Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am considering buying a pair or trio of argus monitors. I am getting a room just for my reptiles so I will have room for the cage. I just have a couple of questions. I am planning of making the cage about 12' x 4' x 4'. That could house a trio comfortably, right? Also, my brother agreed that he would breed rabbits for me to use as food. How many rabbits a week (let's say they are 2-5lb rabbits) would you say I would need to feed a trio of adult arguses? My guess was around 5, but that could be way off. If you don't know about how many rabbits, then the number of mice you feed yours would be okay. Thanks a lot for any help, Lucas

"Also, my brother agreed that he would breed rabbits for me to use as food. How many rabbits a week (let's say they are 2-5lb rabbits) would you say I would need to feed a trio of adult arguses?"

RABBITS?!?!?!?!

My adult breeders eat mice, The five foot male eathing 20-30 or so a week, and the female around 10-20.

If you feed rabbits, you are probably asking for trouble. I don't think an argus could swollow a five lb. rabbit. They're not burmese pythons you know!

Call me dumb and call me crazy, but holy moly, 20 or 30 mice a week for one adult? are you feeding pinkies or fuzzies?

I feed mine, which came from you, four or five adult mice a week(40 or so grams) And with that, she is gravid for her sixth clutch this year. And as you know, they are a very young pair.

What am I doing wrong? wait, what am doing right? as four or five mice is far cheaper then 20 or 30. Can you or someone explain that to me? thanks F

I have more mice than I can get rid of.

Sometimes I feed them much less. I used to feed them much more.

I tend to feed them more than they probably need, because my current situation makes it difficult for the female to get food. With the female being blind, shes not as adept at catching food, so I let the male get his fill first so that there is enough left over for her to eat. Seperating is a pain in the arse, and feeding her from tongs is not very efficient now that she can't see.

I've probably always fed them more than was neccesarry. But as I'm sure you know, they don't seem to have any difficulty burning off that food.

Last but not least, I'm still learning.

How did your female end up going blind?

Rgrds,
Michelle

I honestly don't know. No injuries were apperent, and it is in both eyes.

hahaha.
Glad to hear Hope is still well.
D.

Oxymoron.

Did the blindness occur suddenly, slowly like cataracts, or was it blind when you got it?

Sorry for being a bug.

Best regards,
Michelle

It appeared farily suddenly, which is why I orriganally suspected injury (and quit frankly, still do).

Of coarse, it could have happened more slowly than I thought. Not like I was giving them eye exams on a regular basis. One day I just noticed that she sure seemed to be having a difficult time catching that mouse. I can now wave my arms (or a mouse) in front of her without any reaction at all (except the tongue if a mouse is involved).

She does a prett good gob finding food by smell though, and like any other blind person, seems to have memorised where things are at in the enclosure.

This is my first expiernce with an argus, and I have realized that it is near impossible to keep him satisfied. I end up feeding him 4-5 mice a feeding which ends up to be 14-15 mice a week (and i think that he could probably eat more). And he is only 2 and a half feet long. So I'm wondering is it neccesary to keep up this feeding frenzy or is it just a waste if he's jut gonna crap it out and stink the room?

I'm feeding him as much as he can eat because he is not yet full grown and I dont want to stunt his growth. So his appetite greater than his body? Is this species just a glutton? or is growth going to reflect his amount of intake

surely you mis typed something right? or like Frank said you are using pinkies or fuzzies?

I have alot of monitors and I may feed that number out in a day but not to one monitor. I offer maybe 4-8 adult mice, or chicks to my adult male argus. I must be starving the poor guy.

I do agree I do not think even my big male could eat a large 5 lbs. rabbit. He may take a smaller one though without any troubles.

Is that one of this years babies? looks nice keep up the good work.

i would agree, the adult rabbits would be too big. you might be able to get away with baby rabbits. im not real sure how big they are as babies though. or you could just cut the rabbits up

I said a week, not a sitting. The male gets around ten a feeding, two or three times a week.

The baby in the pic was hatched in Jan. I've hatched two clutches since then, but that is one of my favorite pics.

I was reffering to myself when I said a day. I feed that much out per day. But that number is fed to a bunch of monitors.

I was merely stating that you feed as much to one monitor in a week as I do to all of my monitors in one feeding.

20-30 seemed like an awful lot for one monitor to eat even if it is a weeks worth. As I said I feed my male argus maybe 4-8 or so large mice or chicks a week. So see your numbers are like a rocket in the sky compared to what I feed.

Well what your doing is working for you so keep it up.

Plan on building a smaller holding cage. Odds are you will need to seperate them at some point, especially if you get a trio.
Good Luck

I wonder why you want a trio? If you are new, you really should learn to work a pair. A pair will entertain you enough. Then after that, you most likely will not want a trio. hahahahahahaha. to much entertainment.

I agree with Rsg, you will need a seperate cage to put the male in from time to time. Males of most larger monitors are very very aggressive and will stress the females at certain times. Good luck F

A 5# rabbit could last two-three weeks, just put it through a meat grinder first!mmmmm burgers!lol
Have your friend breed mice or buy a python,,
Good Luck, Robert

or grinding them up into "hamburgers". Will this work fine? Should I grind/cut up the bones too? And by the way, thanks to everyone for the help.

One of the monitor breeders was talking about nutritional value of rabbits a while back, and mentioned that they are not as good to feed as rodents are. I have never tried rabbits personally so I dont know.

Rgrds,
Michelle

I would highly recomend that you breed either mice or rats instead of rabbits. They will take up far less space, they will breed faster, they don't eat as much, you can house them very cheaply and you won't have to cut or grind them up! But if you want to breed rabbits go ahead an do as you please, I just thought I would share my knowlage.
eric