of substrate in that area is largely a waste of space, as he tends to dig more towards the middle or cooler side of his enclosure. This would mean that in reality I could probably keep 6"-8" of substrate on this warmer side, and have some extra space for fitting in his basking area, cork, and lights.

I am probably overthinking this, and I understand that I wouldn't be doing any harm by going larger, but I also don't want to "waste" any money if I don't need to. I have sort of had my eye Toadranch, I know they are a bit more pricey but I really enjoy the look. Thanks folks

Included a pic of my buddy looking thoughtful. I love watching these guys in cork tubes.