Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just acquired a trio of ackies about 6 weeks old. I am currently keeping them in a 20 gal aqu (24"x12"on a sand and shredded coconut substrate. They are heated by a red bulb and a uth heater. The temps at the top of my "woodpile" (stack of 1x1's and plywood) is 125 degrees f. The cool end is about 85. They also have a uvb light that is on for 12 hrs a day. I'm feeding about 3 doz small crickets a day (they are all being eaten)and have water available everyday. The substrate still has condensation below the ground level. Is there anything else I should be doing?

Thanks for your time,
Dave

What are your night temperatures? I don't see why you would have condensation unless your water bowl is huge or something. Remember they are xeric animals that shouldn't have condensation in their cage unless it is for an hour in the morning. I would recommend feeding them larger crickets so that they only need to eat about 5 crickets a day. I would also use mealworms every third feeding. Sounds like a pretty good set up though. What kind of UVB bulb do you have? maybe some more ventilation would get rid of the humidity.

They don't need UVB bulbs. Dust their crickets.

Keep the slight humidity. They are babies and you need to prevent dehydration. In the wild, they could burrow, but in captivity, you do things to get around that.
As adults, they need a drier, but burrowable substrate, like dirt. The slight humidity in the dirt, will prevent your ackie from needing soaking. Being kept bone dry is not good for them, or any monitor.

Your setup for a hatchling sounds good, the basking spot could be higher. Ackies are said to be one of the ones that 'like' high temps. (130 ). Giving less, they won't eat as much or grow as fast.
Don't take my word for it, try it and see.
Have fun. D.