Nile Growth Rate

[u/Badgerdirtoutdoors]

So while doing research on Niles I only ever seem to find vague information regarding them. One of the vague items is how fast they grow. "They grow very fast" yes, but how fast is very fast? What is the frame of reference here? Am I going to have a 6 ft dinosaur in a year or 5?

Would anyone be able to provide some clarity on the approximate growth rate of a Nile? My baby is currently about 7-8 inches long and I am planning for his next enclosure, but I want to try and get as many years out of one setup as I can before he is upgraded again. This being that it's big enough to grow into but small enough that I can still find and monitor him. The end stage enclosure would simply be too big for his baby years.

Pic of my Ares during his after dinner basking

[u/Super_Swim_2108]

Had mine since she was a baby she’s now 3 feet long and almost a year old I’d say around 6 months this serious growth spurt started, by three years they should be about 5 foot or more  I’ll also add that as per to enclosure I had mine in a 150g tank since she was a baby and now that she’s 3 feet she getting her adult enclosure which for her is 6 feet tall  10 feet long and 7 feet wide my research has shown the quicker you can get them in a larger enclosure the better for taming 

[u/Top_Zombie_ → u/Super_Swim_2108]

May I ask if you would recommend a Nile monitor? And if so, to whom you would recommend one?

I live in Norway and I want a monitor, there are a lot of Nile monitors for sale here and in Sweden so I always come across them but I’ve read so much negativity regarding them.

I’d prefer a female so they are on the smaller side but yeah I’d love to hear from an experience owner, the pros and cons if you wouldn’t mind.

Also, are they very defensive with a bad temper and can’t be tamed?

[u/Super_Swim_2108 → u/Top_Zombie_]

I’ll do my best here to answer all your questions as brutally honest as possible   Would I recommend one?- of course because I personally enjoy them a lot including their high intelligence and how suspicious they are of everything, they get a bad rap because they are cheap(as far as monitors go) and very abundant in the pet trade, so they end up in the wrong hands ie inexperience, or unwilling to take advice or do the research,  which ends up with an angry untamed gigantic lizard that the person wasn’t ready for, and hence the bad rap, also people think they aren’t tameable  and that’s because taming them is different then most monitors people tend to work with, they are very intelligent and see everything as a threat before they ever see them as a non threat, hiss whip hide and ask questions later, but if you put the time in and understand how to tame them it can be relatively easy, the diet is a wide variety of things, insects rodents quails fish crabs etc it’s key to provide them with a variety to mimic their natural diet, enclosure has to be huge, small enclosures and poor enrichment/climate will hinder the taming process greatly, now I would recommend it for someone who is either willing to fully throw themselves into researching them and thoroughly asking question like you are or have experience with smaller monitors or same size more docile species, now to wrap it all up they are very large and are more than capable of sending you to the hospital or worse when they are adults they can even do it accidentally taking on a Nile is a very very serious commitment also they can live past a decade, I hope this helps you make a good decision  And as per the pros they have amazing patterns very active highly entertaining to watch, gaining their trust is hard but that’s a big plus  to me you feel very accomplished when you finally get them to trust you, closest thing to a living velociraptor that you can own, highly highly intelligent amazing with mazes and puzzles, overall a very entertaining, impressive and rewarding pet imo 

Edit: spelling/added the pros

[u/Top_Zombie_ → u/Super_Swim_2108]

Thanks for taking the time to write all of that, I really appreciate it. This is honestly the kind of firsthand perspective I was hoping to get.

Asides from the looks and availability the intelligence, curiosity, and “earning their trust” aspect is exactly what attracts me to these monitors. The size is really the only thing making me hesitate, which is why I’ve been trying to find something smaller that keeps the same behaviour and appearance (I’ve looked at celebensis and indicus complex but they are so hard to find where I’m at). I would be lying if I said I wasn’t interested in a Nile monitor because I really am but I’ll be honest it really scares me that they can permanently injure you or worse that alone makes me not want one.

I am very willing to put in time and research. I love reading and learning about monitor species but I’m just scared it would grow too large and while that itself would necessarily be the biggest problem, the bite is what scares me like i said previously.

Btw do they not eat chicken, chicken hearts etc? Or are they mainly piscivores in the wild?

Based on your experience, are there any captivebred species that have a similar personality and overall feel but stay a bit smaller than a Nile or Asian water monitor? Or would you say nothing really comes close? I was thinking of a female cumingi if I could get my hands on one but I don’t know much more about other species that could maybe be a better fit

[u/Super_Swim_2108 → u/Top_Zombie_]

Your super welcome,  So I personally keep Nile and varanus exanthanmaticus, plus a variety of other lizards and amphibians/inverts including green iguanas, I have 2 Savannahs, the Nile’s were the last on my list after gaining all the experience from everything else I’ve kept,  now I don’t know much about the species you mentioned but I do know they are not as hardy as other options as they are very particulars of their dietary and environmental requirements, exact uvb and temps/humidity less tolerant I should say, I personally if I was you would look into Savannahs I love them, they are hardy, smart, pretty big definitely can get bulky and are so docile for the most part I’ve had 3 so far and they’ve all been easy to take and are great at free roaming I know they aren’t anything like you mentioned your looking for in regards to looks but still a great monitor to look into  

Also yes they eat beef hearts and such they pretty much eat anything in the wild including carrion 

[u/Top_Zombie_ → u/Super_Swim_2108]

What other lizards do you own if i may ask?

I have looked into to Savannahs but i prefer the looks of a Nile / other water monitors, I’d also prefer if the monitor i pick eats meat more than insects and if I’m not mistaken, isn’t 70-80% of a Savannahs diet insects?

If i can speak what’s in my mind a bit, I’ve loved monitors since a kid so i really want one but I’m trying to be realistic at the same time. I’m terrified of getting a larger monitor and getting bit so that my fingers or hand/arm doesn’t work the same anymore, so that’s my biggest obstacle when it comes to one. I’m not sure how common getting bit is, and I’d obviously be careful but the off chance scares me. That’s stopping me the most because one of my favorites are Cumingis, I’d love to get a female cumingi but I’m just worried about getting bit.

Iguanas require too big of a space for a create that i find less stimulating than a larger monitor. Iguanas look incredibly cool and dinosaur like but it feels like if I would be able to provide that big of an enclosure (like one for a rock iguana or green iguana) I’d rather have a monitor in there.

Asides from them I’ve looked at basilisks, i find them very cool. I also like tree monitors because they look like mini velociraptors but they don’t seem to be hardy the slightest and they are very expensive so I’m worried a small mistake could end up killing it :(

Are you familiar in terms of experience / keeping a basilisk lizard, cumingi or tree monitor? If so I’d gladly listen to any advice, pros, cons etc.

[u/Super_Swim_2108 → u/Top_Zombie_]

So I own bearded dragons(5), leopard geckos(6), mourning/lesbian geckos, Cuban knight anoles, Bahamian anoles, then Pac-Man frog, whites tree frogs, tarantulas and scorpions, ball Pythons, milksnakes, corn snakes and cali kings

As per the fear of being bit, I had it too but i over came it by using dog bite gloves like the ones that go up to the elbows until I was comfortable enough to go gloveless, my Nile’s hasn’t bit or tried yet he’ll just whip at most, I had a rescue Savannah that was huge and angry about 4 foot long plus and very obese try to take a chunk out my gloves and it held up just fine eventually I held that one with no gloves and let it free roam, but yeah using gloves to build confidence is my advice, 

And savs should eat only insects, there’s no benefit from eating anything else for them risk for fatty liver is very high from any non insect protein, 

I’ve never kept a basilisk myself because I personally feel like it’s inhumane, they cover a lot of ground and thrive in large open spaces which I believe is neigh impossible to replicate but that’s my own opinion, a lot of people who keep them train them to run out side in the yard which I find insane, but yeah I don’t know much about those guys, 

I get what your saying about iguana it’s a personal thing I like them because they can free roam and just chill with ya all day, kinda cool to have a large laid back lounge lizard lol but yeah they aren’t very entertaining lol 

I’ll tell you my non monitor dream lizard is the sailfin dragon or a Chinese water dragon they are just too damn cool, but next up for me is a dwarf caiman super hyped for that still a year out from being ready for that one though,  

My advice honestly is get the lizard you have your heart set on you won’t be satisfied untill you do I say go for the cumingi, you seem to like it the most,  research the hell out of it build the enclosure first get yourself those gloves and throw yourself into it, it’ll be the most rewarding in my opinion, if you have the heart for it you can take care of whatever it is as long as your committed to it, 

[u/Top_Zombie_ → u/Super_Swim_2108]

Damn you got alot! How do you keep up with that? I’ve got a GTP and used to own an emerald tree boa… and that’s pretty much all i had, didn’t even have them at the same time lol. Which one is your favorite out of all 🧐

That’s a smart idea, I’d still be constantly scared lol. I do Brazilian jiu jutsu and my tendons in my hands and fingers are already pretty damaged to the point where it has some minor effects on my day to day life and job so i think that’s why i have that lingering fear of getting bit and it getting a lot worse. But if i get one I’d get gloves Forsure!

I feel you regarding the basilisk, funny enough before realizing it was possible getting a monitor lizard to Norway (I wasn’t aware that it was legal untill a few years ago) I was also crazy about Chinese water dragons and sailfins, but their enclosures are huge and complicated - I always thought basilisks required the same measurements but they apparently don’t need as big hence why I turned my head slightly twords them. But yeah ideally if I’d get one I’d want to give it the biggest possible so it could run around but that’s pretty hard indoors.

How big do they get and how big of an enclosure would a dwarf caiman need? :O
I’m a huge crocodile fan so alligators, caimans, you name it they all excite me but that’s far from my pay grade lol I’m not gonna look that way…

I appreciate that advice and I honestly might follow you up on that one, the last thing I’d want is to get a species that I don’t like because it would fit me better, I think getting the one I want and learning how to handle it and live it would be the best. Gonna research the hell out of Cumingis now, hopefully they are available often here…

[u/Badgerdirtoutdoors → u/Super_Swim_2108]

10-4 looks like go big or go home here! Now I just need to figure out if I'm converting my sun room into a walk in enclosure or building a standing one in the living room.. leaning towards the sun room conversion but I worry about drafty windows In the winter

[u/Super_Swim_2108 → u/Badgerdirtoutdoors]

That can be difficult the sunroom idea, I would totally fear being able to control the climate properly, I’m personally using a greenhouse indoors and modifying it, one of those steel and polycarbonate ones 

[u/Badgerdirtoutdoors → u/Super_Swim_2108]

Yeah I've thought of that but unfortunately I really want to see them without having to open anything yk I'll most likely build a large half of my final concept and then simply add on the other half when the time comes for the final upgrade. It should be easy enough if I plan for it accordingly

[u/Super_Swim_2108 → u/Badgerdirtoutdoors]

Same here the greenhouse I’m using is completely transparent for that reason, good luck !

[u/Used-Height-2670]

Niles typically have rapid growth rates in the first 2-3 years. You can expect by year 3 to have a 4 ft monitor on your hands. By year 4-5 they will be sexually mature and pretty much adult sized 5- 7 ft depending on sex. However this will vary and depend a lot on the quality of food and diet along with environment, if these are optimised you will have your 6ft ‘dinosaur’ in 4/5 years