Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just a little info of what i have and my 6 ackies. The enclosure is a 4ftx2x2 , about 8-10 inches of dirt soon to be more like 12". 75 watt halogen flood lamp in the center of the cage , i made a home made retes stack which has too much gap , i think i need to make the gaps smaller so the ackies can wedge themselves in tighter. im pretty sure thats what they want. Any how ive had a pair (reds) for a couple months they are about 6-9inches and i was told they were a couple months old , i think they are a few months at least . they are missing some nails and one missing part of its tail(wasnt told about those flaws when i bought them, im sure its due to not enough moisture). I just bought another 4 from a fellow and these guys are flawless, great color about the same size and im told they were bought from Pete Weis in September 05. i just received them today. Well i had them in a temp tank to make sure they were doing ok and i got to looking at them and they seem to be doing great, so what do i do ? i go ahead and put them in with my other two. i tossed some crickets in there and everyone went on a cricket spree. some new behaviors i had never seen with my 2 original ackies , and one or two of the new ones were doing it too, They would raise their bodies and walk tall on all fours . Im not very experience at this but im thinking its some kind of dominance behaviors . all six ackies seemed not to be bothered by each other, they just basked on each other, walked over each other , cruzed around . seems to be doing ok. i just wonder , are the 2 that were already their going to be accepted as part of the group or will i end up seperating them? i geuss ill just have to watch and learn , see what they want , that is if i can figure it out. one thing that disturbs me is that i have a fake rock wall made from styrofoam and tile grout , these guy climb it like nothing , they seem to like it up high alot , dont know if its a temp issure or what , my temps are 160 plus in the basking hot spot , of coarse levels on the retes stack below the top are lower temps and the ambient temp is around 81 close to the floor and about 90 up top around the lid. the cage is made from plywood and if got about 6 - 3" vents 2 on top and 2 one each end . any way just trying to share experiences so far. i look forward to learnig about these neat little guys. i think its time to start planing for a 8ft x3x3 cage for them. feel free to share you experiences and or give me pointers. ill have to snaps some photoes soon and post them . Also you need to excuse my speeling and gramar stink

sean

sounds generally ok, but 160*F is pretty hot...you could reduce that to 130*F and they will bask beneath it. one problem you will encounter is housing all together and dominance fighting for basking spots and food. i keep all my monitors separate until breeding age and then introduce them. even at reptile expos when the lizards are freaked out, if you see a group of 4 or 5 ackies together..one is biting the other ones face and tail. that may be a problem. otherwise, sounds good. oh yeah, the area up high with tile grout...is it cooler than the 160*F basking area?? post some pics, i love the grouted back wall cages, thinking of doing it myself.

Well the 160 is the hottest spot, they do use it a bit as well as other spots . ive got a pretty good gradient of temps . they have plenty of choices, it think . Yes i did encounter a problem with all 6 together, i have removed my original 2 because , "stubby" , that what we call him , he was a bit on the bitting side. I couldnt have that. Up high where they climb has a temp of about 90, as everyone knows heat rises so the side with the basking lamp ends up being about 90 up high and about 85 on the surface and even hotter of course under the light. My cool end around the surface is around 78-80 , im not sure what the high end is near the top , dont have a thermometer there . Heres a pic of my first ackie cage , it was a 50g aquarium. ill have to get some pics of my new cage soon though.

sm

These guys didnt read that one.

Also Ive had problems with introducing adults, or those who werent raised together, but if you raise them together and you provide for their needs there is rarely a problem with fighting, biting, dominance, hurting each other, stressing each other out. They are kept separate in reptile shows because they are stressed, and crowded, etc, and will hurt each other sometimes.
I have a pair of red ackies I hatched that have not had a disagreement since they were a few weeks old.
Sorry for the fuzzy pictures, I really need to take new ones in the new cage, its much bigger and so are they. They are 4.5 months old and well over 14 inches each.

SHvar, you love to chime in and try to start a fight on every thread i've ever read by you. Can they tolerate 160*F basking, of course, the sun in aus. creates even hotter temps. by 10:00am, i am sure. the point is that i see a 55 gallon tall aquarium with one halogen heat bulb and a fluorescent tube. that creates an overall too hot and dry cage, in my opinion. i have worked that set up for years. he mentioned lack of humidity problems with lost toes, stuck sheds (? like yours) and that leads me to think that he should lower the basking spot to 130*F or so and the overall ambient will come down some, too. this is not a giant rock pile in the desert with several options to choose from. it is a small fish tank with less than 6 inches of substrate. once the lizards are up to desired body temp,the lizards may not be able to escape to the cooler and more humid hides that nature provides, so it was MY OPINION to lower the temps a bit and see how they do. here's an example of how to politely post your disagreeing point of view: "i also have a pair of ackies and i keep their hottest basking post at 195*F surface temp and blah, blah, blah ambient temps and mine seem to be doing very well for "x" amount of time. perhaps it is .... that is giving you your problems". then i don't have to post this crap novel to someone who i was not even speaking with in the first place.

"SHvar, you love to chime in and try to start a fight on every thread i've ever read by you"
"he mentioned lack of humidity problems with lost toes, stuck sheds (? like yours)"

Are you mistaking me for someone else, or reaching for something to defend your point? Either way, no stuck sheds on my monitors, in fact excessive humidity causes a monitor to have alot of trouble shedding, once it dries out a little the skin comes right off on its own.
Higher basking temps do not cause low humidity, in fact the humidity in my ackie cages varies from location to location from around 35-80% depends where you measure it, I use solid tops on all of my cages. The only monitors I have that take any amount of time to shed are my albigs, both are large and between 4.5-6 or possibly more years old. Both of them shed slowly throughout the year, my ackies, and flavi-argus shed in much shorter times. Those cages have basking temps that range from 135-154f, my ackies have always (except when hatchlings) had 170-205f basking temps. Substrate depth helps also, it ranges in my cages at the lowest point in the smallest cages at around 8 inches in one end of one cage to 2ft throughout in one cage.
Wattage of bulbs can have a larger effect on humidity, and overall heat levels, I uses 30-45 watt bulbs for basking, and during the coldest time of year one cage has a higher mounted 65 watt floodbulb in addition to 4-45 watt bulbs to assist in overall temps.