Ackie Monitor (Spiny-Tailed Monitor)

Ackies need a large, robust, front-opening enclosure with a minimum footprint of about 120 x 60 x 60 cm for one, with bigger strongly preferred as they are highly active. The defining requirement is a deep layer of diggable, moisture-holding substrate, ideally 30 to 45 cm of a topsoil, sand and clay mix that holds burrows, since ackies dig extensive tunnels and need humid retreats underground. Provide a raised stacked-rock or slate basking area under the lamp, plenty of hides, cork and branches, and a water bowl. The burrow humidity, not the air, keeps them hydrated.

An active insectivore and carnivore. Feed a varied diet of gut-loaded insects such as crickets, dubia roaches, locusts, black soldier fly larvae and the occasional pinky mouse or lean whole prey for adults. Dust insects with calcium at most feeds and a multivitamin once or twice weekly. Feed juveniles daily and adults several times a week, adjusting to avoid obesity, which is common in captive monitors. A varied, insect-heavy diet with occasional larger prey keeps them lean and healthy.

Ackies need a very hot, focused basking spot. Provide a basking surface of about 55 to 65 C over a tight stack of rocks (using a cluster of halogen bulbs on a thermostat), a warm ambient of 30 to 35 C and a cool end of 26 to 28 C, dropping to around 24 to 25 C at night. Strong UVB is essential: use a high-output T5 tube (around 12 to 14 percent) giving a basking UVI of about 4.0 to 6.0 (Ferguson Zone 3 to 4) at the monitor's back. Keep the air fairly dry at 20 to 50 percent while the deep substrate stays humid below (around 80 percent). Run a 12 to 14 hour photoperiod.

Usually kept singly, though experienced keepers sometimes maintain a compatible pair or group in a very large enclosure with multiple basking and hiding sites. Housing must allow every animal its own hot spot and burrow, or dominant individuals bully and injure others. Ackies can become remarkably tame and interactive with regular gentle handling and food-based trust building, and their intelligence makes them highly responsive to their keeper.

Ackies thrive on complexity: deep substrate for real tunnelling, stacked rocks and cork for climbing and basking, multiple hides, and puzzle or scatter feeding to make them work for food. Novel objects, rearranged terrain and foraging challenges suit their intelligence and curiosity, and a large, varied enclosure is itself the most important enrichment for this active, exploratory lizard.