Is there a place up on top for the nest box? Usually females arent very comfortable nesting on the ground. Will the nest box be heated ? If you want her to nest in there you have provide the absolute best temp and humidity ranges within the tub so she is not holding eggs/ laying them all around the enclosure as a last resort. Looks good other than that, they will have a great home.
Collection of Articles and advice to help us keep our herps
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I can move it to 2 diffrent locations in the enclosure other than where it is in the pic .I can put it over the water area about 1 1/2 feet higher than where it is and or I can put it up tward the top left under one of the floods.I'll get some more pics of other areas it can go let me know where you think would be best.
Ok hooked up the filtration system to the terreriam today and got my lights on .I have a ambient temp of 80degees with the lower part in the 75 deg renge and the higher parts in the 95 -100 deg range my humidity is at 50 percent I am thnking of adding a fogger to the top so it falls down in to the tank to create more humidity or mabye just mist more .After misting is goes up to 75 percent. Varano I will get those pics I promised of the diffrent locations for the hide box.
Ok hwew are two of the places the laying box fits one at the bottom of the cage and another directly under one of the 100 watt floods at the top right .And the filtration system .
Ok last update added a fogger to the water part to increase humidity .And with out further adue I present to you the blue trees !!
Oh and Davo DONE MATE
Oh and Davo DONE MATE
Caresheet for Ackies
Ackies are considered a dwarf monitor by many. Its small size great personality make it a great starter varanid for someone looking to break into the varanid captive care arena. The requirements to keep ackies in captivity are not as high as other larger species that require special arrangements to keep them in optimal shape. In this care sheet we will cover Housing arrangements, Feeding, and Breeding/hatching eggs.
Housing Arrangements
Since most ackies in captivity don’t surpass 24 inches in length (with tail included), housing for this species is easier than housing its larger cousins. It is easier on the wallet and it helps you build a foundation on how to understand varanid captive husbandry. The minimum for one adult should be 4x2x4 foot vivarium, these are just minimum requirements and would be all means suggest going bigger if possible as they will utilize the space. Make sure the vivarium has at least 12 inches of substrate to allow natural digging instincts, and to provide proper nesting for females. I would recommend sand/soil mix, about 50/50 in ratio. Provide climbing space for them as they will utilize it as well. That can be provided by collecting tree branches, hollow logs, cork tiles and tubes. I would stay away from using any form of rock, as ackies can sometimes dig under them and move them a bit causing the rock to fall on the animal which has a bad outcome in the end. Instead I have resorted to using flat pieces of cork or plywood, these items aren’t heavy and the animal can release itself if caught under. Provide a decent sized water basin for drinking and soaking. Since ackies aren’t the greatest swimmers I provide them a plastic bin for shoe storage and fill it up half way with water. The enclosure should be soaked 3x a week or so to provide the right humidity ranges in the enclosure and also to provide optimal conditions in the substrate.
Feeding
Feeding is very easy for this species as they will take just about anything that’s provided. I vary the diet as much as possible, we can’t cop Mother Nature, but I try my hardest to give them something close to it. Crickets and roaches make up their invertebrate diet, and fuzzy mice make up the other side for more protein intake, and for females recovering from egg deposit. Every once in a while I offer lizards as part of their diet, about 1x per week. I use this feeding to allow them to hunt for their food and for them to display behaviors that others wise are suppressed when they eat whole food items, that are frozen thawed.
Breeding/Incubation
Ackies usually become sexually mature at about 1 year of age, there are some that blossom sooner and some later, buts generally the norm. The male will mount the female for about a whole day off and on and the female will deposit eggs in the substrate about 10-17 days later again some do it sooner some later. The female will go off feed and once the eggs are deposited she will be ravenous. Whole food items should be offered to help supplement from egg development. The eggs should then be placed in a plastic container with 50/50 water to perlite ratio in weight. The eggs should be incubated at 85F and hatching starts at about 110 days some sooner some later. Hatchlings should be left in the incubator for 24 hrs so they can fully develop out of the egg. Hatchlings should then be placed in a grow cage and offered crickets about 2-3 days after hatching.
Pictures to follow of enclosures, etc...
Ackies are considered a dwarf monitor by many. Its small size great personality make it a great starter varanid for someone looking to break into the varanid captive care arena. The requirements to keep ackies in captivity are not as high as other larger species that require special arrangements to keep them in optimal shape. In this care sheet we will cover Housing arrangements, Feeding, and Breeding/hatching eggs.
Housing Arrangements
Since most ackies in captivity don’t surpass 24 inches in length (with tail included), housing for this species is easier than housing its larger cousins. It is easier on the wallet and it helps you build a foundation on how to understand varanid captive husbandry. The minimum for one adult should be 4x2x4 foot vivarium, these are just minimum requirements and would be all means suggest going bigger if possible as they will utilize the space. Make sure the vivarium has at least 12 inches of substrate to allow natural digging instincts, and to provide proper nesting for females. I would recommend sand/soil mix, about 50/50 in ratio. Provide climbing space for them as they will utilize it as well. That can be provided by collecting tree branches, hollow logs, cork tiles and tubes. I would stay away from using any form of rock, as ackies can sometimes dig under them and move them a bit causing the rock to fall on the animal which has a bad outcome in the end. Instead I have resorted to using flat pieces of cork or plywood, these items aren’t heavy and the animal can release itself if caught under. Provide a decent sized water basin for drinking and soaking. Since ackies aren’t the greatest swimmers I provide them a plastic bin for shoe storage and fill it up half way with water. The enclosure should be soaked 3x a week or so to provide the right humidity ranges in the enclosure and also to provide optimal conditions in the substrate.
Feeding
Feeding is very easy for this species as they will take just about anything that’s provided. I vary the diet as much as possible, we can’t cop Mother Nature, but I try my hardest to give them something close to it. Crickets and roaches make up their invertebrate diet, and fuzzy mice make up the other side for more protein intake, and for females recovering from egg deposit. Every once in a while I offer lizards as part of their diet, about 1x per week. I use this feeding to allow them to hunt for their food and for them to display behaviors that others wise are suppressed when they eat whole food items, that are frozen thawed.
Breeding/Incubation
Ackies usually become sexually mature at about 1 year of age, there are some that blossom sooner and some later, buts generally the norm. The male will mount the female for about a whole day off and on and the female will deposit eggs in the substrate about 10-17 days later again some do it sooner some later. The female will go off feed and once the eggs are deposited she will be ravenous. Whole food items should be offered to help supplement from egg development. The eggs should then be placed in a plastic container with 50/50 water to perlite ratio in weight. The eggs should be incubated at 85F and hatching starts at about 110 days some sooner some later. Hatchlings should be left in the incubator for 24 hrs so they can fully develop out of the egg. Hatchlings should then be placed in a grow cage and offered crickets about 2-3 days after hatching.
Pictures to follow of enclosures, etc...
Temps are the same for all the monitor species, hot spot 135 to mid 80's on the warmer end to 70's on the low end, ackies could even take high 60's. I dont use UVB on any of my reptiles, I didnt want to include that so that I dont spring board a discssion about it.bangerang103;1688009; said:
Im using this setup to raise a group of ackies in
