I’ve been considering ackie monitors for a while and I’m trying to learn more about their care, but I haven’t found anything online that actually goes into detail about what is involved with caring with them and how much time and effort it takes.
How much work do ackie monitors need? Are they usually calm or do they need a lot of work to be handleable? How much time a week does it usually take for maintenance and care?
@ghoulishcresties
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This is just going off of what I have heard about them and I don’t keep them (yet) personally-
They can be very handleable as long as they are socialized when young. They don’t need a lot of time and the only difficult part when it comes to them is they need really hot basking spots and a pretty large enclosure with really deep substrate. And like all reptiles need spot cleaned and a complete substrate change every few months. @ghoulishcresties can probably tell you more and better information because she keeps them but I am bored so thought I would give it a shot 
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The part where I keep hearing conflicting information on is the part about time, some people say they don’t take a lot of time, while other people say that it takes an enormous amount of time. Thank you for the input! 
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The care is actually quite simple imo, literally we ‘spray’ Once every 2-3 weeks keep substrate moist enough for them.
The Substrate holds moisture well now settled in layers though, it’s 2 different types of sand, red and yellow, ones pro rep beardie life and the other is habistat.
Underneath that is organic potting mix, coco fibre, Arcadia earth mix arid and bits of charcoal,
All underneath is mixed and we put more on top. Seemed to have not messed up yet… and Montana has dug a few tunnels!
Handlablity wise,
Montana is a dream, can cuddle and get her out l when we want, Emily cuddles also and she’ll just sit and chill with you!
Big Boy Dave on the other hand is very flighty still. He wasn’t handled at all so we’ve put in the work ourselves and he is getting a lot better and I was actually able to stroke him the other day and he didn’t run 
Either you can get young and tame down yourself, keep in mind monitors are VERY smart, you don’t want to break their trust to go at their speed, food helps too!
Or you can find a tame adult 
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Thank you! This was exactly what I was looking for.
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Temperature is another thing, they like it HOT!
120 Fahrenheit for the hot spot, the rest varies all over their vivarium, lowest spot is about 77.
Food wise… Everything 
Crickets, locust, Dubia, wax worms, meal worms, even isopods the buggers haha!
And pinkies as a treat! 
Don’t expect to keep plants in with them either
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If you need anything else at all let me know!
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I’ve read that feeding is tricky with them because they eat so much. I just re-setup my dubia colony in a darker tub and bumped up the temperatures, so hopefully I can get a good colony going.
I have enough trouble keeping plants alive without help from ackies. 
I was planning on putting a pair in a 5x3x4’ enclosure. Do you know of any problems keeping pairs together? Most of what I’ve read says that they are one of the few species okay being kept in a 1.1 group, but I just want to be sure before I pursue this more and make plans.
Also, thank you for the help. You’re the only person I’ve talked to that has experience with keeping these and that helps a lot to clear up how to keep them.
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Feeding wise, yes they eat a lot
We’ve been buying bulk locust recently and have a tub of dubias going for breeding too!
They need a lot of space and exercise to not get overweight, so that size is ideal.
They can be kept in a 1.1 fine, these 2 get along amazing.
If you went for older sexed you will know for sure a pair, unless you get a young one, sex it then get another when older?
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I usually buy bulk mealworms online and I should (might) have a good dubia colony going, so hopefully I’ll be able to alleviate some of the expense of feeders.
I’m still undecided on getting a pair or getting one and then another later. Getting one early would give me some experience with ackies before cohabbbing them, and be positive that the enclosure is good before getting another. It would also make it easier to tame it down. But, getting 2 would mean that they are moving in at the same time, so that should reduce the risk of cohabbing problems.
But, I still need to make space for the enclosure and get it built, and there are a few things that I want to buy first, but this is close to the top of the list. So, my goal is to have the enclosure built and set up by the end of the year.
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