Ackies Fighting?

[AussieReptiles10]

Hey, recently i purchased a male ackie (ridgetail monitor) and thought he would want a girlfriend so i went and bought a female aswell (both are about 1-2 yrs old).But when i got home and put her in his enclosure they were fine for about 30 mins then i walked in to see them what i thought was trying to mate but the female was on top!? She was trying to get on top of him and she was twisting her tail so that it was underneath his but as i watched he turned around and bit her! And i just thought it would be fine. For the next five minutes she was doing the same thing (by the way they were both head twitching) and then after five minutes of her doing that he turned and bit her again so this time i seperated them. So i have no idea what to do! There might be a possibility that they are both males is there anyway i can sex them?Any help would be highly appreciated! Thanks

 

[Robo1]

It'll depends on the seller, but it's possible the second ackie is male. I've posted about my experience sexing them here.

Regardless of their sex, they still might not get along. I'd house them separately until they both settle down, particularly the new one (give it a few weeks to get used to it's new surroundings). When you want to try and introduce them again, first swap them over in the enclosures for a week. Ideally you then want to introduce the dominate one into the enclosure of the submissive one.

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If you're not setup to house them separately have a look at this thread. It will show you a good way to setup a suitable enclosure quickly, just use the biggest tub you can find.

 

[spongebob]

Ackies "fighting" and "mating" and confusion between the two and an assumption that boys are the only ones to get on top is a common concern. Dominance displays often look like "mating" and can also look like fighting. It's boy on girl, girl on girl, girl on boy and boy on boy in the ackie world. Only the latter combination is the most dangerous.

 

[mad_at_arms]

Excellent quarantine procedure.