My Latest/New Project

[chams1]

As some of you know from other threads, I have been raising a male argus monitor for a couple of years now and have posted quite a few pictures of him on here. I have been so fascinated with the varranus group (especially the argus) for quite a few years and finally took the plunge 2 years ago when he was a mere 6 weeks old. It was my intention even then to breed him when he was old enough (at 2 years old). Given that the males get to be around 4 feet long (Anubis is currently 44" long) and the females approx. 3 feet long (Gretyl is currently 32" long), the first step was getting a MUCH larger enclosure than what he was in before, especially if I was going to be +1.

So, I had the guys at Magnaforce Industries here in Chicago build me a custom zoo-quality enclosure (they have built stuff for people at the Brookfield Zoo here) for the pair. 8' long x 4' deep x 5.5' tall with 1/4" sliding glass doors on the front, doors on both sides, lighting wired/built into the inside with switches on the outside (third picture), all set on heavy duty casters so I can move it if I have to. 2.5' of this space below the doors (first picture) is for soil, as they are burrowers. Currently, there are 40 bags of top soil in there (and still could be more), so yeah, even if I wanted to move it, I probably wouldn't be able to.

Here it is getting put together in stages:











More to come....

 

[draetish]

Julie that is amazing and I can't wait to see if finished with the monitors. What a lovely piece of furniture!

 

[chams1]

Next comes the female. Very seldom do you find a female who is flawless and is starting to cycle eggs (at 2 years old) that is available AND who is only a month apart in age from the male. So I HAD to jump on it and I was not disappointed. It cost me a pretty penny to get her up here from Florida but it was worth it. Although, the breeder did have to convince the UPS man that she was not going to get out of her crate since she was hissing and thrashing so much - he was pretty freaked out.

Here is Gretyl:

 

[draetish]

Okay Julie, those are some big lizards . Make sure you feed them well so you don't become their dinner, LOL. Really though, I admire your courage.

 

[chams1]

Anubis was beside himself. Not only had he not been around another monitor since he was 6 weeks old, but now there was a female!! He wouldn't leave her alone and she was nothing but irritated and I really thought I would have to separate them to let him calm down (I still have Anubis' old enclosure just in case). After a couple of hours, she quickly put him in his place and let him know who rules the roost. Since then, he has been as happy as a clam and loves her dearly. There are two hides in the enclosure and one of them is especially for her since it isn't big enough for him, but he insists on sleeping WITH her every night. So, when I wake up and check on them, I see 2 tails hanging out and sometimes a couple feet and maybe a nose poking out, too.

They have been together for nearly a month now and low and behold, last Friday after I got home, I saw them mate (last picture) and have seen them mating a couple times since then. Woo Hoo!! I can't wait until she lays some eggs and I can start a new chapter with some babies. This project has been in the works for 2 years now and it's finally coming to fruition. I love it when that happens.



Gretyl:


Anubis:

 

[laurie]

Wow Julie, you don't do thing on a small scale do you? I have enjoyed the pictures of your monitor but never considered the space for two of them. It is nice to finally get what you want. Go for it!!!

 

[Monkeykungphu]

Those monitors are HUGE!

Enclosure is fantastic!

 

[chams1]

Thanks everyone! No, it seems I have to do everything on the largest scale possible. The argus is not the largest of the varranus group, but they sure are big, but extremely intelligent and very fun to watch. No major courage is needed: Anubis actually likes it when I rub his back and he doesn't mind being held (for a while). Gretyl is a different story, as she has not had as much human interaction as Anubis has, but she is beginning to get used to me getting in there and "bothering" her. They don't really bite (although they could do some damage if they wanted to) but will fill their throats with air and let it out with a big "hisss" to let you know they don't approve and tail whip if they really feel threatened. Their upkeep really isn't that intense, just costly = they eat a lot!

 

[Kent67]

WOW, Julie! That really is a fantastic enclosure! I've always thought that to do monitors they really deserve something large and that is great! I'm sure you get to see a lot more interesting behaviors because of the size and ability to add furniture, too. My question, though. How do you clean the tub?

Congrat's on the breedings!

 

[hallenhe]

Glad to see you found a good female; I knew you were keeping your eyes out for one. She's beautiful!

 

[chams1]

Thanks Kent. Yes, I believe in giving my animals the best possible conditions (as I know you do, as well). While this enclosure is not as big as the breeder in Florida uses (his are HUGE), it is still large enough (on the minimum end) and it will do for them. I still kept Anubis' old enclosure just in case Gretyl gets stressed out by him, though, and needs some space.

Yes, watching their behaviors is awesome and it's very easy to do with the glass doors. Anubis is used to being watched since he had large plexi doors on his old enclosure, but this is something newer to Gretyl and she is adjusting okay. The doors are awesome for feeding and digging around in there - I can basically get my entire self in there. But their "space" is lower than the bottom of the doors so sometimes they don't see me peeking in. For the past 2 summers, I have wanted to build an outdoor summer enclosure for them in a section of the back yard, but this will be a huge undertaking in both time and effort and I just haven't gotten around to it. They are very active and could use that type of enclosure for the summer months. But their enclosure as it is now is still a work in progress and I constantly change it around as much as I can so that they don't get bored.

Yeah, I don't think I quite thought the water tub situation through that well when I got it. I went to a local Farm and Fleet store and found that 15 gallon rubber tub used for horses and thought it was fantastic for their water and they would be able to fully soak themselves (without me having to give them baths). Sure enough, they both LOVE it! But then I was like... uh oh. Now how do I get the water out? So, for now, every 3-4 days I take a large horse-feed scoop and scoop out the water into a 5-gallon bucket and dump it outside (a couple trips...). Luckily, I have a walk-out basement with a water hose right by the door, so I just drag in the hose and fill it back up (usually only half-way). Until winter, that will have to do.

Funny thing is, one of them will be on the top shelf on the left and the other will climb up there and they will start tussling a little and they will both fall off into the water tub. Water goes everywhere....but it's hilarious to watch!

Here's a couple more pictures of the enclosure, Gretyl screwing around, and Anubis. He likes to climb up and watch what I am doing. Who needs dogs when you have these guys?

 

[JaxyGirl]

Everything about it is AMAZING!!!! Congrats!!!

 

[Chase]

This is so awesome! Do you still witness breeding going on? Thats cage is so cool, I bet they are happy in it!

 

[chams1]

This is so awesome! Do you still witness breeding going on? Thats cage is so cool, I bet they are happy in it!

Thanks! Yes, they are still breeding (although you can tell that she gets annoyed with him every once in a while...). Yeah, the cage is still a work in progress. I have pictures of a couple of breeders' enclosures and am more or less limited to what I can come up with and/or do myself. I have added a couple plants in there since the pictures were taken, but they will be short-lived since Anubis usually trashed his plants in only a couple days with his old enclosure, so we'll see how long these last. But I appreciate the comments on the enclosure! Thanks!

(BTW - the people who made the enclosure make all sorts of things big or small, including screen enclosures. They can custom make and/or do anything you want and, obviously, it can even be really big. )

 

[Chase]

Thanks! Yes, they are still breeding (although you can tell that she gets annoyed with him every once in a while...). Yeah, the cage is still a work in progress. I have pictures of a couple of breeders' enclosures and am more or less limited to what I can come up with and/or do myself. I have added a couple plants in there since the pictures were taken, but they will be short-lived since Anubis usually trashed his plants in only a couple days with his old enclosure, so we'll see how long these last. But I appreciate the comments on the enclosure! Thanks!

(BTW - the people who made the enclosure make all sorts of things big or small, including screen enclosures. They can custom make and/or do anything you want and, obviously, it can even be really big. )

Do you take the eggs out of the laying bin or are they staying in the bin and incubate in there? I think I remember seeing you post something about that, I just can't find it?

 

[chams1]

I have yet to post anything regarding eggs, but that's why I had the doors installed on the sides, so it could give me 2 more vantage points to collect them.

Gretyl just started to cylce eggs just before I got her. Argus monitors aren't ready to breed and/or lay (viable) eggs until they are around 2 years old and Anubis turned 2 last month and Gretyl just turned 2. These guys will breed all year around and she will lay a few (like 4-6) clutches per year, so long as she is healthy. When she does lay eggs, however, I will be digging them out of her nesting bin and incubating them separately. Oh, believe me - I will certainly be posting it when I get my first clutch. Like Kent and his GTP's, this is all new territory for me but have been told by a couple people who have bred them, that if you do the incubating medium right and the embryos are healthy (just like chameleons), they should hatch. I have hatched out quite a few chams, so hopefully it shouldn't be too much different. This will be definitely be a little weird, though, because the eggs will be so much bigger!

 

[Chase]

I have yet to post anything regarding eggs, but that's why I had the doors installed on the sides, so it could give me 2 more vantage points to collect them.

Gretyl just started to cylce eggs just before I got her. Argus monitors aren't ready to breed and/or lay (viable) eggs until they are around 2 years old and Anubis turned 2 last month and Gretyl just turned 2. These guys will breed all year around and she will lay a few (like 4-6) clutches per year, so long as she is healthy. When she does lay eggs, however, I will be digging them out of her nesting bin and incubating them separately. Oh, believe me - I will certainly be posting it when I get my first clutch. Like Kent and his GTP's, this is all new territory for me but have been told by a couple people who have bred them, that if you do the incubating medium right and the embryos are healthy (just like chameleons), they should hatch. I have hatched out quite a few chams, so hopefully it shouldn't be too much different. This will be definitely be a little weird, though, because the eggs will be so much bigger!

I mean't information about incubating . This will be covered more than anything covered on the news! I'm so excited to hear about it! Are their clutches large?

 

[chams1]

I mean't information about incubating . This will be covered more than anything covered on the news! I'm so excited to hear about it! Are their clutches large?

Well, I'm glad you are excited about it because I sure am! No, the clutches are relatively small compared to most chams; usually around the 2-10 range, but I have seen some that were in the 13-15 range, too. They incubate in the low 80's for around 200 days (give or take 20-30 days) and they are similar to some snake eggs, in that each egg can weigh around 50-75 grams.

 

[luevelvet]

You know I've been busy when I miss these threads!

The enclosure is everything you said it was. Beautiful! Those monsters make my little guy look, well, little!

Luis

 

[chams1]

I took everything out of their enclosure last weekend and revamped it a little:

Can you fit all this in your cage?


Look mom!! We're helping you stamp it all down!!


Awe......love in action!


The finished product (revised):


How YOU doin'??