Red/yellow Ackie advice/info

[Rachel1990]

Hay guys just wondering if anyone could help me... I have been looking up ackie care on the internet and am finding to much conflicting infomation on everyting. Any infomation regarding enclosure and care is welcome.... And if someone could explane the pro's and con's between reds and yellows would be great to. Thanks x:)

[Lankyrob]

As with most care there will be differing opinions as to what is "best".

I had mine for 2 years, in a 4x2x2foot vivarium. I had about 75% of the floor space covered with reptibark and 25% with calcisand, the sand was under the heatbulb and i found it held the heat well and he basked there a lot. For heat i used Mercury Vapour Bulbs that provide both heat and UV light, 160W bulbs gave 130f hotspot and kept the rest of the viv at 80f minimum, i ran the bulb for 12hours a day.

I fed locusts, crickets, roaches and extrememly rarely a mouse pinky.

I have a profile for him on here - http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/varanid/85912-profile-arthur.html

[Rachel1990]

Thank you rob thats realy helpfull... How deep did u keep the repti bark and sand? :)

[BarelyBreathing]

I recommend a 60/40 mixture of soil or coco husk and children's washed play sand as a substrate for any species of monitor.

As far as enclosure size, I feel that Rob's suggestion is a bit too small. I tend to go by this formula when calculating enclosure size:
Maximum length of the lizard should be multiplied by three to get the legth of the enclosure.
Maximum length of the lizard should be multiplied by two to figure out depth.

[Gregg M]

We keep our ackies in 1.2 or 1.3 groups in 5x3x3 cages. Robs cage size would be ok for a pair although I would recommend it beng a bit taller so you can provide at least 18 inches of sand/soil mix in a ratio that BarelyBreathing suggested.

Feed plenty of insects like roaches, crickets, super worms and such. You can also offer pinkies once or twice a week especially to females.

Hot spots should be in the 130 degree range and you ambient air temps in the cool side should hover around 80 degrees.

Husbandry wise, yellows and reds are identical. Temperment wise, you would want to stick with the yellows. they are much more laid back and easier to handle than reds. They are also more reasonably priced than reds.

[Rachel1990]

Thanks for the info.... Just wondering can ackies be kept on there own or would it be better if i had a pair. :)

[Gregg M]

Thanks for the info.... Just wondering can ackies be kept on there own or would it be better if i had a pair. :)

Being that they are not social animals in the conventional sense, they can be housed alone. If you plan on only getting one, I would get a male to start off with as they will not run into any reproductive or egg laying issues. They can handle slight husbandry mistakes better than females can.

[Rachel1990]

If i do just get one what would you say would be a suitable size vivarium for it....:)

[millertime89]

Hey BB, do you calculate length based on nose to vent or nose to tail tip? Important clarifier there.

[Lankyrob]

Just to answer the question about my substrate it was about 3-4 inches deep.

[BarelyBreathing]

Total length, snout to tail.