Ackie confusion

[Jarrod_H]

wanting to get a ackie at some stage soon so been doing some reading and I keep finding different answers to the size they get eg. 60-70cm "which would be sweet" or 35cm.

Also you can house a trio in a 4x2x2 which I would of thort would be too small if they get 60-70cm.

And you got Varanus acanthuras acanthuras (red ackie), Varanus acanthuras brochyuras (yellow ackie), and Varanus acanthuras insulanicus are the three known members of the acanhuras complex. are they different sizes?? I've read the red ackie's are bigger then the others.

Can someone please point me to a care sheet that can be trusted... Or fill me in,
covering size of ackie, size of enclosure, food and quantity, temps and all the good stuff.
Much appreciated

 

[Robo1]

I wouldn't keep a trio in a 4x2x2, I think you'd need something much larger. If you have a look at my albums, I have some photos of the enclosure I keep my breeding trio in (it's roughly 6x4x2).

 

[saximus]

Can't help with the sub-species sorry but maybe the two different sizes you've read were total length and snout to vent length. 60-70 is definitely more accurate if you are talking about total length though. Mine eat woodies and pinky/fuzzy mice and they have a basking spot that's about 45-50 surface temp.

 

[geckodan]

And you got Varanus acanthuras acanthuras (red ackie), Varanus acanthuras brochyuras (yellow ackie), and Varanus acanthuras insulanicus are the three known members of the acanhuras complex. are they different sizes?? I've read the red ackie's are bigger then the others.

V. acanthurus acanthurus and V acanthurus brachyurus are no longer valid subspecies - they are all just V. acanthurus now. V. a. insulanicus is now separate in its own right. The red ackie vs yellow ackie thing is the result of artificial selection for size and colour.

 

[shortstuff61]

Does anyone have any photos of some large ones?

I'm not saying that there aren't any around, but personally I have never seen one over 50cm.

One other question. An adult pair that I used to own, one of them was just black and white. Does anyone know anything about the black and white ones? Eg, locale, etc..? I rarely see them for sale, I would like to get some.

 

[Klaery]

I have never seen a 70cm one either though I know people who say they have. Mine are North/West Queenslands and have the yellowish colouration. F1's too so pretty much the natural colour. Both them and their parents (who are 15 years old) are fairly small and I easily keep my pair in a 1200X600X600 enclosure.

 

[Sinners121]

you should think of buying keeping and breeding australian lizards edited by mike swan it answers all your questions and more. i have read and heard of them getting to 70cm but from what i have read this is usually the western australian individuals.

basking spot should be 60-70c with a cool end. its a good idea to provide a container full of moist sand so that they can choose between dry and damp areas especially when shedding.
thats just a few things but i cannot recommend that book enough.

 

[Klaery]

Can anyone show a picture of a 70cm animal? I would love to see one. Would be an impressive beast.

I'll second getting 'keeping and breeding australian lizards' as an important source of information but as always get your info from multiple sources to be truly informed. The book from memory recommends 1200x600x600.

 

[Monitor Madness]

There is an old thread with discussions regarding the size of an ackie. The person has a photo of it in the thread and its about 60cm, pretty decent size. Hope the link works.
[h=1]Hey all(ALL MONITOR OR ACKIE KEEPERS) NEED HELP[/h]