Post by Paul on Apr 9, 2007 16:26:41 GMT 1
Ridge Tail Monitor(Varanus acanthurus)
Description
The Ridge Tail Monitor (aka Spiny Tail Monitor) is native to the continent of Australia and has also been found living on the islands off the North West Coast. They live in a variety of habitats ranging from sub tropic to tropical regions.
So far three subspecies have been described: V.acanthurus acanthurus from the eastern regions, V.acanthurus brachyurus from the west and V.acanthurus insulanicus from the island region.
This means that colouring and patterns vary from geographic origin. The Red Ridge Tail have a vibrant orange red to reddish brown colouring with rows of yellow eye spots dotted with black which runs all the way to the tail. It is believed that you can tell a male apart from the female by being more firey red in colour.
The Yellow Ridge Tail are a brown with creamy yellow spots going from neck to the tail. Unlike the reds you cannot tell the difference between males and females by colouration. (for sexing see breeding)
The yellow ackie can grow up to approx 63 cms (2 feet) from head to tail. The reds have been said to grow a little bit bigger.
Housing
Ridge tails can live happily in a 3x2x2 vivarium. In fact this size viv would easily accomodate a pair.
Substrate
Because of their tropical environment in the wild it is an idea to use a humid substrate such as orchid bark or eco earth. I my self use a mixture of eco earth and sand.
Environment
Ridge tails are very active animals so plenty of things can be placed in the cage. Branches and Cork bark allow the lizards to hide and climb about. If you decide to use something else other than eco earth for substrate (such as reptile carpet) then it is an idea to add a tub of sand or eco earth to allow digging.
Temperature and Lighting
All monitors enjoy basking so a spot light is necessary along with a UV light to give them vitamin D3. The UV light needs to be changed every 6 months or so to maintain its effectiveness.
The spot light is only needed one end of the vivarium for a hot spot gradient temperature of around 120F which will leave the other end approx 85F. If you lower the temps at night do not allow them to drop below 80F as this may cause respiratory problems.
Water
Water should be easily accessible to your monitor lizard. Be sure to provide it in a non-spillable yet shallow container. The water MUST be changed daily as monitors will defecate in their water on a regular basis as well as knock their substrate into it.
Food
Once into a feeding routine Ridge Tails are veracious feeders. This does lead to obesity thought which should be avoided (A large vivarium should allow plenty of exercise though). A variety of foods can be offered to them including insects , pinkies and minced meat (In my experience with monitors I have noticed that most monitors including Ridge Tails and Boscs enjoys a little supply of turkey mince). All food should be dusted to provide them with the calcium needed. (See Health)
Breeding
If you plan on breeding your monitors be sure you are ready for the responsibility of looking after the adults as well as the hatchlings. It is fairly difficult to determine the sex of a monitor but some by about 3 - 4 months of age some characteristics make it easier to sex. For example males have spurs located by the cloaca which are not present in females. Other ways of determine sex is noted through eye colour, head size and behaviour.
Majority of the time Ridge tails will breed at a year old (in some cases even younger than that). Depositing cluthces of about 5 - 12 eggs annually. It is not uncommon for ridge tails to lay 3 - 5 clutches a year.
The eggs will be laid around late spring - early summer time.
To incubate the eggs I would reccomend a mixture of water and vermiculite at 86-88?F. Incubation period lasts about 90 - 120 days (All good things come to those who wait).
Health
To maintain a healthy life I would reccomend using:-
- Nutrobal Powder: Nutrobal is a powder reccomended a lot of the time by shops and vets. This supplement gives your monitors calcium and added nutrients.
The down side to it though is that it is not made up of pure calcium and so they may lack in calcium. It would be better to use pure Calcium Carbonate (very rarely offered) or cuttlefish (easily turned into a powder if scraped but use this at your own risk).
Description
The Ridge Tail Monitor (aka Spiny Tail Monitor) is native to the continent of Australia and has also been found living on the islands off the North West Coast. They live in a variety of habitats ranging from sub tropic to tropical regions.
So far three subspecies have been described: V.acanthurus acanthurus from the eastern regions, V.acanthurus brachyurus from the west and V.acanthurus insulanicus from the island region.
This means that colouring and patterns vary from geographic origin. The Red Ridge Tail have a vibrant orange red to reddish brown colouring with rows of yellow eye spots dotted with black which runs all the way to the tail. It is believed that you can tell a male apart from the female by being more firey red in colour.
The Yellow Ridge Tail are a brown with creamy yellow spots going from neck to the tail. Unlike the reds you cannot tell the difference between males and females by colouration. (for sexing see breeding)
The yellow ackie can grow up to approx 63 cms (2 feet) from head to tail. The reds have been said to grow a little bit bigger.
Housing
Ridge tails can live happily in a 3x2x2 vivarium. In fact this size viv would easily accomodate a pair.
Substrate
Because of their tropical environment in the wild it is an idea to use a humid substrate such as orchid bark or eco earth. I my self use a mixture of eco earth and sand.
Environment
Ridge tails are very active animals so plenty of things can be placed in the cage. Branches and Cork bark allow the lizards to hide and climb about. If you decide to use something else other than eco earth for substrate (such as reptile carpet) then it is an idea to add a tub of sand or eco earth to allow digging.
Temperature and Lighting
All monitors enjoy basking so a spot light is necessary along with a UV light to give them vitamin D3. The UV light needs to be changed every 6 months or so to maintain its effectiveness.
The spot light is only needed one end of the vivarium for a hot spot gradient temperature of around 120F which will leave the other end approx 85F. If you lower the temps at night do not allow them to drop below 80F as this may cause respiratory problems.
Water
Water should be easily accessible to your monitor lizard. Be sure to provide it in a non-spillable yet shallow container. The water MUST be changed daily as monitors will defecate in their water on a regular basis as well as knock their substrate into it.
Food
Once into a feeding routine Ridge Tails are veracious feeders. This does lead to obesity thought which should be avoided (A large vivarium should allow plenty of exercise though). A variety of foods can be offered to them including insects , pinkies and minced meat (In my experience with monitors I have noticed that most monitors including Ridge Tails and Boscs enjoys a little supply of turkey mince). All food should be dusted to provide them with the calcium needed. (See Health)
Breeding
If you plan on breeding your monitors be sure you are ready for the responsibility of looking after the adults as well as the hatchlings. It is fairly difficult to determine the sex of a monitor but some by about 3 - 4 months of age some characteristics make it easier to sex. For example males have spurs located by the cloaca which are not present in females. Other ways of determine sex is noted through eye colour, head size and behaviour.
Majority of the time Ridge tails will breed at a year old (in some cases even younger than that). Depositing cluthces of about 5 - 12 eggs annually. It is not uncommon for ridge tails to lay 3 - 5 clutches a year.
The eggs will be laid around late spring - early summer time.
To incubate the eggs I would reccomend a mixture of water and vermiculite at 86-88?F. Incubation period lasts about 90 - 120 days (All good things come to those who wait).
Health
To maintain a healthy life I would reccomend using:-
- Nutrobal Powder: Nutrobal is a powder reccomended a lot of the time by shops and vets. This supplement gives your monitors calcium and added nutrients.
The down side to it though is that it is not made up of pure calcium and so they may lack in calcium. It would be better to use pure Calcium Carbonate (very rarely offered) or cuttlefish (easily turned into a powder if scraped but use this at your own risk).