# Newbie Ackie questions



## Johno83 (Jan 6, 2019)

Hi

I am looking at getting a Ackie in the next few months and have some questions regarding what colorations are available and what that are referred to as. I am waiting for this seasons hatchlings to become available and id love a high colour animal but am a little confused with the different locales etc and the terminology used by experienced keepers. Id love some examples.

I have a 120l x 60 x 60 glass reptile one tank which I will be fitting out with Arcadia Pro T5 12% UVB lighting. Will the 24w unit be sufficient for that size enclosure or do I need to go up to the 39w?
Which wattage heat source should I use? I have about 3 months to sort out any housing issues.

This will be my first lizard (and last reptile). I currently own a Stimson and Mag Tree Frogs.

Thanks in advance.


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## Sdaji (Jan 6, 2019)

UV lighting is irrelevant. It won't change anything regardless of what you use. Make sure you give the calcium and multivitamin supplements and all will be good. Without them, artificial UV won't save you anyway.

For heating I'd use a spotlight. The wattage you need will vary depending on you location, the temperature of the room, time of year, enclosure design, etc etc.

When keeping small monitors in similar sized enclosures I've generally used 40 or 60W spotlights for heating. Position a rock or piece of wood or whatever object they can comfortably sit on under the light, close enough that it gets to at least 60 degrees celcius (70 is better, 80+ is fine and they'll likely still use it, yes, really, no, that's not a typo, yes, I've kept and bred many small monitors for quite a number of years). They've been in herp rooms which stayed reasonably warm and no other heating was needed, but if your room is going to get cold you may need something else to suit your circumstances.

You'll hear various terms like 'high yellow' and 'red' and 'sandfire' and whatever else, which often mean nothing and the terms are used inconsistently. Do some googling, see what you like, and make sure the parents are what you want yours to turn out like. I personally like the red ones from WA with the funky ocelli, but it's all personal.


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## Johno83 (Jan 6, 2019)

Sdaji said:


> UV lighting is irrelevant. It won't change anything regardless of what you use. Make sure you give the calcium and multivitamin supplements and all will be good. Without them, artificial UV won't save you anyway.
> 
> For heating I'd use a spotlight. The wattage you need will vary depending on you location, the temperature of the room, time of year, enclosure design, etc etc.
> 
> ...



Thanks for your reply.

Google is really not being my friend. What search terms should I be using when trying to find examples of animals? It just shows me pics of Ackies but no info of original locale.

I live in Perth WA. Our winters are mild and our summers hot. I don’t think I will need too much in the way of heat. I was thinking a 100-150w heat lamp and globe.
When you refer to a spotlight, do you mean just a normal one from Bunnings? If so, how do you heat at night or do night time temps not matter?


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## Sdaji (Jan 7, 2019)

Johno83 said:


> Thanks for your reply.
> 
> Google is really not being my friend. What search terms should I be using when trying to find examples of animals? It just shows me pics of Ackies but no info of original locale.
> 
> ...



Yes, Bunnings or whatever shop you want to go to. I definitely wouldn't go 150W and even 100W would often be overkill, but experiment and see what works.

You need a spotlight, this is essential. Whether or not you need night time heating as well depends on your local temperature, enclosure design and how much of the year you want them to be active. Night time temperatures aren't too important for small monitors. For me they were always kept in a room which also had a lot of other reptile enclosures, or it was in QLD, and either way the ambient temperature of the room never necessitated night time heat. 

You may need to work a little harder to find what you want. Google won't always spoon feed you, so you may need to search through classified sites and look at pictures and how they're described, search through forums for ackie threads, etc. Over the years there will have been countless people sharing pictures of their ackies on this site alone.


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