Ackie help appreciated

Hello, I am a long time herper, but am new to owning my red ackie. I bought him a little over a week ago at the show in White Plains NY. At first I had him in a smaller tank until I could set something better for him. Well what I did was that I turned a 55 gallon on its side and put plexi glass on the "top" which is now the side, I have encluded pictures to further illustrate. It is awesome for temperature and humidity. I have done a lot of research and have learned that ackies love to dig and burrow, so I laid some tubing for a "burrow" and he seems to love it. After about a week of getting aclimated, and staying in the tubing mostly, I believe he's starting to feel more comfortable. My problem is that I don't think he's eating, well i haven't seen him eating. I offered him a variety of their "favorite" foods, but i haven't seen him after anything. I gave him crickets, superworms, and even cockroaches and I'm not sure if he's eating or not, my best guess is no, because from what i've read, they supposidly eat a lot. Now, I've got the environment pretty good, i've given him space, not handled him too much, and sometimes when i come in the room he will be out on the sand, so there IS progress there, but of course as soon as i open up the side, he will SHOOT into his tubing. Does anyone have any suggestions on what else I could do make him more comfortable, less scared, and to be a more aggresive feeder? one more thing that i thought may effect this is that he was housed with another male for his entire life, i believe, but i bought just him, so could he be lonely or something? thanks for the help,
Eric

here are the pics

Time, time, time. In a new environment, monitors can take a while to settle in and become comfortable. Some start eating right away, others take up to a month to get up to speed. you're on the right track with letting him be for the time being. That said, however ...

Be sure your ackie is healthy. You might have been sold a sickly lizard.

Regarding your enclosure, tubes are nice, but it is even better if the ackies can dig their own burrow. You will need a deep substrate of something that holds a burrow, I recommend going to a landscape company or nursery or garden store that has lots of piles of soil out back that you can buy in bulk. Poke around, see what holds a burrow, drains well, and isn't too dusty or too slimey or whatever. turn your tank back upright and fill it about halfway. Let your ackie make its own burrows. Here's an example I have with my juvie argus cage



Note the burrows that my argus dug for herself.

Good luck,

Luke

I agree - let the monitor dig it's own burrow. Also, a 55 gallon aquarium might be a bit large for a baby ackie. So large that the ackie may have trouble finding it's food.

Cover the sides of the aquarium with newspaper, so you can't see in, and the ackie can't see out (to reduce possibilities of stress).

What are your actual basking temperatures? Do you have a piece of slate or other rock for a basking area? You should be getting 130 degrees or more.... Without proper temps, your ackie can't digest it's food properly. Without digestion, it can't eat.

Thanks for the help..... I turned the tank upright and put the light inside the tank, it definatly has a 130 basking temp, and i know the humidity is good, so i know that is all perfect, and he is about 2 years old i think, so he's an almost full grown adult. As for the 55 gallon, it almost still feels to small for me, but if you say its ok, than i'll try sticking with it for a while. There is a good depth of some moist thick soil for him to build his burrow in now. I am going to attempt to feed him again tomorrow, I will try blocking off any vision out of the cage, thanks for the info, any more suggestions or tips, please feel free to suggest.

One more question...What do you guys use as far as hydration controls...container of water? spraying? frequent baths? I gave my ackie a bath a few days ago and he acted as though he had never touched water before. O yes, one more responce, I DO believe he is very healthy, he has no scars, missing nails, and when i got him he was REALLY fat, so he has slimmed down a bit, but I want to be able to keep up with his previous feeding habits, thanks

Originally Posted by Ejplaxtreme

One more question...What do you guys use as far as hydration controls...container of water? spraying? frequent baths?

Give the critter a dish of water for drinking and bathing if and when it wants to. Otherwise, a burrow in real dirt-like substrate is an important instinctive method of hydration control. The burrow stays humid, retreating into the burrow cuts down on water loss. Also note that burrows are imortant for temerature regulation as well.

Good luck,

Luke