housing multiple monitors together?

Hey everyone, I am new to monitors and was wondering if they are easily able to be housed together or not? Or can they only be in the same cage if they grew up together? What about two different species, like a timor and ackie that are around the same size? Thanks

Hi Ashley. I can't speak for all monitors, but I know from experience that you can keep a male and female pair of Timors together, and I have seen Argus, Gould's, and some others kept together as mated pairs or trios with a single male (as long as there is enough physical space to accomodate them) with great success.
It would not be a good idea to mix different species in the same habitat though.

Something worth considering is that, regardless of compatibility, keeping multiple animals in the same cage will make record keeping and monitoring their healthy considerably more difficult. If you find a regurgitated mouse or feces loaded with worms, you don't know which animal is ill. Plus, any contagious illness will likely spread to all of them.

I've temporarily kept multiple animals (snakes, all the same species) in the same cage due to restricted space, and it was a *huge* pain in the *** - it made feeding, cage cleaning, record-keeping, etc. all considerably more difficult.

ah, thanks for both of your replies. I was thinking just one ackie and one timor in a 4' cage. If I kept to just two ackies, should I get a male and female? And there's probably a small probability that they will breed right? (I've heard monitors are difficult to breed, however, I cannot deal with a clutch of babies)

I would not keep multiple species together. Not two males either. Normally you want to raise two monitors together to have them co-habit a cage.
Feeding can be dicey too, if they decide to squabble over food items.

That said, yes you can, just be sure of how and who you do it with.

if i keep a male and female together, will I accidentally have a clutch? What if it is a male and female of two different species, and I feed separately? Thanks

Again, I would not do two different species.
If you get unwanted clutches, you can toss the eggs, or give them to someone who might want to try hatching them.
With female monitors there is always a chance of them becoming egg bound(apparently also when there is no male?? Told to me by a vet anyway).

I definitely second Wolfy-hound's advice - different species in the same cage is a recipe for disaster, especially if one is larger than the other, even slightly.

Seriously, just get a second cage, or if you want a multiple-animal display cage, put in two females of the same species.

Its best to have monitors raised together when they were babies or you may encounter problems later on, also its best to have an spare cage incase there are any problems. Dont put timors in with an ackie, its a terrible idea as they are not from the same environment and require different things. An ackie needs floor space while an timor needs an tall cage that allows them to get over the keepers head.
Also to clarify something females become egg bound when there needs are not being met, meaning they need deep dirt which temps are in the 80s and are getting enough food and a 130F+ basking spot but most monitors are not getting that.





Bryan

nice, thanks for your reply (and everyone else too!) and the pics. I'm gonna either stick to just an ackie or just a timor. Thanks again for all the help!!

Ashley