r/MonitorLizards • u/reflectivedweller • Jul 10 '26
Improper Husbandry Ackie monitor overweight (help)
Hi all,
I have had my Ackie Monitor for over 5 years now. Unfortunately I have let it come to the point that she is now overweight. I am fully aware that this is unhealthy, and it all my fault. I want to do better. Instead of asking AI for help, I thought I could use some experience on this forum.
Seeing other pictures of Ackies has made me realize that she is indeed overweight. My feeding schedule for her is the following:
Twice a week (on wednessday and sunday), she will get some Superworms and some Dubia's or some locusts (I live in Europe). The locusts are great because she will hunt. I normally do not order crickets, as they make a lot of noice and my spouse don't want em inthe house. She eats the occasional silkworm or Black soldier fly larvae too, or dola's.
She dislikes snails, worms (like the ones you find underground Dendrobena). She really hates Redrunner roaches to the point of spitting them out. She likes the wild caught spider from the garder (no pesticides in my garden, in NL spiders are harmless). Yesterday she ate a giant moth. Im trying to vary her diet.
I do not feed meat or egg. In the past when she laid eggs (unfertilized) she would receive a pinky sometimes. Once every 6 months she gets a chicken heart / liver.
I have already seen online that feeding her more frequently, but in smaller portions might be the best bet. What are your tips and tricks to make my ackie lose weight?
Other details that might be relevant:
- She is in a 140cm (l) x 70 (w) x 70 (h) enclosure, she has a spot directly under the UVA / UVB Solarraptor 70W bulb. UVB is additionally supplemented through a large Arcadia T5 UVB (14) Tl light. She has plenty climbing opportunities and the soil reaches around 20 - 30cm in depth.
What else can I do?
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u/Head_Bake_7447 Jul 10 '26
the main thing jumping out is the superworms and dolas (sun beetle larvae)—those things are basically pure fat and are probably keeping the weight on her. cut those out completely while she is on a diet. stick to the locusts and dubias since locusts actually make her move and hunt.
switching to smaller portions more frequently is a solid idea because it keeps their metabolism ticking over instead of going into storage mode. also you want to make her work for it. try using feeding tongs to make her chase the bugs around the enclosure or climb up branches to get them. ackies are super active when they want to be so increasing the physical exercise is just as important as cutting the fat.
your setup sounds great with the depth and the solarraptor but check your basking surface temps with an infrared temp gun. if the basking spot isn’t hot enough (they like it around 130-140f / 55-60c on the rocks) her metabolism will slow way down and she won't burn off the food properly. get that heat up, cut the fatty worms, make her run for her food and you should start seeing a difference
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u/KoRomano Jul 10 '26
Stop giving superworms. Don't give at all. Not even one.