Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Let me start by saying I am somewhat new to monitors but not to herps or proper care of herps. I recently aquired a monitor that I believe is a Argus/Flavi X. I want to make sure that is exactly what it is. If I post some pictures of him will you guys be able to help me out a bit? Also let me ask if this is an A/F X if I am providing the right support for him to thrive. I am currently keeping it on 7" deep cypress about 60% humidity and a gradient of 75-125F. I have not found a heck of a lot of info on the crosses as far as basic care I am trying to give him the basically the same setup as my Dumerils just alot less humid. The reason I am trying this is because my dumerils "astro" has doubled in size in the past 5 months and he is doing very well. I will post some pics of him too if anyone wants to see him. If I have not provided enough detail please let me know.

Thanks for all your help

Doug

PS
I used to be concerned about how much to feed them but I found just like in FR's post recently they will stop eating when they are full.

> Let me start by saying I am somewhat new to monitors but not
> to herps or proper care of herps. I recently aquired a
> monitor that I believe is a Argus/Flavi X. I want to make
> sure that is exactly what it is. If I post some pictures of
> him will you guys be able to help me out a bit?

I've got some photos of pure arguses at my web site:
http://www.pizards.com/hbd/argus.html

> Also let me ask if this is an A/F X if I am providing the
> right support for him to thrive. I am currently keeping it on
> 7" deep cypress about 60% humidity and a gradient of 75-125F.
> I have not found a heck of a lot of info on the crosses as
> far as basic care I am trying to give him the basically the
> same setup as my Dumerils just alot less humid. The reason
> I am trying this is because my dumerils "astro" has doubled
> in size in the past 5 months and he is doing very well.

I also have a web page on argus care.
http://www.pizards.com/hbd/tricks.html
From everything I've heard, the care of flavies and crosses is nearly identical. Care will be similar to Dumeril's monitors, but I would really suggest replacing the mulch with dirt that can hold a burrow, and that is deep enough to do so. Arguses are digging machines, and dirt is what they love.

Good luck,

Luke

Here is one pic of him. How can you tell the whether or not it is pure argus or not? Also how big do crosses get? I was told about 3.5 Feet total length?

> Here is one pic of him. How can you tell the whether or not it
> is pure argus or not?

You know, I'm not sure. With pure animals, my rule of thumb is that if it has yellow spots, its an argus. I have, however, seen young gouldi group monitors that were advertized as flavi/argus crosses that looked identical in all ways to argus monitors to me. Either I need to work with other members of the gouldi group more, or this specimen was simply mislabled.

In your picture, the patterning on the back looks perhaps a little odd for an argus, but I can't put my finger on anything that says it is not pure argus. The spots look denser than I've seen on my arguses. If you look on the pictures on my site, you will see the spots occur in well defined bands across the back, separated by stripes of darker brown, and your monitor does not show this. It could be because it is a cross, or maybe it is just a funky patern variety of argus. The yellow color on yours is less intense than on mine and there is a subtle wash of orange along the side that I've never seen on an argus before, but judging colors by a photo is tricky, since the ambient light, exposure conditions, development and post processing can all affect the colors in the final picture. I can tell you that it is not a pure flavie or Gould's monitor.

> Also how big do crosses get? I was told about 3.5 Feet total
> length?

Argus females get about 3 feet long. Argus males get about 4.5 to 5 feet long. The flavies I have seen had females about 2.5 to 3 feet long and males about 3 to 3.5 feet long. A cross will be intermediate between these values.

Good luck,

Luke