FNG checking in. Not a damn Yank.

[tx_shooter]

I'm not a damn Yankee - I'm from Texas.

Other than that I have been a reptile owner for years now and recently acquired my first Ackie Monitor. The info in the US is mostly rubbish it seems so I figured I would see what the Aussies say about the Ackies. Other than that I like to camp with my Toyotas and spent some time in Iraq with the US Marine Corps. I even earned a coin from the Australian Army guys by us for locating a couple of bottles around the holidays.

So I will do a lot of watching, reading, searching, and maybe ask a few questions. I own/ operate a Toyota forum and know how annoying new guys can be and will do my best to not be one of those people.

- Tx_Shooter

 

[Mick666]

welcome friend. This little guy has sparked my interest in Ackies he was at reptile park i was visiting. Not hard to see the reason for the attraction to them. I also Drive a Toyota Hilux.

 

[Chipewah]

Welcome to the forum. Lots of helpful members here who should be able to provide any advice if needed.

 

[Sdaji]

It's funny that you say they Americans talk crap about monitors so you've come to learn from the Australians! When I was first keeping reptiles in Australia no one there had a clue how to breed small monitors, most couldn't even keep them alive. The late Steve Irwin even testified in court saying it was literally impossible to breed them in captivity!

I was interested in keeping them and had heard the Americans were breeding them like flies while we couldn't do it, so I figured I'd copy what they were doing. The Australians told me it was crazy, but I basically modelled my setups on the successful American models (with my own personal tweaks of course) and sure enough, they bred like flies. I wasn't the first to do it in Australia but it was rare enough that many people were contacting me in amazement just wanting to talk to someone who had managed to do it. Strangely and frustratingly, when I was selling the babies and telling people how to do it, they thought I was crazy, kept trying to keep them like snakes (back then everyone used blue globes for snakes! How far we've come) and would then contact me saying they wouldn't eat. This was after assuring me they'd follow my advice with the setups. For well over 10 years a care sheet I wrote got passed around all the time and was the first thing people linked to when Australians asked about small monitor husbandry.

It's pretty simple, and if I had to condense it, it would be: Keep them extremely hot, give them a basking spot of at least 50-60 degrees, preferably 70, and 80 isn't a bad thing, and no, that's not a typo, yes, it's Celcius, yes, it's hot enough to burn your hand. Feed them heaps, forget UV, don't forget the supplement powders.

For larger monitors it's slightly different, that that's the basics for small insectivorous monitors.
[doublepost=1531157096,1531156985][/doublepost]Oh, and it seems important to specify our cars. I have a Subaru Outback

 

[tx_shooter]

Appreciate the welcome. I will try to get a good pic of my Ackie when I get a chance. He is going into shed so he is not as brightly colored as normal right now.

It seems that most of the breeders over here that have a lot of good info are hard to get a hold of. The problem with the Internet is there is too much bad information ~ King Henry quote. So I figured I would get closer to the source and enjoy some pics while I am at it.

 

[Pauls_Pythons]

It seems that most of the breeders over here that have a lot of good info are hard to get a hold of. The problem with the Internet is there is too much bad information ~ King Henry quote. So I figured I would get closer to the source and enjoy some pics while I am at it.

This is not just a 'thing' in the US we have the same problem. (Not only in Australia but often contradicting information offered by some of our forum members)
As Sdaji says there are some excellent resources in the US but I guess that with so many keepers/prospective breeders poor information always seems to travel faster than good.

 

[Stuart]

Welcome Tx, good to have you aboard.

 

[Bushfire]

I would say that the Europeans are the world leaders in small monitor husbandry atm and they follow a different approach but like anything there is more than one way to skin a cat.

 

[Bluetongue1]

I would say that the Europeans are the world leaders in small monitor husbandry atm and they follow a different approach but like anything there is more than one way to skin a cat.

Different in what respects?

 

[Sdaji]

I'd say the world leaders are definitely in the USA, but these days it seems they're being very tight lipped about how they do stuff, and yes, if all you do is read what people are openly saying, you'll get overloaded with bullspit before you get anything worthwhile - very much including Australians, and yes, including here on APS. There are two reasons why the Americans (and others) doing it really well are secretive. One is commercial secrecy, the other is the inevitable backlash from bleeding hearts who think every pair of small monitors requires a pretty cage the size of a football field with completely irrelevant UV light and all the other stuff which does nothing for them. I suppose I never publicly gave away all my secrets either, although I did use large enclosures and gave some of them UV, simply because so many buyers said it was important to them, so I stuck useless UV on them so I could say "Yes, the parents are given UV" and give those ones to the people who demanded it. It would have been cheaper and easier just to lie about it and use UV for none of them, but I'd already installed it on half the monitor enclosures early on so I could test if it made any difference (it doesn't).

 

[Mick666]

I'd already installed it on half the monitor enclosures early on so I could test if it made any difference (it doesn't).

That's very interesting Sdaji. My son wants a bearded dragon but I'm trying to convince him to get an ackie. If I'm successful, I'd really like to get some tips off you, if that's ok.

 

[Sdaji]

That's very interesting Sdaji. My son wants a bearded dragon but I'm trying to convince him to get an ackie. If I'm successful, I'd really like to get some tips off you, if that's ok.

My main tip there is to consider that they're very different animals, and if he wants a Beardy it's probably better to get him a Beardy. For me personally any monitor ****s all over any Beardy, but what people like about Beardies is that they're comfortable being handled, you can walk around with it sitting on your shoulder, throw a mealworm across the room and watch it tear across, eat it, then drop another one at your feet and have it race back, then stick it back on your shoulder and continue walking around, and other assorted fun like that. You just can't do anything like that with a monitor. Monitors are much more interesting and intelligent creatures, I found them much more rewarding to work with than dragons, but if a kid wants a pet, a Beardy is probably better. I love and adore reptiles, but mostly I keep them like fish (enjoy them, watch them, but don't really handle them). For me personally, if I want something to cuddle and play with I usually prefer a female human, and if it was going to be an animal it wouldn't generally be a reptile.

If you're going to get 'an' ackie, you probably don't need tips from me. What I focus on is providing animals with what they need to be happy and thrive and breed like rabbits (actually, I find reptiles easier to breed than rabbits). People just keeping one or two have a very different focus from mine. I understand the appeal of having one pet reptile but for me personally, seeing that in my herp room would make me want to scream.

In terms of the choice of Beardy vs. Ackie, I suggest listening to that cute little taco girl