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giant19000

Fahaka
MFK Member
Sep 6, 2010
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THE AMAZON
hey guys,well i walked into a lfs yest. hoping to find a new fish friend when i saw this argus monitor lizard.......it was love at first sight,the owner is a good friend of mine he let me carry it around and was being very helpful on all my questions...
so i did research yest. till now and i think i know what i want...
but still need help and advice on how to keep,foods,captivity size
well im looking at
blue tree monitor lizard
green tree
or yellow tree
and if anyone knows of any cool pattern dwarf monitors i would really appreciate it
 
If this is your first monitor, I would not recommend any of the tree monitors you just mentioned. For their size, they require extremely large cages and very high humidity. Majority of them are wc as well and come in infested with ticks, mites and other parasites and worms. A lot of them also come in extremely emaciated and require a lot if tlc to get them back to good health. The cb ones you do find are extremely expensive but its well worth it because you don't encounter any of the problems associated with wc.
I would start off with the argus monitor you first mentioned. They stay relatively small and have amazing personalities. They are a desert species and don't require high humidity but they like it HOT!
If you want a smaller monitor, the peach throat only gets to be around 2ft max and they are pretty colorful as well. They like their humidity higher though, around 60-70%, but its not as extreme as the tree monitors which like it around 90%.


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wait for the user A.gigas to get on here. He has obsessed over monitors for a long time, and can answer any questions you may have. Aw3s0m3, the peach throat monitor can attain 5ft...
 
Aw3s0m3 said:
If this is your first monitor, I would not recommend any of the tree monitors you just mentioned. For their size, they require extremely large cages and very high humidity. Majority of them are wc as well and come in infested with ticks, mites and other parasites and worms. A lot of them also come in extremely emaciated and require a lot if tlc to get them back to good health. The cb ones you do find are extremely expensive but its well worth it because you don't encounter any of the problems associated with wc.
I would start off with the argus monitor you first mentioned. They stay relatively small and have amazing personalities. They are a desert species and don't require high humidity but they like it HOT!
If you want a smaller monitor, the peach throat only gets to be around 2ft max and they are pretty colorful as well. They like their humidity higher though, around 60-70%, but its not as extreme as the tree monitors which like it around 90%.


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Click to expand...
You don't seem to have a lot of knowledge on monitors.. Argus monitors are very fast and skittish, with an incredible food response, and they are not small animals.. Males can get over five feet long. They are very active and require a very large cage to live out anything resembling a happy life. They are not a good choice for a first monitor based on size alone, not even taking into account their very active lifestyle. Secondly, Argus do need access to high humidity. They live in deserts in some portions of their range, but they live in grasslands and forests as well. When the humidity gets low, they stay in their burrows because the air is humid down there.
Where did you hear that peach throats stay two feet? Not counting the tail, maybe... Again, not a good first monitor. None of the species in the indicus complex adjust well to captivity, there is a reason you never see them bred in captivity.

Go with an Ackie Monitor. They are active and inquisitive, and don't get over two feet. There is also the fact that export from Australia is banned, so all the ones you see for sale are captive bred.
 
A. gigas said:
You don't seem to have a lot of knowledge on monitors.. Argus monitors are very fast and skittish, with an incredible food response, and they are not small animals.. Males can get over five feet long. They are very active and require a very large cage to live out anything resembling a happy life. They are not a good choice for a first monitor based on size alone, not even taking into account their very active lifestyle. Secondly, Argus do need access to high humidity. They live in deserts in some portions of their range, but they live in grasslands and forests as well. When the humidity gets low, they stay in their burrows because the air is humid down there.
Where did you hear that peach throats stay two feet? Not counting the tail, maybe... Again, not a good first monitor. None of the species in the indicus complex adjust well to captivity, there is a reason you never see them bred in captivity.

Go with an Ackie Monitor. They are active and inquisitive, and don't get over two feet. There is also the fact that export from Australia is banned, so all the ones you see for sale are captive bred.
Click to expand...

Oops. Sorry. I was definitely thinking of the ackies when I wrote that and got them confused.

And with the peachthroat, sorry. I guess I was misinformed by whom I thought was an expert and shouldn't have said that without firsthand experience. My bad everyone.


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A. gigas said:
You don't seem to have a lot of knowledge on monitors.. Argus monitors are very fast and skittish, with an incredible food response, and they are not small animals.. Males can get over five feet long. They are very active and require a very large cage to live out anything resembling a happy life. They are not a good choice for a first monitor based on size alone, not even taking into account their very active lifestyle. Secondly, Argus do need access to high humidity. They live in deserts in some portions of their range, but they live in grasslands and forests as well. When the humidity gets low, they stay in their burrows because the air is humid down there.
Where did you hear that peach throats stay two feet? Not counting the tail, maybe... Again, not a good first monitor. None of the species in the indicus complex adjust well to captivity, there is a reason you never see them bred in captivity.

Go with an Ackie Monitor. They are active and inquisitive, and don't get over two feet. There is also the fact that export from Australia is banned, so all the ones you see for sale are captive bred.
Click to expand...

wow you seem to know quite a lot
i was thinking of something small and active aggressive for my 60gallon
and something big but not too big like to keep out during day and back into tank at night????
 
giant19000 said:
wow you seem to know quite a lot
i was thinking of something small and active aggressive for my 60gallon
and something big but not too big like to keep out during day and back into tank at night????
Click to expand...
Any fish tank will require some modification before it will be able to hold the heat, humidity, and substrate that monitors need. As it is, a 60 gallon is not big enough for anything but the smallest dwarf monitors. Kingorum, gilleni, storri, etc. You'll need to build your own enclosure for any of the larger monitors, and really a custom made enclosure is best for all of them.

The charm of a large monitor will wear off very quickly when it begins to eat you out of house and home. Even the dwarf species eat a lot.
I would also ditch the idea of having it live outside unless you live in Africa/Asia/Australia. I have yet to see a monitor do well kept outdoors outside of the tropics. Get an ackie, and build an indoor cage for it. The bigger the better, but 4'x2'x2' is the bare minimum.
 
A. gigas said:
Any fish tank will require some modification before it will be able to hold the heat, humidity, and substrate that monitors need. As it is, a 60 gallon is not big enough for anything but the smallest dwarf monitors. Kingorum, gilleni, storri, etc. You'll need to build your own enclosure for any of the larger monitors, and really a custom made enclosure is best for all of them.

The charm of a large monitor will wear off very quickly when it begins to eat you out of house and home. Even the dwarf species eat a lot.
I would also ditch the idea of having it live outside unless you live in Africa/Asia/Australia. I have yet to see a monitor do well kept outdoors outside of the tropics. Get an ackie, and build an indoor cage for it. The bigger the better, but 4'x2'x2' is the bare minimum.
Click to expand...

ok sounds good im going to be getting a custom made terrarium for either savannah,argus or ackie..
now the thing is can they be tamed?how do you tame them?
does feeding live increase aggression?
and add advice that you would like to add.
i think i might just make my 60g a scorpion,gecko,or other dwarf reptile tank
any advice on what you would put in a 60g tank???(with the mods you mentioned ofcourse)
 
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