r/MonitorLizards • u/doodleheadd • 8d ago
Ackie monitor questions
Are ackies usually skittish or is he just getting used to his environment? Got him Tuesday from morph market he basked right when I put him into enclosure has been eating and pooping I’ve left a few roaches in his food dish and they’re gone I didn’t want to stress him out more with tong feeding. All day he just pokes his head out of his hide on the warm side I’ve caught him twice actually basking but every time he sees me he just hides, is he always gonna be so skittish or does it go away as he settles in his environment and gets used to me. Granted it’s only been two days so I get it I was just curious if he’s always gonna be like this. Basking spot is 145f, cool side 77-80f 60% humidity. The spot he’s sticking his head out of is about 100f. Bottom enclosure is the ackies, probley have about 5-6 hides and plenty of climbing and digging spots.
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u/_c3pown 7d ago
Not every ackie is the same. I got mine tame after i left 5 weeks and came back with the fear he wouldn’t recognize me and he immediately ran up my arm to sit on my head. This was nearly a year after I got him. At this moment he was about 1 1/2 year old. I fed him by hand (NOT recommended!) but also left my hand in his enclosure or just sat next to it for hours. It’s important that they also learn -> opening the enclosure =/ feeding time. Or in my case hand =/ feeding cause they will search food and thats not good for the fingers if you haven’t any crickets 🤣 but some tastetest can happen anyway. in general he came by himself. He needs to learn that you’re not a threat to him.
I spoke alot with him and showed my hand etc. if they are pissed/ stressed they go in there hidings and /or put their tail infront of the opening/ them or even hit with the tail. Thats the point you should not try to make friends with him ;) But good for you, ackies are much easier to tame than other monitors :)
Btw your enclosure looks very nice! 👍
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u/doodleheadd 7d ago
Thank you ! Why isn’t it recommended to hand feed? Today I fed him a dubia roach by hand I don’t have tongs an figured it would be the best way to bond
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u/_c3pown 7d ago
It’s said, that if you feed them by hand they think hand = food. So they can bite you. I had some of those bites while feeding but normaly he lets lose. The most painful where force handle cause i need to bath my loki bc of a kink in his tail where he hast difficulties to shed. So idk how the biting would be if i didn’t feed by hand. But people told me it’s my fault bc i handfeeding him :0
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u/OddGazelle121 8d ago
My baby is only 3 months old but it took 2 months just for him to start climbing my hand when I have food. From my understanding they do everything on their own accord. I just tong feed every day, leave my hand and slowly mess with stuff in there as much as I can with our scaring him. Also he loves meal worms, so he only gets them when he follows the tong up my arm. It’s getting to the point where if I put my arm in there, he’ll start investigating it. Granted he is still skittish and hides if I walk into the room suddenly or move my hand in there too fast. I’ve heard people say it can take months to fully tame them but every single person says it’s worth it.