Acanthurus forum seems to be dead so im posting here , hopfully to get a tad bit of help. Ive recently aquired a pair of 2 month old(im told 2 months old) ackies , right now they are in a 20long and i just finished building a 2x2x4 cage to house them when they get a bit bigger. anyway, ive got the temps right, 75-90 gradient with a basking spot of over 150. Actually there is several basking spots with different temps for both enclosures. Dirt is about 4 inches deep in the 20long and 10-12 inches deep in the bigger cage. Anyway, one question is, would there be any reason to monitor dirt temps? Should they be a certain temp? Or will they most likely be just right with correct temps? Also i have not found much info on humidity , except they need moist dirt. Well the dirt in both enclosures is moist(not wet) and on the front, sides and back of the 20long it gets condensation , mainly on the cool end. The bigger enclosure has the whole front with condensation on it, the back and sides have diy background soi cant see if they have condensation , but im sure they do to some extent. Second question is, could the dirt be to moist, too little ventilation, or just right ? i do have the 20long covered with plywood, about 15 - 1/8" holes drilled on the cool end . And on the bigger cage i have 4 - 3" vents located 2 on each side or ends of the enclosure. As for the lizards, they do seem to be doing pretty good for how they were when i received them. One is missing about 1/3 of its tail and they both are missing nails. The one that has all of its tail had a problom with its eye at first but with a little help i got the eye moistened up and got rid of some stuck shed, it didnt even want to open its eye, i knew something was wrong , so i had to do something. They both were extreemly dehydrated when i got them. Now , one of them stays in the burrow at the cool end most of the time , it comes out from 7am to about noon to 1pm , the other one comes out about 8am or 9am and spends most of the day out and retreats to the hole about 6 or 7 at night, well he hides a bit during the day but not much. Oh, another question , How big should they be before i put them in the big cage? They are eating good and i cant see any other reason to wait besides it may seem a bit big for them right now , they are about 9" long except the one missing part if its tail is probably 6" long give or take. Look forward to reading some response.
sean mcc
