Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My largest ackie has just finished shedding, well kinda. He's still got some dead skin around his front right toes, and rear left toes. I considered soaking him, but he's still kinda wary of me and I dont feel like losing the trust hes gained in me. If there is no other option then thats what I'll do. The substrate is kinda meager, hovering around the 6" mark, and seems to hold moisture well as long as i mist it every couple of days.

I'm gonna go "make" some more dirt and increase it to like 10". Any other suggestions? Should I soak him anyways?

Just catch it and remove the dried shed with your fingers...It ain't brain surgery...
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Tom Crutchfield
www.tomcrutchfield.com

Hi Buck,

As Tom said, you can just grab him if you please. Or you can leave it and hope all goes well next shed. Some pointers for you on subtrate and humidity.

Dirt is a heavy material. Even 6 inches spread accross some surface area, an ackie cage for me for example is 4x2, is alot of dirt. Provided the cage has a solid top with only minimal venting, misting is still going to be inadequet.

If you increase the dirt to 10 inches and continue to mist the way you are, it won't get any better. Really focus on eliminating unwanted airflow, eliminating any high wattage bulbs and increasing water supply. Instead of misting for example, I dump about a gallon of water every 3 to 6 weeks depending on conditions all over my dirt. That is being done on 18" of dirt. Usually by the time I dump another gallon it is dry the first 3 to 5 inches but still has a nice amount of moisture further down.

It will take some experimentation, but you know you are getting closer when your ackie(s) tell you so. And youll be able to see when they are.

Goodluck,
Mike.

Thanks mike. I really dont prefer to grab him, as he is just starting to trust me. With 6" of dirt I was following the advice of using large quantities of water in addition to misting. The dirt will hold a burrow even when I feel it is rather dry. It feels like a sauna in the tank, but I have no way of gauging how much humidity is in there. His urine is rather runny with the stool being held togther, which tells me he is hydrated. I guess I'll just keep an eye on him. How long would it take to cut off circulation, or when should I be real worried? Does this usually happen with monitors? I understand that it shouldn't if my husbandry is accurate, so any suggestions are helpful. Thanks, Buck

Buck,

I dont know the answers to your last set of questions unfortunately. I havn't had an issue with any of that; however, I have never misted them at all either. I just use water and a well sealed cage. With two water bowls available, which by they way, they avoid at all costs hahahaha.

Also you could purchase Digital Hygrometers, they measure relative humidity. I used these back when I first started with monitors. Near my basking site, the humidity would be nearly 0. Farthest from the site it would be close to 50% while in burrows, nearly 100%.

You may want to start with those as they provide some valuable information regaurding the caging and amount of water your using. Misting in my opinion, is useless with monitors, the mist drys up so fast it has little to no effect. That is simply my opinion though.

Cheers,
Mike.