from fish to reptiles
- Thread starter giant19000
- Start date
I am going to +1 what vicious said. Monitors are amazing animals but one heck of a commitment. I kept them quite a bit back in the day when indo exports were roaring into the USA. Argus are probably one of the coolest monitors out there but also happen to need one of the largest enclosures. For an argus you're looking at a 6'x6' enclosure, at least. And that's just the footprint. In addition, certain monitors have individual personalities. Some are for the most part calm (dumerils, savannahs, etc.). However, some can go either way and some are downright MEAN. Argus tend to be 50/50. The ones that aren't calm/nice are extremely powerful and fast lizards.
Go with ackies. You get all the personality of an argus, without the size, in a quite easily breed-able package. Furthermore, the enclosures are straightforward. You can use a stock/feed bin for ackies.
Go with ackies. You get all the personality of an argus, without the size, in a quite easily breed-able package. Furthermore, the enclosures are straightforward. You can use a stock/feed bin for ackies.
Monitors are awesome lizzards, but as said, if thereis one type of animals you need to do the utmost research on, they are it.
The smallest I would ever keep an Argus in would have 12x6 footprint.. They like to run, and will ram into the walls of their cages when you startle them if you don't have a large enough cage..
No healthy monitor will be "tame". They can learn to tolerate your presence, and will readily approach you for food, but if you are looking for something you can hold on a regular basis, Varanids should be crossed off your list. They will spend a good portion of their time out of sight when you're around, (Argus and Ackies less so than Savs) and will not be thrilled if you grab them. Interaction should be on their terms, not yours. Monitors do not deal with stress well, so they will remain primarily a display animal apart from interaction during feeding time. Out of those three, an ackie is your best bet. There are not a lot of people capable of caring for an Argus, and only slightly more capable of caring for a Sav. Even monitors as small as Ackies will eat more food than you could imagine, the larger ones are bottomless pits.
Great info from A. gigas,
Also, monitor lizards behave differently at different temperatures.
A healthy monitor lizard that is givin the correct ambient temps and access to high basking temps, running at OPERATING TEMPERATURES isnt just going to sit in your lap, eyes almost closed, looking half dead, like the ones I see on youtube all the time.
Of coarse those ones are tame.
Bingo. What's incredibly sad is that people buy a monitor after seeing all the dying examples on YouTube, and they keep it far too cold because they want a "tame" monitor, and when it dies after a year or maybe two, they cut their losses, refuse the idea that it was their fault, and buy another to keep it exactly the same way.
Sad ok I'll do more research and I'll get get back to everyone thanks gigas
Meantime what is a lizard I can keep that can be tamed and healthy at the same time.but grows no more than 5feet
If its something I really like and trust me I'm 100% sure I want a monitor/lizard I am willing to commit to the responsibility of housing feeding etc.
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