Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[Jamie a]

im buying this grown on ackie in the next couple of weeks and i judt needed to know if the set up i am buying with it will be okay. im getting a heat wave ceramic bulb and holder with pulse proportional thermostat and thermometer, UVB light, a 3ft L, 2ft W, 4ft H viv. i know they need a stacking system and a place to dig but do they need a large water bowl?? and what else would be good in the cage with him?what would be the best substrate to use ? Also is there only yellow and red ackies or is there just a standard form like with beardies because the people in the pet shop do not know?

[uk goannas]

OK firstly I would not use a ceramic bulb instead I would opt for a spot bulb these produce a basking area in a select spot, I find this s more natural and the lizards find it easier to thermoregulate, I found with ceramic bulbs the lizard tends to sit by the for prolonged periods of time and not bask as such, although ceramic bulbs will work and have worked i would defiantly opt for a spot bulb instead, the use of a thermostat is of course necessary, the size of Viv is fine, inside I would use a rete stack and other furniture that offers security and a chance to thermoregulate, the more choices you provide the happier Ur lizard will be, a large water bowl is necessary although it doesn't need to be huge just enough for the lizard to be able to enter as they sometimes enjoy this, ackies are very sociable with there own kind but not with anything else so only other ackies should be housed together, There are many substrates that will work any thing that will hold a burrow without collapsing, recently i have found a substrate that hold burrows excellently and cannot be ingested easily this is called flooring sand, it contains big particles that will not be digested like normal fine grain sand, I have had all my monitors on this and they have all made great burrows and they like it for laying eggs in as well so it seems to be good around, as for the pet shop not knowing that worries me slightly there are t3 different subspecies of ackies the red form v.a.acanthurus, yellow ackies v.a,baritji and lastly an island form being v.a.insulanius, the names yellow ackie and red ackie were coined by frank retes but confusion often occurs over what type each are as many captives are a cross breed of these species and so it all gets real confusing and where "true" comes up on lists.

hope this helps
cheers
Chris.
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Keeper various varanus inc gillini,tristis,glauerti,acanthrus,ornatus,
timorensis.

[Jamie a]

thankyou that does help. i read smewhere that you cannot put adult ackies together is this true because i dont want it to be lonely?

[uk goannas]

Its doesn't tend to work when trying to pair adults once they are established, if u want more that one raise them up together as babies.

cheers
Chris
_________________
Keeper various varanus inc gillini,tristis,glauerti,acanthrus,ornatus,
timorensis.