My red ackie

[Fishysweet]

This is Abraxos he is a spiny tailed monitor also known as red ackie. He is a absolute ham and loves snuggles. He is missing all his fingers on his hands but his thumbs and is missing a few toes too his eye lid is scared as well I dont know what happened to him I got him from a pet store like that.

 

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[Stanzzzz7]

Nice. How active are these lizards and do they spend much time hiding in your experience?

 

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They are very active. abraxos would climb so much more if he could but he cant really use his front arms to climb due to lack of fingers. But he will lay on me and sleep for hours as well. Then get up and want to climb around on me for a little while then back for a nap. He doesn't really hide but he does sleep in his burrow at night hes normally up before me but if he has a nap during the day I can call him out. They are the best pet monitors. He will stand up on his back legs to check stuff out or be picked up he is super sweet

 

[Stanzzzz7]

They are very active. abraxos would climb so much more if he could but he cant really use his front arms to climb due to lack of fingers. But he will lay on me and sleep for hours as well. Then get up and want to climb around on me for a little while then back for a nap. He doesn't really hide but he does sleep in his burrow at night hes normally up before me but if he has a nap during the day I can call him out. They are the best pet monitors. He will stand up on his back legs to check stuff out or be picked up he is super sweet

Thank you.
We were considering getting some but still researching. Will they do well in pairs or harems and how big a viv would they need as adults?
Sorry for all the questions, just keen to learn.

 

[Fishysweet]

They are awesome you wont regret it.They will try to dominate each other after about a year old and I have read some horror stories about keeping them together.They are solitary and just come together for breeding so I would just keep one per habitat. To start with I went with the large tall exo terra 36x18x24 I went with the shorter one because the finger issue. They love to burrow so a deep substrate is a must. I keep the water bowl on the bottom of the tank so he doesn't burrow under it and get hurt. Then it slopes up and I have cork bark tunnels buried in substrate. I have seen a minimum tank size for one adult from a 40 breeder - 75 gal + but the bigger the better on tank size they are extremely active and will use every bit of space you can give them. Tall tanks are great because the love to climb and and it allows you to have a deep substrate for digging too. Hope this helps. Dont be sorry for questions lol

 

[Stanzzzz7]

Thank you.
I have a space where I could build a viv 8feet long 3 to 4 feet tall and 2 feet wide.
I didn't want to go ahead with building something this large for an animal that just basks or hides all day.
These sound perfect if they are an active and bold lizard.
How much food does yours get through a week?

 

[Fishysweet]

Awesome that sounds great!!! I cant wait to move and get my cage built. Yeah I get that lol. They are wide open. A lot!! dubia roaches superworms mealworms waxworms can o crickets can o grasshoppers 1- 2 times daily (I like to change it up for him) so I do 2 or 3 kinds at a time a pinkie a couple times a week, he likes his insects better. I set can o crickets around his tank in random spots so he can find them too. He mostly eats out of his dish. Its smooth sided so the dubia roaches can't get out they cant climb glass either. I'm going to try some egg with him and he hates snails. You definitely want to get a colony of dubia roaches going.

 

[Stanzzzz7]

Thanks for the info, you've been very helpful.
I've been itching to build a viv of some kind for ages. I keep switching from dart frogs to a large desert set up. Ackies are very tempting though.
Just want a bit of movement in there and hopefully a natural setting.
Love your snakes in the other thread by the way.