The First Day
It's finally here! The day you pick up your new baby ackie and eagerly take it home to open up your package and find what's waiting for you inside.
Here's a few tips on how to best settle your new little guy into your home. All orders need to be picked up from a FedEx hub for live arrival guarantee. Most orders are delivered the morning after it is dropped off with the carrier. Make sure that you are available the entire day that you are expecting to receive your shipment.
Most orders are delivered by 12 p.m. and often by 9 a.m. Make sure that you bring your photo ID to pickup your order and that the name on your ID matches the name on the shipping label.
Once you get the package in your possession place it in a climate controlled area in your vehicle until you get home. I do not recommend opening the package until you get home. Baby ackies are very small and can easily get away from you in tight areas.
When you get home immediately open your package and remove your ackie gently. It will likely be sluggish due to the low body temperature and dark environment it came from. It's important not to handle your ackie very much the first day. Look it over and make sure it's in good health and has its eyes open when removed from the shipping container.
Place your ackie in its new enclosure as soon as possible. I recommend having your enclosure lights before you pickup your ackie so it has time to develop a nice ambient temperature and hot spot.
Provide live medium dusted crickets and fresh water in the enclosure. Your ackie will be eager to eat within 24 hours of arriving. If your ackie does not show an interest in food within 24 hours please contact us at lisa@ackiesforsale.com.
It is recommended that you do not interact with your new baby ackie for the first 3 days to give it time to settle in and learn its new habitat.
Baby ackies almost always favor live crickets over any other food. This is the recommended staple for the first 3-4 months dusted with calcium with each feeding and vitamins once per week.
Also start to provide medium dubia roaches as soon as you can alongside the crickets. Dubias are easy to keep and make a nutritionally superior food for ackies through adulthood. Once ackies start to eat dubias they learn to love them and prefer them over many insects and foods.
The Ackie Enclosure
Ackies do well in many types of enclosures as long as they offer a 4-6" substrate capable bottom. I recommend a 40 gallon breeder tank as a minimum enclosure for a single adult ackie. A 20 gallon tall glass aquarium works exceptionally well for the first 5-6 months of your ackies life.
Although not required, I prefer a smaller enclosure for babies so they can easily find food and you can easily keep an eye on them.
Ackies are not easily sexed as babies so you will have a 50/50 chance of getting a female or male. Female ackies will begin laying fertilized or unfertilized eggs around 1-2 years of age (and sometimes sooner). It is recommended that you keep a shoebox or larger sized container with a lid in your enclosure. Fill this with semi-damp substrate that can hold a burrow. I like to use 50/50 play sand and coconut fiber. This will ensure that your female has a place to lay eggs safely and will help prevent egg binding.
Mist your enclosure once per week or add small amounts of water to the substrate to maintain a semi moist mid to bottom level of your substrate.
I recommend using a mercury vapor light that emits UV light and heat in 150+ watts to provide the need UV and heat to develop good bones and health. You want your basking spot to be 120-160F. Provide a layered basking area to promote adequate temperature regulation.
Ackies love to explore, climb, and hide between tight spaces. Add plenty of layering in your enclosure (especially around the basking spot) and change your layout every 6-12 months. This will promote wellbeing.
Diet
As adults you can feed your ackie a variety of foods, but I recommend not relying heavily on mice, meats, or eggs. Ackies do best on a 95% or higher insect diet. They love dubias, superworms, crickets, wax worms, and mealworms. I feed my ackie babies as much food as they would prefer and always keep a supply of live crickets in the enclosure for the first 3-4 months.
