Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, hello all. My name is Kevin, and I have always had a fascination with monitors, but sadly I made the same common mistakes. Not researching, getting a cheap nile off the bat and a half dead w/c savannah. I definitely decided that I needed a new approach, so I gave them both to a more experienced keeper and hit the books. I still don't know enough to say I am anything more than a novice though, lol. The question I have is a Substrate related one. I am in the process of building an enclosure for a trio of Argus monitors. 8 foot long, and then 4x4, is that big enough, or should I make it bigger? I plan on having 2 spots to climb up to get closer to the heat lamps, that also second as hide boxes, 2 water dishes big enough to soak in, and the substrate is where I get confused.

should I leave a foot of clearance in the front and just have a 2x8 piece of plexi that slides in/out as a door (horizontally) and 1' for substrate? A friend recommends newspaper for monitors, but I would rather give them something to burrow in personally. Would unfertilized peat from Lowe's work for substrate?

Fermica the inside, or line it with something else? I have read of people lining and just leaving bare.

One last question. The trio has a very thin, or he WAS very thin when I got him, male. They said that they wouldn't breed when he was fatter, so they kept him thin. Since I got them, they have all eaten like champs, and he literally meets every meal with an open mouth, lol.

I know keeping multiple males together can lead to bad times, but can keeping 1.2 work out or should I stay 1.1 or even just single monitor per enclosure?

I am wicked sorry for the long post, I have the small male in a 55g, the smaller female in a 75g, and the big female in a cage type of thing used as a dog kennel (nothing sharp, no way to escape, safe as far as I can tell) Mind you that these VERY temporary enclosures, while their "Dream House" is built.

They _may_ be Argus x Flavi, if so, what does that change?

Thank you all very much. I'll try and post some pics this evening before work.

Kevin,

In response to your first question, I would create the cage larger than the 4x4x8 dimensions, assuming you are planning on housing the trio together. That said, I would not house the trio together at all. Females will fight with females, and males and females will occasionally squabble, especially over food items. Housing a pair in the same cage will prevent enough challenges concerning monitors in the Argus complex. I frequently have to separate Argus x Flavi pairs. A 4x4x8 enclosure would be the minimum enclosure recommended for an Argus pair.
As far as substrate choices, I would use dirt and lots of it. You can get this from your backyard, a nursery, or a home improvement store. You need the depth of the substrate to be at least 24". You can accomplish this by purchasing a stock tank, filling it with dirt and building the rest of your enclosure on top of and around this tank.
I would make the cage opening from the top rather than opening from the front. Try negotiating an adult male Argus out of a frontal opening cage, you'll soon see why. You can keep a front opening for cleaning purposes, but if it opens from the top, you can drop your food in and get to a monitor easily than coming at it straight on.
To line your cage, you can purchase FRP at Lowe's and Home Depot for about $25-30 for a 4x8 sheet.
I'm glad they are eating like champs, put some weight on that male. How large are the monitors presently? If they are sub-adults, they need to be out of that cage. These are very active reptiles, using every bit of their enclosure. I housed a hatchling in a fifty-five gallon for a very short period, within months he was ready for a much larger enclosure. Although you have them in temporary enclosures, the female needs to get out of that dog kennel. How can you properly respond to her needs or how can she have access to heat, humidity, etc. She is losing a lot of heat this way. I don't mean to give you a hard time, but you need to get them out of those temporary enclosures ASAP. You could construct makeshift enclosures in an afternoon using plywood and 2x2's.
The ArgusxFlavi crosses are kept and behave much like pure Argus. They can be slightly smaller and more easy to work with, but neither of these are very compliant to handling. Every single Argus or cross I have owned has hissed at me simply opening the cage, unless I have food, which they are eager to lunge at.
Here are some websites with some very helpful information:
http://www.pizards.com/hbd/argus.html

http://www.kingsnake.com/monitorfaq/species.htm#7.2

Where did you get these monitors? I sold a male/female Argus/Flavi pair and a young Argus male in December to someone. The size of your monitors is very similar to the size of the ones I sold. The young male was in great shape. It's easy to start jumping to conclusions. Would you mind sending some pictures. I wonder if they are the same three. I could send you some pictures to see if this is the case.