How long..

[Valael]

Yeah, stupid question --



How long would it take a 10 inch monitor to hit it's full grown size of 4 - 5 feet? (Argus Monitor aka Ackie)

 

[Psycho]

Monitors are pretty slow growers. I've had my baby savannas for 2 months and I dont think either of them have grown even a 1/2 inch. (one of them is kinda startin to look bigger than the other one finally lol) They definately dont have the growth speed of a bearded dragon or anything like that. I've heard of people feeding their t's a LOT so that they grow faster. This would not be the case with a monitor. They will eat even when they're not hungry and you'll have an obese monitor. Even I dont know for SURE how long it takes for a monitor to grow to it's full size. Hope that helps

~~~Psycho~~~

 

[Lasiodora]

They grow pretty fast, but it's all dependent on the frequency of food, enclosure size, and temps. Growth rates in monitors vary from species to species. They tend to grow the most as hatchlings and sub adults. How old is your monitor? BTW ackie is a common name for Varanus acanthurus (spiny-tailed monitor). The argus is Varanus panoptes hornii. So basically, growth rate in captivity is dependent on husbandry. If he is kept at the right temps and provided with a healthy feed schedule then I would say (educated guess) that it would reach adult size (or close to) between 2-3 years.
Mike

 

[fatbloke]

i got a white throat monitor (varanus albigularis) that ive had for 3 years he went from a 12" juvenile to a 4 1/2 foot adult in the said time but the only major problem with them is they can become obese from over feding and lack of execise as like Psycho said they will even eat when their not hungry


fatbloke

 

[skinheaddave]

I had a heavily parasitized sav that didn't grow at all. Ended up finally diagnosing the parasite as being zoonotic and nearly impossible to eliminate, so we had to put her down. Got a new sav that is showing incredible growth rate. You can feed them freely when they are under 1' total length and they will grow quickly. After that, you have to restrict their diet, but you are still looking at just a few years to full size. Oh, and incidentaly ackies only reach about 2' max. A four foot ackie would be publishable material.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[defour]

Aren't Argus monitors and Ackies two different things? Argus (V. panoptes) can reach five feet. I'm betting that's what this thread refers to.

I had a V. occelatus that added an inch or so to its body length per month until it was 14" BL. Baby savannahs should grow like weeds.

Steve