Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've had a pair of red ackies for almost three years and evn though I have done a number of fecals(all neg) they still are not holding tail weight. I have also tried feeding different food items and they eat whatever I give them and still not holding tail weight. Have tried different bedding from soil and sand mix, forest floor, cypress mulch, and newspaper. Any thoughts as to what the problem could be. They are roughly 4yrs.

Medic

what is the diet youre feeding them? i feed mine crickets, wax worms, butter worms, pinks, and on occasion ground turkey and egg. ive offered roaches a few times, but those dont work. my pair has always had full tails with this diet. ive never seen the outline of bones in them. hope it helps.

The issue is likey, not related to the diet of the animals, but more so the conditions of their environment (enclosure).

Mike.

Mike you could be right I had them setup in a 90 gal tank with topsoil sand mix with uv lights cool side of tank 80-85 and a bask spot 100 and hides through the enclosure, I let a friend of minds work with them he put them in a 40 gal breeder and he said that he had to seperate them because the male would attack the female which is smaller then he is. And he had them on mulch in 40 gal breeder tank. Now bare in mind that before I gave them to him they had bred twice for me and I got 5 eggs each but they were not fertile. So he had bred BD,lechies, cresteds and other lizards and I thought that he would be able to breed these, I'll be the first to ask for help if I don't know what I am doing. Any thoughts.

What are the chance of possible Crypto (Cryptosporidium ) Has anyone heard of this in Ackies ?

I would start with the basics and eliminate all potential variables, one by one.

Give them a deep, usable substrate of a sand/ soil mix. I have found that most commercial topsoil does not suit them well. I am using river sand mixed with a small amount of clay.

I imagine the lizards are dehydrated. I have seen a number of pet shops keep their lizards in similar ways and have varanids with poor body mass and tail mass. They were all desperately dehydrated.

Are they kept in enclosures with a screen top? Ensure they have a small water bowl, I use tupperware, and a deep substrate, 12 inches or more, so they have moist/ humid retreats. It is hard to give them the proper substrate in an aquarium.

The basking temperatures are too low. 100 degrees is not sufficient. My pair have access to basking sites of 120-150 F. They use this entire range.

Adjust their husbandry so it is satisfactory and go from there. Most monitors die from complications of poor husbandry.

I would fix what you presently need to fix and continue evaluating them.

Hey I could you email me (SpyderPB6@hotmail.com) or post an email, I wanted to ask you about your river mix.

Thanks,
Mike.