Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i own a timor monitor, savana, tegu, and other herps, over the last year i've started keeping monitors and love them so much. my parents want me to ckeck different things about different monitor( these monitors are nile, durmerills, ackies, argus, mangrove, and several small tree monitors) what they want me to ask is price(just monitor, and at an expo), size( they said onder 4ft, can go to 5ft if it takes a while to get big from a babie), temerment( needs to be moderate, not like a tokay with a bigger bite), food( got enough money to already feed 13 herps and counting, i have been keeping herps from the time i was 2, and now 14 so as soon as i post pic you will see am a true herper not someone with bad kept herps) and cage setup( dosent matter what kind just going to make naturallistic setup)

SORRY this is such a long post just need to know about them before i get them.
thanks for any help

I'm sure one argus could eat more than all your other herps combined, especially when young and growing.

I'm not sure what you are looking for temperment wise. Just because a monitor is calm and tolerant, does not mean it won't bite (food). Argus are a great example of this, once the food switch is on (and it doesn't take much, quick movement, sight of tongs, etc), they don't seem to think much, run/jump/bite first ask questions later.

I have five ackies, and they seem very willing to bite, compared to the other species I keep. I'm not sure if it's food or fear driven, but they can bite quite a bit better than you might expect, although it's a minor affair compared to what a larger monitor with nastier teeth could do. You'd be amazed by what a seemingly small monitor can do, once they get 3' and above it really should not be an option to get bit, but perhaps thats just me.

Niles can exceed the sizes you mentioned.

--Robert