Help needed urgently - Ackie

[Necrotique]

G’day all,

I needed some advice semi-urgently. Or I might not, depending on if this is normal in your experience.

I have a male Ackie/ ridge tailed monitor https://ibb.co/cK53TV

I obtained him a week ago now, and have him housed in a 5 x 2 x 2 enclosure.

I run a single 150W basking globe in a shield inside the cage.
I have measured with IR thermometer the temparttue at the peak of his basking stack, and it gets between 58-62C

Ambient temp is around 30C, with the cool end maintaining 24C at the lowest.

His substrate is a mix of sand and soil, with submerged logs and other structures to hold tunnels. He can also dig his own as the substrate is 30cm deep st parts.

He is very active and climbs the cage a lot. This is when he is out. The other parts of the day he will remain burrowed.

All fine, as he is settling to his new quarters.

However, I am worried for two or three reasons.

I have only seen him eat once, which was day 6 after his arrival. He ate a single medium sized roach.

Since he has arrived, I have offered him thinly sliced pet mince, pinkie mice, roaches, crickets and worms.

He is completely chill with me having my hands in to tong feed him, change water, or leave food, but if I put the feeding tongs near his head, he will close his eyes.

He exhibits normal basking behaviour.
Sometimes after burrowing he will have a single sneeze. Never more than one, and never close together, only after burrowing.

The substrate is not overly wet, and I have read in a few place so that monitors can sneeze to clear debris out from digging.

My question is, what can I do to raise his appetite? Is it normal for a monitor to take over a week to eat again after a move?
I am worried that he is becoming too skinny.

Is there a food that is always palatable? I have tried pinkies, braining them first to release scent and taste, but he ignores them.

He did bite into the pet mince, but decided against it.

I am worried sick as I’ve had many reptiles over 7 years but this is my first monitor.
I know I am likely overreacting, and I would love to be proved wrong and be told that he just needs time to settle.

Thankyou in advance!

 

[cris]

Make sure the basking spot is well above 50C, a 150 watt light can easily do this, but you may need to move the basking spot closer to the light.

 

[jasonicBlast]

Assuming your substrate is deep and moist enough, your temps and conditions sound correct. At this point if hes not too skinny, id chock it up to settling in. Honestly, my little guy went thru a down period when first settling in. I wouldnt stress about it until theres something physical going in or more than a few weeks have passed. I get it, it drove me nutz too, but in time youll realise that when conditions are met they're truly hearty little guys.

 

[Necrotique]

Thanks guys! I rearranged a bit so there are a lot more hides for him, and re-measured temperature. He has different levels he can bask on, and the highest gets to 68C

I’ll wait and see how he goes with settling. I was just worried as he seems super chill with me, but not keen on eating haha. Loving his personality though.