I'm very curious about water monitors, and I would love to get an opinion or advice about them from someone who knows alot. I'm considering getting one when I get a bigger house and know a lot about them, and have a lot of room and time for one. but i'm very intrigued so gimmie advice!!

First off I don't know ALOT about them. But I'll say a few things. First off they eat alot, a whole lot. You probably already know how huge they get, so I won't comment on that issue other than one massive enclosure is needed. Something like 20 ft x 20 ft. At that size they can be dangerous to handle. Enough about that.
There are alternative monitor species which act identical but are only half the size. I know I would like to get a large species monitor as well but so far I don't have the room anyway.
To sum it up I would say if you have never had a monitor before. I would go with a Savannah before taking the leap to that one.

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Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa

I literally live with water monitors. Last year, I actually had a young one foraging in my yard. You are wanting to take on a giant committment if you want a water monitor. If you happen to get a Varanus salvator salvator or a Varanus salvator macromaculatus, you are talking about a lizard that can get to 3 metres (the longest lizard ever recorded was a water monitor, not a Komodo dragon (Randow, 1932)). A rule of thumb that minimalists use for monitor care (in another words lowest common denominator for care, which means you really just want one and not care for it properly) is 1X total length in width and 2X total length in length of enclosure. This means you need to consider an enclosure of 3m X 6m or in American measurements, 9ft 10in X 19ft 8in. That is bigger than my library, the largest room in my home! If you have that much room and money to create such an enclosure- go for it after you learn all that you need to know about this species. Please consider that they can live longer than 20 years!


I have head started them for three of the four years that I have been here (taking hatchlings and raising them over the first year, until there is minimal threat of predation). They are eating machines. They will be over 1 metre after the first year, but they could be even larger than that, dependent upon how much you are feeding them. As their name implies, their lives revolve around water. They often sleep in the water, both under and at the water's edge. Burrows in the wild, when they use them, often have their entrance under water.

You could make them go without water and they will live, but that is like setting up a green iguana without anything to climb on (I consider this abusive and totally unacceptable). Swimming accomadations should be large enough for them to swim in and submerge so they can take refuge. Enclosure should be semi-aquatic in nature, which the above size for the minimum is too small. When they are younger, they like to climb.

As they become older, they are more terrestrial and aquatic; in nature, they spend most of the time either in the water or close to the water's edge, foraging. Other requirements include heating the water and constantly changing the water or having an elaborate filtration system to clean the water. Water monitors also use the water to defecate and they defecate A LOT. Basking is a must, as it is with other monitor species. In the case of the water monitor, they prefer to bask where they can quickly enter the water.

In my opinion, this speices should not be as available as it is in the pet trade. They are entirely too large to properly house for the overwhelming percentage of people that keep reptiles. It should be in the same classification as keeping crocodilians as far as regulation and with more land area as far as keeping.

There are volumes of information written on this species. Care sheets are worthless, but by the time that you have read enough on them, you should be able to create a care sheet superior to anything on the internet. Please do not take this post as everything you need to know. I have been studying these monitors for years and am willing to answer any questions that you want answered, but please do your own research and ask me those things that you have not been able to find.

Thank you so much for that posting Michael, you really help put it in to perspective.

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Those who say it can't be done should get out of the way of those who are doing it.

~*~Lacey~*~

My Photos

I hear that a lot.. people wanting to get water monitors for pets,,, years ago the local pet store had one on display,, it was in a ridiculously small tank, very cruel in my opinion,, and at the time I didnt even realize how big they could get.
so the way you sum it up Michael,, is that basically an elephant would be easier to care for, lol

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I have sucker tattood on my forehead

Wow, that was wonderful information on water monitors, Michael! Thank you for posting it!

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~Juliane~

They should be restricted in the pet trade. I saw one at the pet store last year. I was intrigued by it. It had a beautiful yellow on black coloration. It was only about a foot long tip to tip. I was under the impression they "Only" grew to about six feet.(That's why I didn't buy it) Nine feet you say? OMG!
I can't even imagine trying to maintain an enclosure that big! Especially trying to keep the water clean.
I would think it would be best to have some property with a pond on it and that property would have to be in the southern half of Florida if you live in the US.
Keeping it inside , even if one were to devote their entire basement to it, would lead to an undoubtedly smelly situation.

In the end, I fear most of these animals sold in the US are disposed of unethically. Either released out in the wild where they will undoubtedly die, or just killed outright. A few might be donated to a zoo, But I doubt the zoos can take them all.

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Git'er Done!

Unfortunately, most monitors, especially the wild caught ones, do not survive their first year in captivity. To give you an idea of how many are brought in and killed in improper hands, there are ca. 50,000 Varanus exanthematicus (Savannah Monitors) imported for the pet trade into the US alone every year (numbers come from CITES databases). The US pet trade in reptiles has been strong for over 20 years, so do the math: 20 X 50,000= 1,000,000 Varanus exanthematicus imported to the US. Most all of them come in as juveniles, which means 80%-90% should be alive today, if they received proper care. Unfortunately, the majority die off the first year, with few surviving into the second year and fewer yet making it to three years of captivity. So in the past 20 years, a minimum of 800,000 Varanus exanthematicus alone should be in people's homes. Varanus salvator is the one of the most imported species. Add all the species imported together and their should be a great number of monitors on every city block in the US. How many, even on this forum of people that love reptiles, have monitors over 3 years old? (The people that are on this forum are not even a fair representation, because most people that buy monitors do not even look for information.) I am willing to bet the number is extremely low.

Og, they often 'only' grow to 6ft in captivity (when and IF they are properly cared for). A number of factors go into the size they will attain: males grow larger than females, the genetic inclination of some localities (races) to grow larger (e.g. Sri Lankan and Thai), favouable environmental factors and diet. There have been interesting studies done that I have read (I believe they were in Mertensiella 9: Conservation, Trade and Sustainable Use of Lizards and Snakes in Indonesia) showing a direct correlation among populations which face hunting pressure (from leather and pet trade) and monitors not attaining large size (they attain sexual maturity early to reproduce and increase their number, never attaining their full potential size: growth stops in oder to use resources for recruitment).

9ft+ Varanus salvator are exceptional and I have yet to personally see them that large, but I have seen a number of them (such as the one in the first photo) that are between 7ft and 8ft.

Sadly, the same can be said for most reptiles in captivity. I'm willing to bet most don't live a third of their life span. It's awful.

The pet trade should definitely have restrictions on certain animals. Unfortunately, it's all about making the next buck, no matter what detrimental effects it has on the animals or the environment.

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"Let's eat, Grandpa!"
"Let's eat Grandpa!"

Punctuation. It saves lives.

Well Mike, You really know your stuff. To bad we don't have more people like you in the other herp categories.

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Git'er Done!