Got A Group of Red Ackies

Tom

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Thats awesome! I love monitors.. especially water monitors. Idk if you've ever heard of new england reptile distributors “nerd”.. they're 20 minutes from my house and have some beautiful croc and waters there. I go there sometimes just to hang out with them..
I have heard of them. Watched some of their videos. Their prices are outrageous though. CB waters can be had for a third of what they charge. I've raised a bunch of them, and personalities vary no matter what you do or don't do. Over all I think they do good work, but I can't bring myself to pay what they are asking.
 

Tom

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Looking good man! Do you plan on breeding them?
I would like to but there are two obstacles. 1. Monitors are notoriously difficult to sex, so I don't know what I have. They all look similar, so I'm not seeing any of the tell tale signs. 2. They need a winter cooling period to get them to breed and since I keep my reptile room at a minimum of 80 degrees day and night, I don't have a way to do this with them.
 

Chubbs the tegu

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I would like to but there are two obstacles. 1. Monitors are notoriously difficult to sex, so I don't know what I have. They all look similar, so I'm not seeing any of the tell tale signs. 2. They need a winter cooling period to get them to breed and since I keep my reptile room at a minimum of 80 degrees day and night, I don't have a way to do this with them.
Im in the same boat with my bluey.
 

Tom

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Im in the same boat with my bluey.
I can sex blueys. I put my BTS in a separate area in my garage to "cool" them for winter. I used dark boxes with coco chips and a heavy water bowl. Kept them in the dark for about 10 weeks at 60-70 degrees. It worked perfectly for me, but 7 out of 7 were males. Verified by seeing hemipenes during defecation, sperm plugs, or by behavior upon introduction to another mature skink. I'm considering doing this same thing with the ackies.

I'm getting a new Northern BTS baby tomorrow, and picking up a few extras to sell. Want one? :)
 

Chubbs the tegu

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I can sex blueys. I put my BTS in a separate area in my garage to "cool" them for winter. I used dark boxes with coco chips and a heavy water bowl. Kept them in the dark for about 10 weeks at 60-70 degrees. It worked perfectly for me, but 7 out of 7 were males. Verified by seeing hemipenes during defecation, sperm plugs, or by behavior upon introduction to another mature skink. I'm considering doing this same thing with the ackies.

I'm getting a new Northern BTS baby tomorrow, and picking up a few extras to sell. Want one? :)
YOUR KILLING ME SMALLS! Lol I definitely want another one in the future ( as u know they are addicting) im gonna hold off and see if i can get the sex on slinky first and try to find a proven female or male. Cant wait to see some pics of ur babies tho! They gotta be the cutest baby lizards out there ?
 

Tom

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YOUR KILLING ME SMALLS! Lol I definitely want another one in the future ( as u know they are addicting) im gonna hold off and see if i can get the sex on slinky first and try to find a proven female or male. Cant wait to see some pics of ur babies tho! They gotta be the cutest baby lizards out there ?
Get this: The breeder keeps them in trios. They live together full time with no problem. He has two trios that he does this with. He also lets the babies live together for quite a while until the males start getting closer to maturity. We talked for an hour on the phone and he explained what he does to accomplish this. I'm all over it. I think I'm getting 14 babies and I've already got 11 sold. I might keep the remaining trio and see what develops.
 

Chubbs the tegu

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Wow! Thats unheard of with these savages. Good luck with your babies .. hopefully its not 10 out of 10 males lol
 

Chubbs the tegu

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Wait.. u seem like the guy with many connections.. can u find me a melanistic bluey? Lol. Did u pick up ur babies yet?
 

Tom

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Wait.. u seem like the guy with many connections.. can u find me a melanistic bluey? Lol. Did u pick up ur babies yet?
I got them today. Only keeping one right now.

I know a guy who breeds blueys. I'll ask about a melanistic one.
 

Tom

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Wait.. u seem like the guy with many connections.. can u find me a melanistic bluey? Lol. Did u pick up ur babies yet?
No melanistic for you. Only a few people have them and they are trying to figure out how to get them to breed. He's got 2 tanimbar BTs that he wants to sell.
 

Tom

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One of them took a funny pose yesterday and I got a pic. Crawled up to the basking area and was just sitting this way. Sat there suspended and let me take pics:

IMG_0705.jpg

The other one was like, "Hey! I want to be in the picture too!"
IMG_0707.jpg
 

Tom

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I've had these guys almost two years and been wondering what sexes I had. Monitors are notoriously difficult to sex. To be honest, I really can't tell them apart. They all look the same and don't have any distinguishing markings.

Well as of today, I know at least one is male and at least one is female:
IMG_0957.jpg

I'll be on the lookout for eggs in the next few weeks. :D
 

Tom

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Caught in the act again. Internet says they copulate for 3-4 days and laying happens about 21 days after that. Already added one nest box for them to get used to and I'm going to add a second nest box today. I've also bumped up the calcium supplementation. I think I may add some more meat to the diet too. They loved jackrabbit tid bits and thawed restaurant grade quail too.
IMG_1001.jpg
 

Tom

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Finally, after all this time, I've confirmed their sexes and cared them so I can tell them apart!

I have two females and a male, which is perfect. I marked the male with blue and the females with pink and green. One female laid eggs and was all deflated. It was obvious. I pulled her out and marked her with pink. Then, I looked back into the enclosure to try and see if I could tell the male from the other one that looked plump like the was about to pop, and saw this:
IMG_1214.jpg

I marked these two right where they sat since they weren't going anywhere soon, and they didn't seem to care at all.

Now I will really be able to make some observations about their personalities.
 

Pastel Tortie

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I'm curious... What did you mark them with? I know there are nontoxic options... I just don't know what the good ones are.
 

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