Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm getting my Argus tomorrow, I was planning on getting frozen pinkies till my mice start to produce..Should I be concerned about him accepting dead prey items. After consireding all the info about argus feeding agression, I just assumed there wouldn't be a problem. Have you or anyone else encountered this before, I just assume be prepared for it.

I have never fed a live rodent to my Argus, none of my monitors have ever seen anything other than frozen thawed.
-----
Bawaa Herps
www.BawaaHerps.com
sales@bawaaherps.com
"Conservation through Captive Propagation"

There is only so far 'research' can be taken. In the end, the true test is having/keeping the monitors. Don't look too much into problems you don't have, deal with the ones you do have, when you have them.

I had one heck of a time convincing them that my fingers/hands were not food when they were young, I had no problems with feeding prekilled/thawed or live rodents.

--Robert

in my line of work (masonry) you better find the problems before they become problems. I live in a some what rural area, when I get back from the pet store today i'll have put on over 70 miles.
If i bring home frozen fuzzys and the reptile doesn't accept them, it's a problem. I just figured i'd try to cover all the angles that I could see, as I know there are many I can't see yet. Nice pic, did your argus jump for that or did you lift it off the ground. Do you ever feed live feeders?? Thanx for the input. Clint

He jumped for it, he had it down before he hit the ground.

I feed mostly frozen/thawed, but on occasion I do feed them live mice.

--Robert

Mine eats pinkies like popcorn. If I rememer correctly, the argus you are getting is about 18"? If so, I'd almost try to get some fuzzies. Mine took out 5 pinkies and was still hungry. This concerned me because best price I can get locally is $1 per pink. I just ordered 500 hoppers for about .23 per shipped! I would also suggest some long hemastats or something similar. Mine has learned that my hemastats means food and will attack them even without the food.

after reviewing that Pizards web site, I definetly planned on getting a feeding utensil. If they can figure out a tong means food, then if you feed them with just your fingers, that could be a problem. I'll be getting some fuzzys and tongs. Thanx for the thought. Clint

Just to let you know, I'm currently waiting for my hissing roaches to breed(maybe I should try some jazz and mood lighting?) I plan to suppliment with them once the colony establishes itself. I started with 50 and it's pretty slow going. If you ever consider doing this, I would suggest a larger initial purchase, or pay mor to get adult roaches. Hissers take 2-3 months to mature and another 60 days to gestate. There are other kinds that breed quicker, but do not get as large and don't appear to be nearly as interesting.

Keep us posted.

0.1 Water Monitor
0.1 Argus Monitor
1.1 Butterfly Agamas

I'm strongly considering getting a colony myself, Just waiting till I get my new cages dialed in (Ackies,argus) and the weather warms up a bit here in wis. I'm still debating on which species of roach. As I'm looking at black tree monitors as well, it's just a matter of time before I have the whole food chain thing going on. I can't see paying for the food when it's not to complicated to raise your own. I got my argus yesterday, he seems to have settled in just fine. He ate 3 f/t pinkies without hesitation. Spent the afternoon/evening cruising his new home. He
got a look at my dogs and held his ground on his basking rock. I was a little worried about him being skittish towards them, don't want him feeling stressed. As my huskie likes to watch my ackies, who have no problems with the dogs either. I'll keep you posted, by the way he was tripodding for his pinkies, pretty cool. I think he'll be alot of fun. Later, Clint

n/p