I used to keep snakes for pets, both as a kid and as an adult, and I took care of my now-step-daughter's Australian iguana for several months. So I understand the attraction, but I wouldn't personally want a monitor lizard, or a large snake for that matter.

My rule with the snakes was that I didn't want anything that could get big enough to threaten my cats. I had a 5' corn snake, but she was pretty slender, so if they'd had a tussle, she would have lost. Ditto with my ball python, which was much thicker-bodied, but not quite four feet long.

The corn snake was an escape artist, though, so she got loose in the house several times, but the cats never messed with her, and vice versa. For some reason, she always chose to hide out in my ex-husband's leather boat shoe, which at least made it easy to find her. No accounting for taste. ;-)

And no, I never hugged my snakes, though I did enjoy holding them from time to time.

All except for my red-tailed green rat snake, because he was just too nervous to be trustworthy, and I'm not keen on being bitten. Gorgeous animal, but I wouldn't have another of that species.