# cold weather and ackies



## hayden123113 (May 9, 2014)

my ackie has slowed his eating habits dramatically I always thought this was because of the colder whether, he still only a Hatchie and only eats only 4-5days but I've kept the temps the same sine I got him and he used to eat every day. so is this normal for my ackie?
P.S sorry for all the noob questions lately its just so hard to find the right information on the internet


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## Rogue5861 (May 9, 2014)

hayden123113 said:


> my ackie has slowed his eating habits dramatically I always thought this was because of the colder whether, he still only a Hatchie and only eats only 4-5days but I've kept the temps the same sine I got him and he used to eat every day. so is this normal for my ackie?
> P.S sorry for all the noob questions lately its just so hard to find the right information on the internet



Ive blocked all ventilation in my guys enclosure. Temps are about 5c cooler then over summer but all 3 are still eatting flat out, they are about 11 months old at the moment. I feed them every 2-3 days.


Rick


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## Micksreps (May 9, 2014)

I have just picked up a hatchie a few days ago so i would also like to peoples thoughts on this, so far mine has eaten a few times but always stays in its hide, im about to swap the spot lights for 100w MVB to increase the temps and give some UV. 
I will try blocking more ventilation also.
I have its tank sitting on top of my mesh top yearling carpets tank that has a ceramic lamp on a thermostat so that keeps the temps up a bit and keeps the tank warm during the night. Should i also have its own ceramic globe during the night?


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## dodgie (May 9, 2014)

hayden what temp does he have? i give my ackies 70c basking and 30c at the other end and they warm there body's up to about 62c and then go walkabout.

Micksreps Baby's can sleep a lot and do stress easy.Make sure he can warm up in the morning so he can move about'with baby's if there cold they have trouble moving to the warm spot unlike mature monitors they can walk very slowly to the hot spot.


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## hayden123113 (May 9, 2014)

dodgie said:


> hayden what temp does he have? i give my ackies 70c basking and 30c at the other end and they warm there body's up to about 62c and then go walkabout.
> 
> Micksreps Baby's can sleep a lot and do stress easy.Make sure he can warm up in the morning so he can move about'with baby's if there cold they have trouble moving to the warm spot unlike mature monitors they can walk very slowly to the hot spot.



70 basking spot, 25ish cold end, still doesn't eat though, should I be worried?


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## Rogue5861 (May 9, 2014)

hayden123113 said:


> 70 basking spot, 25ish cold end, still doesn't eat though, should I be worried?



Raise cold end up to 30c if you can, they really like it hot. 

Have you setup a stack under the basking light? My guys have two basking spots with one of a stack of slate tiles, tiles are 70c on top and the other basking spot is 55-60c.


Rick


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## dodgie (May 9, 2014)

It took me a long time to get over the fact that they love heat and need it.What are the night time temps?.As Rouge5861 as said do you have a stack they like to hide in small gap's almost wedge them self's in to feel secure.


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## hayden123113 (May 9, 2014)

Rogue5861 said:


> Raise cold end up to 30c if you can, they really like it hot.
> 
> Have you setup a stack under the basking light? My guys have two basking spots with one of a stack of slate tiles, tiles are 70c on top and the other basking spot is 55-60c.
> 
> ...


 yeah I have a elevated rock that puts him only like 10cms from the lights it reaches about 75 , and then black shale rocks that get to about 45 under the elevated rock, ive tried everything he just ignores the roaches I put in their and even chicken chunks that he ate those before he started refusing food. im really worried about him its been 6 days and still hasn't even tried to eat.


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## Ramy (May 9, 2014)

In winter, it's possible that reptiles respond to the shorter photoperiod - the amount of light at daytime and night time. In which case, increasing the heat might not change his mind in thinking it's winter.

What's people's experience with this: Is there a correlation between UV/long daytimes and brumation?


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## hayden123113 (May 9, 2014)

Ramy said:


> In winter, it's possible that reptiles respond to the shorter photoperiod - the amount of light at daytime and night time. In which case, increasing the heat might not change his mind in thinking it's winter.
> 
> What's people's experience with this: Is there a correlation between UV/long daytimes and brumation?


 I haven't changed it, heat is still on 12 hours a day, at night time heat is off along with uv. the temp drops to about 14-18 degrees is this to cold?, if so are there anyways heat him up without interrupting the night day cycle.


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## pinefamily (May 9, 2014)

Our ackies seem to know what time it is. They don't come out until about 10:00 AM, then disappear anytime after 5, at this time of year. Heat gets turned on about 6:30 AM, and turned off about 7:00 PM. Now the Adelaide nights are getting colder, we are running a 100w purple globe overnight on their 6 ft tank.


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## hayden123113 (May 10, 2014)

found a moth and feed it to him, he seemed to like that, maybe he just doesn't like the taste of woodies, should I switch to crickets or silkworms?


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## pinefamily (May 10, 2014)

We've been mixing it up for our three. Feeding chopped up mice, crickets and turkey mince, all dusted with multi-cal.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk


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## hayden123113 (May 10, 2014)

pinefamily said:


> We've been mixing it up for our three. Feeding chopped up mice, crickets and turkey mince, all dusted with multi-cal.
> 
> Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk



thanks mate ill give those a try


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## TA1PAN (May 10, 2014)

This is how I house all my small monitors. It is very basic but works a treat. The globes I use are 50watt par20 halogens, the ceramic hide gets a nice 60+ deg. I find using this style setup all my monitors are active/thriving and it is very easy to achieve a hot basking spot. These conatiners are great for also giving the lizards some natural sun light once a week.


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## pinefamily (May 11, 2014)

So does anyone else use night time heat for the colder nights? I guess it depends on what part of Australia you live in.


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## Rogue5861 (May 11, 2014)

pinefamily said:


> So does anyone else use night time heat for the colder nights? I guess it depends on what part of Australia you live in.



I keep my reptile room at 18c over nigbt during winter, no overnight heating inside enclosures.


Rick


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## CantBeatALBINOS (Aug 3, 2014)

Hey guys, sorry im abit late for the thread but im looking at getting an ackie soon too and purchased keeping and breeding Australian lizards by mike swan(amazing book!)
Just wondering if as it being winter what day and night temps do you guys use? I have a 65-70ºc hot spot and another at 45-50ºc hot spot so two basking sites but having trouble getting my ambient temps up,


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## hayden123113 (Aug 3, 2014)

CantBeatALBINOS said:


> Hey guys, sorry im abit late for the thread but im looking at getting an ackie soon too and purchased keeping and breeding Australian lizards by mike swan(amazing book!)
> Just wondering if as it being winter what day and night temps do you guys use? I have a 65-70ºc hot spot and another at 45-50ºc hot spot so two basking sites but having trouble getting my ambient temps up,


my problem was it wasn't hot enough, he went off food at about 35 degrees as soon as I pumped it up to 70 he ate like a machine. I keep my night time temps pretty high around about 30 at the hot end, although where he hides at the night is around about 20.


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## pinefamily (Aug 3, 2014)

Since reading the posts on here we only provide night time heat to our juvenile achieve but now we are in the middle of winter have been leaving the ducted heating on at a lower temp overnight.


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## Native_EWD (Aug 3, 2014)

I've found my 6month old Ackie has gotten picky, past month or so, refusing woodies aswell. Though can't refuse a chopped up pinky!


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## hayden123113 (Aug 3, 2014)

Native_EWD said:


> I've found my 6month old Ackie has gotten picky, past month or so, refusing woodies aswell. Though can't refuse a chopped up pinky!


 yeah after a while my ackie straight out refused woodies, although he still eats crickets and chicken meat.


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## jbest (Aug 3, 2014)

My girl has gone off food altogether also I'm on the GC but nighttime temps have been much cooler this year. She has same sort of basking temps 70hot spot ambient 30-25 hot cold end. She also has very deep substrate about 30cm and she tends to burrow down overnight. Nighttime temps in reptile room probably hit about 12 degrees lately...quite cool. Should I supply night time heat to get her eating again.


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## hayden123113 (Aug 3, 2014)

jbest said:


> My girl has gone off food altogether also I'm on the GC but nighttime temps have been much cooler this year. She has same sort of basking temps 70hot spot ambient 30-25 hot cold end. She also has very deep substrate about 30cm and she tends to burrow down overnight. Nighttime temps in reptile room probably hit about 12 degrees lately...quite cool. Should I supply night time heat to get her eating again.


 I personally wouldn't have a clue, this is my first monitor, hence this thread started with me asking nooby questions. although if their anything like snakes they usually stop eating this time of the year unless their hatchies.


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## Native_EWD (Aug 3, 2014)

jbest said:


> My girl has gone off food altogether also I'm on the GC but nighttime temps have been much cooler this year. She has same sort of basking temps 70hot spot ambient 30-25 hot cold end. She also has very deep substrate about 30cm and she tends to burrow down overnight. Nighttime temps in reptile room probably hit about 12 degrees lately...quite cool. Should I supply night time heat to get her eating again.



I guess it depends on how old she is?. IMO, I wouldnt bother supplying an adult night time heat, Gets pretty low across there natural range.
But a Juvie your trying to feed up, night time heating would be a good option.


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