Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i've finally narrowed down the two monitors i would like to get and it is between an argus and an ackie so i would like to know the difference between them in terms of average size, minimum cage size for a pair, also tameness. any other information would be very more then helpful so please share with me everthing you know

The differences between ackies and argus are numerous. Based on my experiences, here are some things to consider. First of all, feeding. I recommend crickets for ackies, and rodents (and lots of them) for argus. Argus have high metabolism and can flat eat a lot. Ackies can be housed in 2 foot by 3 foot cages while argus will require 4 foot by 8 foot. Please remember these dimensions are approximate. The more room you can give them the better. Our ackies are the calmest monitors I have seen. I have never had an ackie try to bite, they are extremely easy to handle and average about 20 to 24 inches (adult size). Argus on the other hand have awesome feeding responses. If it moves it is considered food until they determine otherwise. Ours are considerably harder to handle. We use thick gloves to avoid their sharp claws, and occasional they have bitten the holy crap out of the gloves (as well as bare hands before we started using gloves). Adult males as well as some females can max out in the 4 foot range. I would recommend a lot of research on both as they are really completely different animals. If you like the size of the medium monitors (argus included) check out the crosses. We have both crosses and argus and our crosses are much calmer and easier to work with. From reading other posts, it seems like everyone who has crosses loves them. And lastly, buy hatchlings from a reputable breeder. This supports captive born animals. If you have any other questions, email or call. We currently have argus, ackies, and crosses. I will be glad to share our experiences with each.

are these ackie argus crosses that you are talking about and do you have a website or know where to get one. Also what are the costs of these. i have uv lights on all of my reptiles but i have read that monitors do not need uv light is this actually proven.

The crosses I am talking about are flavi/argus crosses. Both of these monitors are in the gouldi complex. I forgot to post our web address earlier, so here is a link as well as a picture of a cross hatchling. The cost for crosses is usually a little higher than argus, but not much. We have numerous pictures of crosses, argus, and ackies on our site. As far as UV goes, I do not know that anything is proven as far as monitors go. We have had good success, and we do not provide UV. Others have done the same, so personally I do not think it is necessary. With that said, we do try to allow hatchlings to get direct sunlight. Whether they benefit from it ??

Black River Reptiles & Rodents

those pictures are awesome i think i am gonna have to look into some research on those guys and also what are there any size differences between the two and can the crosses be succesfully bred

Our two adult cross males are 42 and 46 inches. Our females are all around 3 feet. The crosses do have awesome colors. We have had some success breeding crosses. Frank Retes has bred quite a few crosses, and I know others are working with them as well, so they can be bred. I do not know for sure who all has done them so far. I think they are really just now gaining in popularity.

Black River Reptiles & Rodents

thanks a lot for the help i am definetly gonna get either a 1.1 pair of the crosses or a 1.2 pair of yello akcies. size of the cage does not mater much because i am gonna build one but is a 9x3.5 foot big enough for a pair of crosses and would a 6x 3 be good for ackies. like i said size does not matter so what would make them really happy with out being excessive.

If you start with hatchlings, you can keep them in a much smaller enclosure and then build later. This gives you time to watch the animals and see what types of temps, furnishings, and substrate they use. It is much easier to regulate temp and change substrate in a smaller cage. Trust me, you can learn more from watching them than you can from talking with other keepers. This will also give you time to plan a nice enclosure for when they are adults. Good luck. I think you are going to love monitors.
Black River Reptiles & Rodents

this is a cross in this photo? Also is it full grown?
-----
Yours,

NiCoLE

"Trying to save someone from their own stupidity is like trying to teach a pig how to dance: it wastes your time, and annoys the pig."

- Robert
Heinlein

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That picture is of an adult cross that was purchased as a hatchling from Frank Retes.

It's interesting how people have different experiences, because my ackies are the most prone to biting (other than feeding response), out of argus, gouldii, and peachies.

All things must be taken in context though, the ackies are the most handleable of mine, mostly because of size. But once they get pissed, which admittedly isn't often, they are the first to bite, my argus will do tons of hissing, tail whipping and posturing before biting. The peachies and argus do warning lunges, but have not ever connected, all bluff IMO. My argus are still young, and comparably small (2.5') so, perhaps my opinion will change in time.

Both argus and ackies are fun monitors. But I'm probably slightly on the weird side, as I enjoy 'spirited' monitors.

--Robert

I do not get to work with ackies on a daily basis, only about once a week or so. I do not keep any, my partner Roger Price does. So my experiences with them have only been with his animals. He has kept them since 1997, and he has only been bitten once. Most of my argus do not bite after they are out of the cage. However, when you reach in their cage there is a good chance they are going to take a stab at you. In my opinion it is a feeding response. Nonetheless, it could be a dangerous situation. I have never had an argus grab hold and not let go. But I have had them pinch hard on the glove only to realize it wasn't food. Then they retreat to the back of the cage.