Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have 4 yellows all under 12 inches in a 75 gallon aquarium(48x18x18) with about 8-10 inches of cypress mulch substrate, two basking spots(easily 130-140 degrees) and "retes stack" at one end. They have hidespots at 78-80 and 85-95

3 45 watt halogen outdoor flood bulbs(2 on one side) with a screen top(i know this has to go)

I am going to be moving the cage soon and want to change a few things, for the better i hope

changing:

plexiglass top to hold humidity/heat in, because dumping a liter of water in everyday to keep the humidity right is sign they the cage is drying out too much

soil substrate?

maybe cut down to only 2 lights since the plexiglass top will

hold more heat in

concerns:

is it even feasible to have breeding group in that size tank?
if so that will reqire deep soil.

Can those tanks support the weight that much soil? I mean 75 gallons (a gallon of milk is just over 8lbs) weighs 600lbs so i would think it can hold 3-4 40lb bags of soil no prob, but that is not what the tank is meant for.

Pro Exotics mentions that they used to keep their ackies monitors only on cypress mulch. If robyn or anyone elset that knows, happens to read this, how did you handle nesting? will they burrow and lay in the mulch? nest box?

They arrived about 4 weeks ago(some a few toes short...sucks), and are packing on the inches and seem to be just fine, but i would like to eventually breed em and want some imput to tweak the setup. Yea, this is a lot but why not be particular. If im gonna do it at all, better do it right.

thx for your time fellas.

First thing, how big are you upgrading to as 4 ackies would need in my opinion at 5ft lenght cage. Second of all from what I have heard if you have an even number of ackies they are same sex (even numbers) so I have heard so a 1:2 would work better if they are still immature then if you want to I would remove one so you have a 1:2 ratio if you are looking for breeding - thats all I can say so if that isnt true then sorry but I have heard it repeatedley.

With multiple basking spots, 1-2ft of dirt, and alot of pieces of corkbark, etc for hidespots. Keep lots and lots of crickets constantly and some pinky mice or fuzzies on occasion.
3am after Easter Sunday I found my almost (or very close to it) 6 month old red ackies copulating, my fingers are crossed). Both of these 2 are between 14-16 inches long and definitely showing very different sexual charcteristics.