Monitors:: Yellow Ackies:: Breeding

large male ackie

Yellow ackies are fairly easy to breed, all they need is heat, plenty of food, and adequate nesting sites. They should have access to a basking site of 120-130 degrees Fahrenheit and the cool end of their enclosure should be around 75 degrees. This allows for a temperature gradient where they can choose their optimal spot. A nest box should be provided with a mixture of dirt that holds burrows well. You may have to experiment to get the mixture right; I use a combination of fine sand, vermiculite and peat.

ackie that died in egg after 3 months incubation

Once you have fine tuned your set up getting eggs is the easy part. The hard part is incubating them. So far I have had one clutch of 7 eggs laid, one of which lasted the full 3 month incubation period then died in the egg. I have another 6 eggs in the incubator now (laid 5-22-02), and am hoping to have better luck this round. I am using an air driven Hovabator (not the turbo fan model). Keeping the temperature and humidity at the correct levels is the difficult part. Too much humidity and the eggs can actually "pop". Too little humidity and the eggs will shrink and shrivel. I will post updates as this clutch of eggs progresses.

Update 8-16-02: This clutch of six eggs was laid 5-22-02. They have been incubated at 86 degrees Farenheit and should hatch in the next few weeks.
9-2-02: The first egg pipped, and all six eggs hatched over the next few days, finishing on 9-6.

Clutch 2 (Six eggs Laid 7-3-02)
10-10 through 10-14-02 all six eggs hatched.

Clutch 3 (4 eggs Laid 8-27-02)
12-6 through 12-10 all four eggs hatched.

Clutch 4 (9 eggs Laid 3-12-03)
Hatched 6-16 through 6-18.