Dragons vs. Monitors

[TWENTY B]

i left my ackies till 18 months, but handle whenever you feel like it

i've handled my sandies since day 1, and they are just starting to calm alot now

 

[jordanmulder]

thanks twentyb by the way I'm with monitors are betta

 

[crocdoc]

Monitors all the way. They're more intelligent, inquisitive and active than dragons. Dragons are cute, though, and definitely more kid-friendly to handle.

Jordan, I'd avoid any sort of force-handling with your ackies and wait until the monitors are willing to approach your outstretched hand.

As for monitors being cheaper to feed than dragons, I'd disagree with that. Although roo meat and chicken necks are cheap, in the long term if that was the bulk of their diet ... well, there will be no long term as your monitors will eventually start suffering from MBD and assorted other ailments from an incomplete diet. Especially if you are breeding them, for the females really need a complete diet to cope with egg production. I'm a big fan of feeding them small whole animals.

If you want to save money on insect-eating species, monitors or dragons, start up a colony of wood roaches and you'll be set for life. Put a heat pad under the colony, set it at 30C, let them build up in numbers and you'll never run out.

 

[Charlie09]

It's a hard question to answer and it comes down to what you prefer...I have both monitors and dragons. My monitors are far to flighty to handle they just seem to never settle down, but they are fun to watch and are great hunters. I have no experience with bearded dragons and for some reason it seems to be the dragon of choice.....I keep QLD frillies and Boyds Forest dragons...to me they are way better than monitors...The dragons seem to have way more personality are better looking and yes easier to handle. Though my male frillies claws do leave some descent scratches and often draw blood...People seem to just want monitors for their size and unless you can look after them properly and provide a descent enclosure then stay away...

 

[longirostris]

The question is subjective, there being no right or wrong answer. It is personal preference. I made a conscious decision 20 years ago to concentrate on dragons and keep nothing else. The original motive for the decision was space requirements. My thinking at the time was that I will be able to keep more dragons in the same area I had available then I could if I was keeping monitors.

What I did not know then and am still learning 20 years later is how challenging keeping a large collection of dragons in an artificial environment can be. My small part time hobby has been become an all consuming passion as I knew it would. I can only imagine the problems I would have had with space requirements if I had continued with monitors all those years ago.

I have no regrets. Quite the contrary, it was the best reptile related decision I ever made. I believe dragons are without doubt the most difficult, time consuming and expensive of all reptile families to keep. It makes sense then that when you get it right they provide the greatest sense of achievement and success. To me the reward of breeding rare species is worth every bit of the angst and heartache we dragon keepers go through.

People

 

[Metalbeard]

Fresh Veg $10, Assorted Insects $10, Heating And lighting $1, Water $1 and having a baby Bearded Dragon/Dragons Priceless...All Entertainment for the week brought to you by mastercard.