Reptile & Amphibian Forums

im post a pic of the cage any suggestions big or small would be very much appricated. the cage i have is for a ackie

Link

I am by no means an expert but there are several things that you need. First of all that is all screen which causes heat and humidity loss...both essential. You also need a substrate that is, well...able to dig and burrow in. There are several things that you can use. You can get a steel stock tank or an aquarium. I woudl go with the stock tank and then fabricate a top which can be as simple as a sheet of plywood with a light fixture for the basking spot. You need to make sure that you have proper ambients and a got hot basking area. You can use a 45 halogen flood light about 12 inches up to get a nice 120-130 degree basking area. I would say another good start would be to read over the care sheet on PE's site. Also read up on forum posts and any other realiable information that you find....whatever you read make sure that it is recent and not from 1970. Overall get that cage changed as soon as you can.

Good luck

From what I've heard/been told, you need more glass, more wood, and less screen. For temp and humidity reasons, I believe.

I'm sure someone else can/will elaborate.

Mike

But you can fix your mistake.

Get rid of the chameleon cage or save it for a chameleon, that is what they are for.

Whats wrong with your cage? heat loss, humidity loss, incorrect use of height, incorrect bulb usage, bad substrate,etc.

I recommend you go out and spend a couple or few hundred on doing this correctly or else sell your ackie.

You can buy a trough (4 feet) for under a hundred and go to home depot for the rest of what you need (acrylic sheet, bulbs you need to splice in, vents). You will need to buy the rest of what you need at the grocery store and a little sweat from your backyard (sandwhich container for water from the store and dirt with out rocks or clay or fertilizer from your yard or someone elses or buy sandy loam from the nursery).

That is a cheaper alternative.

The person who sold you that should be taken out back for not telling you this if indeed they didn't.

just telling you the truth,

andrew

thanks for the info man i bought him about a week ago at an expo. i believe i got him from regal reptiles honsetly the only thing the guy told me is that it was an ackie but i already new that he pretty much left me alone whil i was holding for like 10mins i could have just left with him. but thanks man i have the money the only problem is i don't have the time to build a tank for him so for the time being im going to get him a glass tank a 20gal sounds right for his size

At his size Id go bigger actually, I use a very modified 55 gallon for one adult male ackie and more room and more depth of dirt could be better for him. I have a foot deep of dirt, I cant imagine a 20L would hold too much, but its alot better than that cage could ever be.

it was the red one for 200 and hes pretty small

Reddish brown colored, about 12-14 inches, hes a V.A. Brachyurus (yellow), not Acanthurus (red), unless its a different animal altogether. I was there when he bought him 2 shows before. We asked about the yellow ackie for sale for $100 he had (price tag indicated $100), it was the only ackie they had at all, someone else asked if they had any ackies, he told the guy "we have a red ackie down here for $200", I believe he called it a "proven breeder" to another guy. At the last show I looked at it and asked him "didnt I see you buy this yellow ackie male 2 shows ago?", he said "yes, hes up for sale now $200 if you want him". It was the short guy working at that table right? It was his animal he bought from another vendor a few shows ago.
Id like to see pics of it if you could, they arent the most honest dealers. Heres a red ackie.

the guy i bought him from was tall with long hair he looked and acted like a hippie and was the biggest air head gave me no advice what so ever and everytime i tried asking him stuff he ignored me of walked off. but as i showed him to other breeders they agreed he was a ackie. i do have some pics but there awfull im haveing my friend email me the ones where hes on me and you can actually see him so ill post them soon.

Hes the better one to deal with actually, thats not saying much as youve seen.

i named him gabriel

" alt="Image">
Image

Thats a yellow (V.a Brachyurus), not red (V. Acanthurus), same species different subspecies. Technically if you go by description you could call it a "red" ackie as he is reddish, very very few yellow ackies are actually yellow, most are reddish brown, black, or yellowish. The main difference is price, as far as they are concerned they can charge more if they sell it as a red ackie ($250-$400 ), where as you can find yellows as low as $90 and up to $250. I imagine both are just as entetaining to watch, and just as energetic, yellows supposedly get larger.

i think so to cause i saw other ackies (red) but they were all adults. he seemed to be the only baby unless i missed one

gabriel half buried
Link

"Go Lizards" (where I got Sedona) was the name, the brother to Sedona (my red ackie, they asked me if I was interested in his brother while he was there). All of the ackies aside from him were yellows. There were several hatchling yellows available, and Regal had one smaller adult (about 13 inches long) at Hamburg.

I got him from, thats where the adult red was..

yes i believe gabriel was the one you saw at regal. as a update ever since i changed his cage hes been a lot more active still skittsh but less, and eats everyday hes a pig.

go for a breeder tank it will be wider and give more floor space.

i was all tied up earlier, i am glad you made it over here.

and first of all, let me say how REFRESHING it is to see someone come in and be completely open to constructive criticism and suggestion! it sure beats folks coming in as "know it alls" and then getting all twisted out of whack about advice, all the while their monitors suffering their stubborn ignorance.

congrats Matt, you are now on the right track

start with a 20L tank. they are easy to setup, easy to get temps right in (use an elevated basking spot!) and easy to monitor your animals progress in.

if you are going to use a store bought substrate, use Zoo Meds Forest Floor, not that crappy Jungle Mix junk.

LOTS of good tight hidespots, a water bowl, a basking area, and minimal ventilation to get your moisture levels up.

best of luck, keep us updated with your changes!
-----
robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

thanks i feel really awful inside about screwing up with his cage and if i didn't email you i might not have known it was wrong thanks man. im going home this weekend to get the stuff for him since i work at a petsmart im really going to push someone for a ride sooner though.

but its ok, its all a big learning curve and by no means are any of my set ups perfect, however they are a little better than yours, na, im just playing, its all good and you came to the right place, you are getting enough responces so i'll leave it to the others.
scott

If it is still young, a 20 gal can work well for a short period of time, as it will make it easier for a baby to find food. If bigger, go for a 4 foot long stock tank (you can get them at a farm supply store). I like cork bark for my ackies. You can pile it up for a basking spot and they will crawl all over and between it. Plus, if they dislodge a piece, it won't crush them. Then just lay other pieces on the substrata. They tend to arrange things to suit themselves.

Home Depot is your friend. They have 1/4" acrylic that you can cut to fit as a top for your enclosure (tip - they sell special jig saw blades for acrylic. Invest in one or two, as it makes the whole job easier).

Good luck, and thanks for thinking of your ackie first, rather than your ego. You are going to make a great monitor keeper!

Leslie