Reptile & Amphibian Forums

this guy is AWESOME! i have never owned such a smart lizard , and so inquisitive as well , what a wonderful little guy. purchased from Rare earth inc. thanx once again guys! 2 months old


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John woodward
JW REPTILES

well if u really wana see them , i guess ull have to go here:
photo site

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John woodward
JW REPTILES

Congratulations!!!

I know you will enjoy it.
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Ed

There are chameleons, pythons, and monitors in my jungle room.

Welcome to the wonderful world of ackies. I've got two yellows and they're such a circus to watch. Got mine as hatchlings, and I am forever amazed at how much they can eat. So bold for something so small. Be aware, though, that monitors appear to be addictive. Maybe they should come with warning labels???

Leslie

Warning! Owning monitor lizards may be hazardous to your wallet.

The Surgeon General

haha , ive already spent almost 400 dollars on this little guy , but i think its well worth it. hes incredible. i wouldnt usually call a lizard smart, but this guy is exactly that; "smart". hes just so inquisitive and intelligient in his movements , and the way he captures his prey , its like nothing ive seen before , he uses the rocks in his cage to smash the crickets on , and knows exactly where to run if he feels endangered.ive been a snake guy and a gecko guy for a long while now . ive got beardies , crested geckos , hogg island boas and green tree pythons, plus tons of other boas and pythons , but none of them seem to be as intellectually capable as my red ackie. I really want to get another one , so that i may hopefully get a pair and breed them later on in their life , but as seeing u cant tell the sex of an ackie outwardly , im not quite sure what to do. he seems to love his set up, but i wanted to know if u guys thought it was alright. ive got him in a ten gallon tank ( for his juvenile stage) hes got a hot spot of around 115 degrees, a couple of hiding spots under his basking rocks, which he loves to sleep under. ive got him on a calcium carbonate sand , and hes got a rock water bowl , which he has decided needs to be full of sand , lol. let me know if this is an alright set up . thanx.
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John woodward
JW REPTILES

I'd ditch the sand for sure. These guys love to burrow, and sand just won't cut it. Some of the more knowledgable can chime in here, but I'd up the basking spot temp a bit. I kept my hatchlings in a 10 gallon at first so I could be sure they could find and catch their crickets, but as fast as they grow, you might start thinking about a yours' next enclosure.

I'm still experimenting with substrata. Mine still don't burrow as I've been told they should, but Florida dirt is problematic as it comes, due to all the sand. I mixed in some of the cocoa bark stuff with the 'good brown dirt' I located,(spent a whole evening 'concocting' what I thought would be a nice burrow holding substrata) and it still does not seem to suit them. Of course, I gave them a neat snake house thingie I found, with a hollow interior reached by a hole, which is full of nice moist substrata, and they sleep in that by choice and hide in it, so maybe they have decided that it is preferrable to their old burrows under the cork bark. Neither of mine dig much, though, which tells me I'm still missing something in the substrata department.

Leslie