# Ackie monitor behavior?



## psewell (Oct 20, 2011)

Hi not long got a trio of ackie monitors and have been studying their behavior these past couple of days. i noticed 1 of them (biggest) being rather aggressive and biting another, didnt seem to be hurting it. i have took a video of what has been happening can anyone else that keeps these tell me if this is normal for these as im pretty new to keeping them. 


IMG0688 - YouTube

cheers

paul


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## TommyR (May 15, 2012)

psewell said:


> Hi not long got a trio of ackie monitors and have been studying their behavior these past couple of days. i noticed 1 of them (biggest) being rather aggressive and biting another, didnt seem to be hurting it. i have took a video of what has been happening can anyone else that keeps these tell me if this is normal for these as im pretty new to keeping them.
> 
> 
> IMG0688 - YouTube
> ...


It is simple dominance behaviour trying to establish a hierachy between them although the biting looks a bit agressive to me but I could be wrong here I would say seperation is your best thing for them tbh mate, or you could risk it and keep an eye on them and behaviours hope it cools off.


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## Ratamahata (Oct 16, 2012)

I dont know about keeping them together as I only have a solo ackie. But to me that looks like hierarchical behavior. As said above monitor (pun intended) their progress and if they draw blood or cause nasty injuries then separate them.


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## ShaneLuvsMonitors (Sep 27, 2008)

Deffinetly dominance behaviour however its at a rather more aggresive level than im used to seeing, i would be inclined to split them. 

They also look like two males from the vid.


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## psewell (Oct 20, 2011)

There only very young hatchlings so not sure of sex just yet. How can I tell the sex of them?


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## ShaneLuvsMonitors (Sep 27, 2008)

psewell said:


> There only very young hatchlings so not sure of sex just yet. How can I tell the sex of them?


 
Head shape certain bulkiness around the neck say male to me.


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## psewell (Oct 20, 2011)

I shall take pics of all 3 and post them see if they are male or female


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## TommyR (May 15, 2012)

You separated them?


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## tick (Dec 9, 2007)

I'd say the behaviour is fine if you notice the male head strobes ove the presumed female which indicates standard monitor mating behaviour to me id be happy to see it : victory: if your not happy your always welcome to drop them off here :whistling2:


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## ShaneLuvsMonitors (Sep 27, 2008)

tick said:


> I'd say the behaviour is fine if you notice the male head strobes ove the presumed female which indicates standard monitor mating behaviour to me id be happy to see it : victory: if your not happy your always welcome to drop them off here :whistling2:


i call it doing the robot and ive seen it male to male before right up to including mock mating... 

How come youve never seen males doing it to males before?

and i would deffinetly not call the head biting normal...


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## tick (Dec 9, 2007)

ShaneLuvsMonitors said:


> i call it doing the robot and ive seen it male to male before right up to including mock mating...
> 
> How come youve never seen males doing it to males before?
> 
> and i would deffinetly not call the head biting normal...


I saw the side biting didnt watch it far enough in to see head biting and iv never kept males together ivalways been funny after i saw one of my Storri storri got torn in half during feeding so iv always gone with gut feeling


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## ShaneLuvsMonitors (Sep 27, 2008)

tick said:


> I saw the side biting didnt watch it far enough in to see head biting and iv never kept males together ivalways been funny after i saw one of my Storri storri got torn in half during feeding so iv always gone with gut feeling


 

storri are funny little sods... ive heard plenty of people see the same thing. 

That cant have been pleasent for you mate. 

Ive seen it once or twice with ackies to...

and an old trio of mine the male passed away since then two lass's have killed every male thats been put in with em... 

In this instance id be inclined to seperate...


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## varanus87 (Jan 30, 2012)

I would agree with Shane on this a silly as it sounds ...:whistling2:

That is very aggressive dominance behaviour the lil of the two is being sub ornate to the larger this is why he is bitting and thrashing its his way offl stamping down on authority ... U may end up with a very stressed underfed animal if I continues so I would split the pair ...:2thumb:


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## Paul P (Feb 10, 2009)

Agree with previous posts, not mating behaviour in the slightest. Seperate them before one loses a limb or worse, try putting them together again at a later date, welcome to monitor keeping, lol


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## psewell (Oct 20, 2011)

I have not separated them yet. I will monitor there behaviour over the next few days and if this continues I shall separate.


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## LarsSWE (Feb 23, 2013)

I have my pair monitored (!) with an IP-cam when not at home. So far no signs of dominance fights - apart from the laying on top of each other behavior. They're about 8 month old and looks like two males.
IP-cams are great, just don't know what to do if I see them fight i my iPhone when at work.


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## TommyR (May 15, 2012)

psewell said:


> I have not separated them yet. I will monitor there behaviour over the next few days and if this continues I shall separate.


Your keeping together at your own risk then mate you have been told above that can lead to death or a visit to vets. I hope it doesn't come to that.


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## psewell (Oct 20, 2011)

A know the risks mate. They have been fine the day no aggressiveness at all. Will monitor them the morra and if I witness any signs then I shall separate. These have been together since they were born and I have only had them a few days.


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## TommyR (May 15, 2012)

psewell said:


> A know the risks mate. They have been fine the day no aggressiveness at all. Will monitor them the morra and if I witness any signs then I shall separate. These have been together since they were born and I have only had them a few days.


Where did you get them mate? Possibly cause they are new housing so need to insert dominance between them in a new environment. Glad has been good today could have been a quick squabble but looks vicious yesterday hope it stays that way though. Best of luck


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## psewell (Oct 20, 2011)

TommyR said:


> Where did you get them mate? Possibly cause they are new housing so need to insert dominance between them in a new environment. Glad has been good today could have been a quick squabble but looks vicious yesterday hope it stays that way though. Best of luck


Got them from a local reptile shop, there was six of them together at 1 point. they have been good the day lets hope it stays that way. i was advised (not by the shop) that if i buy i trio i have a good chance the sex will be 2 females and 1 male as they will decide their own gender is there any truth in this or is this just coincidence.

cheers

paul


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## TommyR (May 15, 2012)

psewell said:


> Got them from a local reptile shop, there was six of them together at 1 point. they have been good the day lets hope it stays that way. i was advised (not by the shop) that if i buy i trio i have a good chance the sex will be 2 females and 1 male as they will decide their own gender is there any truth in this or is this just coincidence.
> 
> cheers
> 
> paul


Most pet shops do not have a clue mate tbh, these are probably all related from the same clutch and if breed will be inbred. I am pretty sure that in some lizards the sex is determined by the temps the eggs are incubated not sure if it applies with monitors, I would imagine if you bought a trio of monitors the chances would be better of having a female instead of buying one ackie, will need a bigger viv sooner mate also probably 5x3x3 and a foot of soil/sand mix for burrowing a bigger viv will give them more chance of staying out of each others way also.


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## switchback (Nov 25, 2011)

Your substrate looks quite shallow... How deep is it and what is it?


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## psewell (Oct 20, 2011)

TommyR said:


> Most pet shops do not have a clue mate tbh, these are probably all related from the same clutch and if breed will be inbred. I am pretty sure that in some lizards the sex is determined by the temps the eggs are incubated not sure if it applies with monitors, I would imagine if you bought a trio of monitors the chances would be better of having a female instead of buying one ackie, will need a bigger viv sooner mate also probably 5x3x3 and a foot of soil/sand mix for burrowing a bigger viv will give them more chance of staying out of each others way also.


you can determine the sex of leopard geckos by adjust the incubation temps, as i have bred these in the past. not to sure on these little fellas, i have had a quote from a viv builder for a 7x3x3 for £216 but i will need to arrange my own courier to collect. will also need to be flat packed to get in me house lol and i will be lining the bottom with perspex to stop it from getting water damage.




switchback said:


> Your substrate looks quite shallow... How deep is it and what is it?


the substrate is a mix of sterile topsoil and play sand and at the min is about 6" deep. am in the process of a new bigger viv and will have 12" of substrate 

cheers

paul


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## ShaneLuvsMonitors (Sep 27, 2008)

TommyR said:


> Most pet shops do not have a clue mate tbh, these are probably all related from the same clutch and if breed will be inbred. I am pretty sure that in some lizards the sex is determined by the temps the eggs are incubated not sure if it applies with monitors, I would imagine if you bought a trio of monitors the chances would be better of having a female instead of buying one ackie, will need a bigger viv sooner mate also probably 5x3x3 and a foot of soil/sand mix for burrowing a bigger viv will give them more chance of staying out of each others way also.



all available ackies are inbred the initial fo unding stock was very small. 

varanids are chromosomely determined at fertilisation just like us. 
a footsteps a bit shallow id go with 15" minimum... for any spending of varanids


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## TommyR (May 15, 2012)

psewell said:


> you can determine the sex of leopard geckos by adjust the incubation temps, as i have bred these in the past. not to sure on these little fellas, i have had a quote from a viv builder for a 7x3x3 for £216 but i will need to arrange my own courier to collect. will also need to be flat packed to get in me house lol and i will be lining the bottom with perspex to stop it from getting water damage.
> 
> Sounds good mate look forward to seeing how things go and updates from you, could possibly varnish the viv with several coats to protect it.
> 
> ...





ShaneLuvsMonitors said:


> all available ackies are inbred the initial fo unding stock was very small.
> 
> varanids are chromosomely determined at fertilisation just like us.
> a footsteps a bit shallow id go with 15" minimum... for any spending of varanids


Not surprised by that.

Yeah wasn't sure about the sexing of youngsters wether it was down to chromosomes. Learn something knew everyday :2thumb:


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## Barlow (Sep 23, 2010)

To me this looks like typical hierarchy determining wrestling. I've seen it many times here with 4 groups of juvies raised together. You'll normally get two or 3 fights like this before they start to settle down. It's common with juvies. If they wanted to kill each other they could do it in a heartbeat. Personally I'd leave them together for now but consider 24/7 hour basking options to allow them all to heat and feed when they want.


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## ShaneLuvsMonitors (Sep 27, 2008)

Barlow said:


> To me this looks like typical hierarchy determining wrestling. I've seen it many times here with 4 groups of juvies raised together. You'll normally get two or 3 fights like this before they start to settle down. It's common with juvies. If they wanted to kill each other they could do it in a heartbeat. Personally I'd leave them together for now but consider 24/7 hour basking options to allow them all to heat and feed when they want.




Don't think I ever saw my group of ackies scrap like that :lol2: you have had more ackies in your care than I've had hot dinners though.


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## Barlow (Sep 23, 2010)

ShaneLuvsMonitors said:


> Don't think I ever saw my group of ackies scrap like that :lol2: you have had more ackies in your care than I've had hot dinners though.


I've seen it with every group I've raised from the egg Shane. I've never seen it with adults though. I had one aggressive adult male that used to pull the female out of the basking stack but she held her own. In fact after she had laid a clutch she used to Chase him all over and whoop his ass. I had another female killed in one bite by a very aggresive male who I quickly moved on to someone looking for a pet single ackie. They are all individual with different personalities which keeps us keepers on our toes but also ultimately more and more intrigued by them.


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## ShaneLuvsMonitors (Sep 27, 2008)

Barlow said:


> I've seen it with every group I've raised from the egg Shane. I've never seen it with adults though. I had one aggressive adult male that used to pull the female out of the basking stack but she held her own. In fact after she had laid a clutch she used to Chase him all over and whoop his ass. I had another female killed in one bite by a very aggresive male who I quickly moved on to someone looking for a pet single ackie. They are all individual with different personalities which keeps us keepers on our toes but also ultimately more and more intrigued by them.




Well you already know about my lass's mad the responses to males...


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## psewell (Oct 20, 2011)

Barlow said:


> To me this looks like typical hierarchy determining wrestling. I've seen it many times here with 4 groups of juvies raised together. You'll normally get two or 3 fights like this before they start to settle down. It's common with juvies. If they wanted to kill each other they could do it in a heartbeat. Personally I'd leave them together for now but consider 24/7 hour basking options to allow them all to heat and feed when they want.


Cheers for the advice, all seems well in the camp he/she just had a little chase of another but never bite it. The aggressive 1 in the video normally chills by himself and the other 2 chill together. they are all eating ok so am pretty pleased so far.


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