There is no question in my mind that Ackies may use their tails for a number of different purposes and there is also no question in my mind that mine are using their tails to sweep crickets forward into their grasp for eating. I have been observing them closely for several days now and and here is what I am seeing: They enter a Retes stack shelf with resident crickets. They then start a serpentine motion that is, in what I will call, a reverse undulation. By that I mean the tail is not moving in a way that would propel the lizard forward, as in swimming. It moves in a reverse of that as though the lizard was trying to back up or swim backwards. This brings everything on that shelf that comes in contact with the tail forward including crickets, wood chips and any other debris. If the tail was sweeping in the "swimming" direction all the stuff would be swept backwards and behind them but it is all brought forward!

They may use their tail for waving to their friends, attracting mates, slapping foes, and perhaps many other things but mine are bringing food items forward, from behind them, in the "crack" they are in. Then it's chow time!

I would encourage anyone else, who has a set up where they can observe their monitors feeding in a crevice, to watch carefully for this behavior. I am going to attempt to video this and will share it if I can.

Thanks, FR, for sharing your observations about them waving their tails straight up in the air! That is just fantastic!!! So neat when you can set these things up so they feel inspired to exhibit wild behavior in captivity!

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