Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok I know that this question comes up alot. And you guys i'm sure are tired of answering it.

I have a bearded dragon now,and want to know what monitor I can put into the same cage as my dragon??

Just kidding its not that bad.

Ok i'm looking for a smaller monitor,that won't grow out of a encloser that is 4x4x4. The height I can change around to suit the monitor. Can go as high as 8ft or as low as I needed to. I want a monitor that will have a diet mostly of Discoid roach's and smaller frozen mice. Something bigger then my dragon but not the size of a sav. monitor.

Pictures of the monitors would be great.

Thanks Steve

Il probably get bashed for saying this, but one of my best captive is a black tree, maybe they aren’t always this calm, but all are excellent display and do well if given proper husbandry. Given your choice of food and cage spec, id go with a BT

Yea as for handling and so forth wouldn't be alot of that. An aggresive animal would be ok.Just as long as I can clean the cage and change water when need be. For handling and walking I have a dog. LOL

I'm defiantly going to do some searching on those thanks.

Hmm seems that the two articles I have read so far say its ok to house together??? This is something that is strongly frowned on I thought? Are these just real social animals that need another monitor around?

no they arrnt society moniters. i nthe wild they arnt in pakcs or anything.

Mine are kept in trios 1.2 and have never been problematic, I don’t know why peoples say they aren’t social, Maybe they don’t keep them properly? Be advised that any monitors will turn on each other when starving, however when fed right and provided with basic needs they get along very well.

Also I got the impression you wanted to keep only one monitor, however a pair will do good if your enclosure is well designed.

im not saying they dont live well together, they do live wel ltogether for the most part. im saying theres no problem with having one ackie, it wont get depressed.

You can find out a bunch of information regarding tree monitors on my website. I would be very hesitant of what you find on the internet, for example the one 'caresheet' on Black Tree Monitors that says that they lay 22-37eggs. I would talk to other tree monitor keepers, as opposed to reading caresheets on the net. Of course there are a bunch of good sites which have good information- stick to the ones that are aimed solely at monitors, unlike the general reptile keeping websites...

Cheers,

Bob
TREEMONITORS.COM

When you last posted that very same pic, you claimed that that was a very gravid female-almost at the point of bursting, where she was very sluggish and uncomfortable and she didn't struggle while you were moving her into her "nesting cage"... I believe you were talking about something to do with stress from handling/new cage stimulating ov abouiposition....

So what is it? Is that a tame animal just hanging out on your hand, or is it a gravid female that could hardly move, as you originally posted several months/year ago???

I also do not understand how you can reccomend such a species, known for being extremely fragile in captivity, to somebody who has never kept a monitor before.. Perhaps if it were a captive bred individual, it may be a different story. But to think that a beginner to monitors will understand the whole acclimatory process in a such a problematic WC individuals... I am sorry but I disagree with you on your recommendation. There are so many better candidates than a wild caught tree monitor. There are much better wild caught candidates if you want to go that route.

While Black Tree Monitors make great captives eventually, and a great display animal, I believe that they(along with other tree monitors) are not an entry level monitor by any means. While keeping one alive and healthy is easy to do for most people once it's been in captivity for a while and has settled in, most people fail at acclimating/establishing them in captivity..which can be a long and arduous process. This is why so many of these animals die- they never live through this process and never acclimate/adjust to captivity...that and they dehydrate and die.

I would recommend a captive bred species, such as an Ackie, or a Freckled Monitor. They are much easier to care for, are a bit more forgiving, and are captive bred. I think that they would be a much better and less stressful monitor keeping experience..

Cheers,

Bob

TREEMONITORS.COM

I keep a young Argus in a 4x4x7 cage. It is still young and I can extend the cage if the monitor outgrows it. Othewise I would recomend an argus or an argus cross. They are active, hardy, and pretty.

I recomend researching various kinds of monitors and decide what you truly want in one.
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Ed

These heat lamps make my electric bill to high.

Well I have been leaning to ackies. They seem to peak my interest quite abit. There will be alot of reasearch and visits to the local retile show here in the midwest before I make a decision.

I will be new to monitors but not to reptiles by any means. Thanks for the input so far guys. Also anyone have a really good source of information for ackies. I've done some google searchs but nothing really great yet.