Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Gold Nugget Boo Boo always likes to cuddle up with something.

Socialization time.

This is Blue.

Look at him just smiling and posing for the picture. What a happy ig.

Yeah, I think he thought that the camera was food. He would stop and do anything for food...lol

I like the pic with all the lizards. Its very cool

Thanks. He came in as a rescue with the iguanas from an owner that had no idea how to take care of them. The igs and him were free roaming in the same room (this is how I knew that they got along) along with, get this, an anaconda. Great, huh? So anyway, he is a very docile Argus monitor and even though he seems to be fine with the igs they are never left unsupervised.

Would the monitor normally try to eat the igs? Would the monitor be able to catch an ig if it ran from it? I would like to get a monitor as soon as I get some property, but I don't know if it might be bad to be around iggys.

Monitors are a lot more aggressive in general than igs are (except in breeding season, lol) to everything. I have seen some monitors, like my Argus, be perfectly ok with anything you would like to introduce him to. I have seen monitors that catch a glimpse of another lizard and immediately get defensive. I have monitors that pick and choose what they want to interact with and what they don't. It all depends on how they are raised and what conditions they are housed under and used to. That is my personal opinion. I don't think that having monitors around igs is a bad thing. I personally have three different igs right now (minus rescues). Blue free roams a lot as he is my constant companion along with my dog. We let some of our monitors free roam when Blue is free roaming too. Haven't had a problem, but they are under constant supervision (and usually Blue is on my lap). Blue may give the occasional head bob or inflat his dewlap if they get too close, but other than that...nothing. A good friend of ours also comes to visit and brings his bt/wt cross. She is 6 foot. She doesn't seem to be phased by the iguanas at all and they aren't really phased by her either. She is usually aggressive towards other lizards too. I haven't seen anything in the igs or monitors actions that would warrant me to think that either are receiving stress from being around one another. I also know other people that keep both iguanas and monitors and they have never said anything about having any problems either. I have had more problems trying to introduce monitor to monitor. What species were you looking to acquire?
Sorry so long. Hope it helps a little.

JS

I was just wondering because of the other post... That monitors thinking"feeding time",lol ... I thought that igs might be lunch for monitors. I think it's cool that they interact and get along like they do. I'm not too sure what type of monitor would be good to get. The pet shop here has 2 Black Throat monitors that are pretty big, but they aren't selling them. They are like puppy dogs from what I've seen. I'm going to stick to iguanas for now until I can get some property. Thanks for your info. Those pictures are great. I can't wait till my little ones can be big enough to freeroam more. I let them out, but it's hard to keep track of them because my house isn't ig proof. Thanks again.

Are you SHvar's friend with the Argus monitor "T" who brings Sobek the bt/wt cross over to see? Just curious. I see SHvar posting about Sobek and an argus named "T" getting along all the time.. even saw pictures of it.
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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
2.2 Leopard geckos (2 Blizzards (Caine and Goliath), 1 het Blizzard (Lilith) and 1 Tangerine Albino (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short))
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros)
13 rats
5 Gerbils
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
2 cats (Sahara and Hercules)

That's me. Sobek doesn't usually get along with other lizards, but she seems fine with T. I think it is because he is of the least dominant monitors that I have ever seen. lol

Thats pretty cool! *L* I thought it was the same Argus that I'd seen in the pic but wasn't sure. I frequent the monitor forum alot as a lurker.. since I'm just starting into monitors and I read alot of SHvar's posts. My little Sav is about 10 months old and 26 inches long give or take. (She was 8 inches when I got her...just a tiny thing) And now look at her *L* Ah well... I'm rambling.. sorry!

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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
2.2 Leopard geckos (2 Blizzards (Caine and Goliath), 1 het Blizzard (Lilith) and 1 Tangerine Albino (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short))
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros)
13 rats
5 Gerbils
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
2 cats (Sahara and Hercules)

Pretty Savannah. Nice picture. It looks like she gets optimal care that's for sure. Looks like she is a good eater too. LOL I have four savannahs currently. Ranging in size from 38 inches to 18 inches. They all have their own little personalities. We have a bunch of monitors: Niles, argus, bt, waters, and the savs. Also tegus, the igs, a chameleon, chuckwallas, Bearded Dragons, turtles, arachnids, geckos, salamanders, a Uro, frogs, and a wide assortment of colubrids. I take in a lot of rescues. Some of them need continual extra attention for certain ailments and they never leave my home, others are adopted out or I fall in love with them and they end up staying. I would say only about 25% of what we have I personally bought for myself. What all do you have? Do you have any other monitors than the cute savy? Sorry for rambling...

JS

Currently I have 2 Boas... (One paid for but yet to arrive due to cold weather conditions) I'm going into breeding them. I have 4 leopard geckos.. Started breeding them last year. I have my savannah who I hope to breed eventually as well... Plus an assortment of rats, gerbils and other feeders. In the past I've had iguanas, anoles, other species of geckos, turtles, frogs, various snakes as well as many mammals. I used to rescue iguanas though privately and not as any type of non profit or shelter. I'd keep them until they were healthy and then find them a new home that they'd be well cared for in. My last one went to a guy in Ohio who has practically a rain forest set up for his Igs in a spare bedroom. Its really nice. I wanted to live there *L* I don't have any other monitors at the moment.. but in a few years I'm planning on purchasing a Macraei (Blue Tree) Trio and possibly a Prasinus (Green Tree) Trio.... And maybe a couple ackies to round things out. I love the monitors. I chose a Sav as my first one because I loved the look of them. I knew what I was getting into when I got her and she's definately fiesty... but thats what I love about her. The first week I got her she had a fecal run to make sure she was clean of parasites. We moved from Ohio to here and her heat packs malfunctioned on me... so she got the beginnings of an RI.. but I upped her ambient and basking spot temps a bit and it cleared right up. She's definately not the "lap dog" lizard everyone tries to make her species out to be. *L*

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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
2.2 Leopard geckos (2 Blizzards (Caine and Goliath), 1 het Blizzard (Lilith) and 1 Tangerine Albino (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short))
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros)
13 rats
5 Gerbils
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
2 cats (Sahara and Hercules)

Sounds like you have your hands as full as I have mine. LOL Keep me posted about your growing family. Good luck with the boas. We bred red tails for a while about 7 years ago.

JS

Hey, Lucien, email me at jslizardlady@aol.com if you get a chance. Have a leo question for ya.

This is Zig Zag.

I also have freeroaming Monitors and Tegus that interact daily with the Iguanas. The Monitors have never shown any aggression toward the Iguanas but the Iguanas can sometimes get perturbed with the Monitors! LOL We just picked up an awesome Argus from another rescue, prettiest one I've ever seen. It needs some socializing but has a good temperament and I'm looking forward to using it as an educational animal. We also have 5 Savs, 2 Niles, 1 Water, 1 Blackthroat, and 3 Black Roughnecks, along with the 27 Green Iguanas, 8 Cyclura, 14 Tegus, Beardies, Uros, Frillies, BT's, Spinytails, Bassie, and dozens of snakes. Just like in your case, some of them come in and never leave, either because of illness or condition, or just because we fall in love with them.

Awesome pic, jiffypop! Nice Cuban, nice sav. Nice to know that we are not the only large dysfunctional herp family around. LOL I actually had another sav come in today. Looks pretty well taken care of, but was just dropped off. Probably have a vet visit this week yet. Good luck with all of your kids.

JS

Thanks for the nice comments. In reality, I think we are quite functional considering that we can care for all of the critters around here, keep up the house, work paying jobs, and still stay sane.
Actually, MiMi is a lewisi/caymanensis hybrid, not a Cuban. Here is an older photo of my Cubans (Bolivar and Cojimar) and also a photo of Azul, my male lewisi hybrid. He's a charmer.

Nice pics. Beautiful igs.

NP

huh?

Sorry! I thought about Svinarsk's missing iguana yesterday, because I spent TWO HOURS looking for Bud, who decided to take a little cruise around my apartment while I went to buy groceries. I tore my apartment apart. My roomate noticed me doing this, and said, "Are you SURE you looked around the washer and dryer?" Of course I did, I said, that was the first place I looked! And of course, that is where he was, shimmied back into a space so small I could not even look back there with a flashlight. I didn't know I was strong enough to move a seven foot tall wash/dry combo, but there you go. Learn something every day.

Sorry, didn't look at the post below.
Well congrats on finding him. At least you know that in a bad situation you can always lift like five times your weight if that situation should ever arise again. lol