ackies swim/soak

[Razaiel]

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.

[ackies rock]

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?

[mr~python]

i moved out of the 20 at about 11 inches. this is how i have him set-up now.

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.

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.

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.

[ackies rock]

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

[mr~python]

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.

[ackies rock]

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

[mr~python]

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.

[ackies rock]

and thats everything right?

[mr~python]

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

[ackies rock]

ya, thanks for all the help