Sploot’s definitely loving the Houston heat! 😂

This is phase one of the enclosure set up. He now also has a UVB strip light and a secondary heat lamp just above the top tier of the Cat Tree. Hottest point is about 115, ambient 85 and cold 70. Its a green house so holding humidity at about 50% is easy. I spray down the plants about once a week.

The box with the blanket has been removed.

I always find him digging or hanging in the cat tree, thinking about giving him another one.

Also considering putting earthworms in the dirt for him to discover ❤️

I plan on getting a ackie monitor soon I have done research but would still
Love tips also I would like to know what size enclosure I could use for a juvenile through adult or if it can stay in the same size enclosure

So recently, inexplicably today, my skittish female mangrove started to let me touch her. She's was tongue flicking and checking out my hand before I tried touching her. She showed no fear and wasn't wary like usual, so I tried a gentle touch under her tail, and she permitted it. She didn't seem stressed, so I tried petting the base of her tail, at which point she raised her tail into my petting. She wasn't tongue flicking during this, and after I did this she closed her eyes, so I want to get some ideas about whether this stressed her out or not.

So for context, I have a bit of a collection of animals already. I've got a bunch of snakes and a handful of invertebrates, and while I'm happy with all my animals, there's one thing I've always wanted to round it all off, a huge lizard.

I've had a few lizards in the past. As a kid, I had a leopard gecko and a crestie. In more recent times, I had an ackie who I absolutely adored, but he was just a bit too small to scratch the itch I have.

I also watched a friends juvenile argus monitor for a bit over a year. She was fun at times, but was really cautious around people's hands. I never touched her if she hissed at me, or forced handling. I don't know why, maybe she just didn't like hands or something. While it was fun feeding her and watching her dig around and climb, I wouldn't be very satisfied if she was my own pet from the lack of interactivity. Also, a bit too high energy for me. Whenever I fed her, she would act like she's never eaten in her life, and tried to eat my tongs on several occasions.

I wanted to come here and ask everyone: what would you say fits me best? Size wise, I'm looking at 4-5 feet, ideally closer to 4 than 5, but I'm flexible within that range. I want something really interactive that actually wants to engage with me, not just something that tolerates being handled.

With some research and input from friends, my top candidates right now are female Argentine black and white tegus, celebensis water monitors, and female black throat monitors. Tegus would be my first choice, but I'm not big on brumation, and guberty sounds like a nightmare, but their temperment is pretty hard to beat from what I hear

What do you all think? For reference, the largest space I can provide is 8x4x4. I'd love something like an Asian water monitor if I had the space and money for the enclosure it would need lol.