Advice needed for ridge tailed monitors!!

[lockyman]

Hi, I have recently put an adult male and adult female ridge tail monitors together in an enclosure and for a week there was no problems but the last 2 days the male keeps attacking the female and chases her to the colder side of the enclosure. It is not a mating attack as he bites her on her back legs. I have moved her to another enclosure and was after some advice on whether I can do something for him to accept her or is it pointless for me to keep trying. They are about the same size and are unrelated.
Thanks

 

[townsvillepython]

are you sure they are male and female not both males ?

 

[sweetangel]

or both females?
i know my males dont like eachother, but also i have some females which dont get along. it sounds like they might be the same sex.
is the male climbing on her back at all or just biting her legs?
if he is trying to mate he will bite the back of her neck and rub his head on her neck and then rub her back legs with his till she lets him at her tail. but its sounding like they might be the same sex!

 

[bredli-sli]

post some pics of them, mine do fight, i put 2 basking spots and heaps of places to hide from each other and have no problems, i feed seperate, if you plan on breeding them i wouldnt sepperate them, ive heard when you put them together they wont egtt along and will cause fighting

 

[lockyman]

I got them from two different people who were both as certain as they could be of their sex. One of them showed me the little spurs under the tail that males have and I looked at the other one which did not seem to have the spurs so I presumed I had a pair. The attacks do not seem to be mating as one just seems to bite at the back legs of the other one. I could try the seperate basking spots and see if that helps. But if I do and they fight while I am at work will they do much damage to each other? If I take pics of them what parts of the lizard is needed for identification?
Thanks

 

[Aslan]

Locky - If you can't see spurs on one you're looking in the wrong spot. They all have spurs, some just 'grip' more than others when rubbed.

Head size/shape can be helpful in ID.

None of these are definitive though, generally, a combination of many techniques/observations is your best bet. Failing that, XRAY is often used as a reliable tool for sexing.

 

[lockyman]

I have had a close look at the spurs on both animals and on the alleged male they are prominent and you can feel them dig in to you if you run your fingers over them but the alleged females you can just see them and you hardly feel them if you touch them. The head of the male does look a little broader than the females but then the male is 3yo and the female 1.5yo, the age difference might make the head a little wider???

 

[Tristis]

post some pics it will help us help you.
you really cant go off spur size alone. you need to look at the head and neck, spurs, tail base and how they behave and go off that.

 

[lockyman]

I will take some pics tonight and post them after the footy.
Thanks

 

[AnimalCollector6]

I don't really know much about ridgies, but could it be space issues? Perhaps if you want to keep lots of ridgies you will need a larger terrarium?

 

[lockyman]

I hope these pics come out ok. The one I believe to be the female is on the left. I hope this helps someone to help me IS them. I tried to take a pic of under the tail but it would not focus enough to post. T Animalcollector, I wouldn't call 2 x ridgies "lots of ridgies".

 

[Aslan]

Locky - Judging solely by your photos, I would also suggest that the animal on the left is a female and the animal on the right a male...

As far as aggression, this is not unheard of with Ackies. I have not seen it before, but have heard of it regularly. Some get along well together, others not so much.

 

[lockyman]

Where do I go from here if they are a male and female. Should I try separate basking spots or is there any other tips that someone could give me to get the male to accept the female?

 

[sweetangel]

is the one on the right older and the one on the left younger? because the one on the right could be a larger female and the other smaller.... they all look like females when they are smaller or when the other is smaller. it doesnt have a really boofy head like my males..... but its really hard to tell from photos

 

[lockyman]

Yeah the one on the right is about 3yo and the left is about 1.5yo. The right one which was sold to me as a male, the guy was very confident it was a male as he had a pair and his female died so he sold the male. It has prominent spurs under the tail that really grip you if you run your finger over them. The one on left spurs are only just there and don't really feel anything if you rub yoiur finger over them.

 

[lockyman]

I know my photography skills leave a lot to be desired!!