ackies swim/soak

do ackies swim and soak at all, just wanted to no.

no, ackies do not soak at all. infact if your ackie is soaking it means your husbandry is incorrect. tey soak for a few different reasons: 1, the cage is to hot. 2, the cage is to dry. 3, the cage is too drafty. some people recommend soaking ackies but all it does is stress them out and its just a band-aid solution to poor husbandry.

but u do have to give them a bath right?

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Originally Posted by mr~python

no, ackies do not soak at all. infact if your ackie is soaking it means your husbandry is incorrect. tey soak for a few different reasons: 1, the cage is to hot. 2, the cage is to dry. 3, the cage is too drafty. some people recommend soaking ackies but all it does is stress them out and its just a band-aid solution to poor husbandry.

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Seems this is quite debatable. I am not sure who is right here but I figured I would offer this for reference:

http://proexotics.com/care_ackie.html

yes, Jamie. it is debateable. some people soak, some don't. it does help with stuck shed and hydration but if your husbandry is correct it isnt needed. it stresses the ackie out to soak him so IMO its desireable that you give him proper husbandry as opposed to soaking him to fix things due to poor husbandry.

ackies rock, no. you do not have to give them a bath if your husbandry is correct.

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Originally Posted by mr~python

yes, Jamie. it is debateable. some people soak, some don't. it does help with stuck shed and hydration but if your husbandry is correct it isnt needed. it stresses the ackie out to soak him so IMO its desireable that you give him proper husbandry as opposed to soaking him to fix things due to poor husbandry.

ackies rock, no. you do not have to give them a bath if your husbandry is correct.

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I like a good debate! So my question, not knowing a thing about Ackies, would be, why is your info correct and theirs isn't? They say that soaking should be done every week regardless.

does anyone no how much a 20 gallon tank is?

i got a 20 gallon from petsmart for 40 bucks. when you set it up you want to cover most of the screen lid (i use aluminum foil) to keep heat and humidity from escaping rapidly and dehydrating the cage and your monitor.

LOL, Jamie. bring it on! ok, if your husbandry is correct, your ackie is shedding fine, and is hydrated there is no reason to soak because it does stress the ackie out and we all know you dont want any unecessary stress with reptiles.

now, say you were slacking off with keeping the soil moist and that was your fault, then you would soak because you dont want the tip of the rail or toes to die of constriction from unshed skin.

see, its a band-aid solution to poor husbandry that is only needed if youre not taking optimal care of your ackie.

wat kind of heating/basking lamp should i use or what works good

i use a 45 watt halogen flood light. the only source of heating that would work would be overhead heat from a bulb, or CHE.

if your getting an ackie hatchling i could tell you how i set up mine in a 20L if you'd like.

My sav monitor seems to like a big dish of water he can submerge himself in. He doesn't soak, but gets in it, dunks his head under the water and sits with his body (and sometimes his head) under it for maybe 30 secs to a minute - before getting out and repeating the process a few times. Sometimes he'll swim around in it a bit - but there isn't that much room for him in there as it's only a bit longer than his body and twice as wide. He does seem to enjoy it though.

yes tell me how u set i up plz, and also how long do you keep it in a 20 gallon for??? also did you just move your ackie from a 20 long to the cage its in now?

i moved out of the 20 at about 11 inches. this is how i have him set-up now.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...s/100_0113.jpg
it has a 45 watt halogen flood light on a dimmer for the basking light on the right and the light on the left is a normal 60 watt incandescant light bulb on a dimmer (it controls ambient temp) and a timer (also control day/night cycle, but i leave the flood light on 24/7). in the cage is 1 foot of dirt from a dry stream bed, waterbowl, one stack that is 3, 1ft x 16 inch boards with a 1" running on one side to allow the ackie to choose how tight he wants to wedge himself. here's a picture of that.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...s/100_0109.jpg
the first board has two runnings but its burried and he's started a burrow under it. this is when he first started it, he's extended it more buts it's still a cool shot.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d1...s/100_0141.jpg
the second stack is his old one from the 20L with the first board also burried into the ground, and there's a climbing branch in there too.

any more questions, just ask.

ok, can you tell me just exactly wat i need for an ackie. im like confused

45 watt halogen flood light on a dimmer (this is what most people use), a hiding and basking area (stacks are your best bet because they creat a hiding area and basking area while creating different temperature zones), burrowable dirt thats atleast half as deep as your monitor is long, a water bowl, and preferably a climbing branch.

thank but do you need like a tempgun or sumthing and thats it?

yes, you do need a tempgun. thermometers with probes are pretty inaccurate when it comes to measuring 120+ basking temperatures, ive found. it seems like the heat is getting them hot and they're telling you what their temperature is when in reality the actual surface temperature is lower then the probe is reading.

and thats everything right?

yes, your ackie will also probably appreciate some other decorations too. rocks, branches, you know, that sort of thing.

ya, thanks for all the help :)

you got it, no problem. :sweeet:

can u tell me what kind of dimmer you got?

i have one lutron credenza(sp?) dimmer and some other dimmer that i bought at target. they both work the same and ive seen no difference with accuracy or anything.to me it seems like a dimmer is a dimmer.;) :)

and also where can i get topsoil from?

dry stream beds for the best 'natural' dirt.

some people also say you can mix playsand and store bought topsoil (from homedepot, Lowes, etc.) in a 1:1 ratio. ive never done it so i dont know how it works but you can try it.

hey do ackies need any like uv/uvb lighting and wat are like ideal temps

no UV lighting at all for any monitor is needed.

temps:
basking area of 120-130 for hatchlings and young ackies and 130-150 for adults with cool areas are 75-80.

one thing you have to remember is that its not the 150 degrees or the 75 degrees, its whats inbetween. allow your monitor to choose which temperature zone he wants to be in. the best way to do that is a stack.;)

k thanks

Ackies:- the TV alternative! :)

The pro-exotics care sheet probably tells you that because Colorado is dry, and because of the combined effect of dry/high altitude conditions.

Ackies in the wild live in burrows, with an entrance tunnel. Usually these tunnels go under large rocks..often granite! Which is a very solid and very heavy material. Smart move on their part.

A burrow supports a higher humidity level then the outside conditions. These monitors are then sleeping over night in these conditions. This I believe is the contributing factor to keeping their skin healthy. Storr's monitors do the same!

In captivity we provide basic conditions. So in some parts of the country, washing the monitor every so often may be needed. They don't live in play sand in the wild, nor do they live in high altitude conditions. The ground surface in the wild is compacted like cement! Which allows for safe burrowing.

Being I live in Colorado, I also wash my ackie every few weeks. No big deal, it doesn't stress the animal. Sometimes ours can be seen sliding in and out of the water dish.

If you own ackies or are thinking of getting them.... then great, you won't need a TV anymore! :)

give you're ackie proper husbandry with proper dirt for burrowing and you won't need to soak. i would think, even if you did live in dry conditions, you would still make sure you provided proper husbandry for any animal.

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Originally Posted by mr~python

give you're ackie proper husbandry with proper dirt for burrowing and you won't need to soak. i would think, even if you did live in dry conditions, you would still make sure you provided proper husbandry for any animal.

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I don't know how PE house theirs.... I know mine are housed right and doing well. High altitude can have an impact on things. I think a lot of skin issues are from using play sand etc.

do you use playsand?

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Originally Posted by mr~python

do you use playsand?

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LOL...my cat does! :)

i meen do you use it for your monitor?

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Originally Posted by mr~python

i meen do you use it for your monitor?

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I wouldn't recommend that crap for any lizard, I wouldn't even get it for kids! It's the worst substrate anyone could use IMO.

what substrate do you use?

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Originally Posted by mr~python

what substrate do you use?

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Local dirt, it compacts when it has been wet down and allowed to dry.