just a few questions.

[thomas1123]

Hello all! I was thinking the other day and is it possible for a monitor to go to the bathroom inside one of its burrows? If so how would you go about cleaning it up?
Would you destroy that part of the burrow or what? Also when cleaning the vivarium in general do you destroy the burrows or leave them around? Those are just some questions I haven't really been able to find an answer for. LOL. Also for a baby ackie monitor should i put it on paper towels till he is older or just put him with dirt automatically? Should i get an Under Tank Heater or no? I have been reading and I read that monitors do not need a UVB light. Is this true? When I get my ackie i am going to be putting him into an exo-terra cage until he gets bigger and i can get my custom cage built. But I was planning to cut a piece of plywood to the size of my tank so I could keep the humidity in. Would this work to help save humidity instead of a screen lid? Thanks! If i forgot any questions ill be sure to post them! I just want to make sure I do everything correctly the first time.

[Grendel]

The short answer to the question is they will poop where they please. You should not dig them out and break up their burrows because you will stress them and they will hate you.
So don't worry about a poop underground.

[formica]

My Sav only poops in its water tray, and it had previously used an empty tray to poop in aswell (glass, nothing in it), only once in the substrate when i first got it, after that, only in the water - which is really the most amazing thing I've experienced with reptiles, the stench of a freshly layed poop is hard work to deal with haha but now I just pour it all down the toilet, sterilize the tray and refil with fresh water :)

Would a monitor really poop in its own burrow? I feel not, from what I've read most peoples monitors like to do it in water, or far away from the burrow entrance - the expression "dont s**t on your own doorstep" comes to mind

i'm not an expert tho - so i culd be wrong, I'd imagine the smell would get pretty bad if it was doing that tho, you'd know about it

[infernalis]

First of all, if the most intelligent reptile to walk the earth should be pooping where it sleeps, it's sick.

I could not imagine a healthy monitor crapping in his bed.

With a well set up bio active cage, cleaning is not necessary, bacteria and bugs will clean the cage for you. A little vinegar windex for the front glass is all you will need.

I leave my animal's burrows alone.

My honest opinion, I would put baby right into an adult size enclosure right away. There is a benefit to this, the extra room promotes exercise.

[infernalis]

My animals don't poop in their water. ;)

[formica]

My animals don't poop in their water. ;)

do they have a favorite spot to poop? or is just random?

My Sav also has another smaller bowl of water, which he doesnt poop in, only in the soaking tray, and thankfully only once a day lol I suspect in the wild these guys find a stream to poop in, perhaps to keep them safer from predetors, bit like cats digging and covering their own

[infernalis]

My lizards poop in the back corners of the cage.

All evidence seems to indicate that Savannah Monitors don't frequent streams very often.

[varanus_mad]

My lizards poop in the back corners of the cage.

All evidence seems to indicate that Savannah Monitors don't frequent streams very often.

if youv ever seen one swimming compared to a truly aquatic monitor you know why...

[formica]

its odd that its a common occurrence in captivity then; I assumed it was the norm from everything i've read so far, not doing it in water being rarer

[thomas1123]

Yeah this is what i was thinking but i just didn't know 100% lol To increase humidity should i put a little water dripper or anything just to keep the soil a little moist in the cage or should i just mist it once a day?

[varanus_mad]

Yeah this is what i was thinking but i just didn't know 100% lol To increase humidity should i put a little water dripper or anything just to keep the soil a little moist in the cage or should i just mist it once a day?


If your viv has no vents... and a good depth of soil it shouldnt need that level of attention... and if it does...

Then your monitors suffering from low level dehydration as our viv designs have to minimise humidity loss and consequently moisture loss from your monitor...

[varanus_mad]

its odd that its a common occurrence in captivity then; I assumed it was the norm from everything i've read so far, not doing it in water being rarer


Im not sure if its something to do with how well hydrated your monitor is or not....

i see it more frequently in those kept sub-standard than those kept like waynes...

[thomas1123]

If your viv has no vents... and a good depth of soil it shouldnt need that level of attention... and if it does...

Then your monitors suffering from low level dehydration as our viv designs have to minimise humidity loss and consequently moisture loss from your monitor...

Ohh ok, well i was just wondering just to know. Interesting. Oh does it matter what type of dirt i use for substrate? Like would an ecoeath brick be good or should i buy dirt from home depot or lowes?

[franks]

if youv ever seen one swimming compared to a truly aquatic monitor you know why...

Mine is a pretty capable swimmer. I have been surprised. Also, Mine will only poop in his water. The annoying part is sometimes he will hold it in and wait until I change his water.

Edit: From what I have read, been told, and have experienced, these extremely intelligent animals usually choose the water because they understand from an early age that it is changed daily. I think most keepers that change daily will find that their lizard chooses this as a toilet bowl because it will not have to live with its own crap.

[franks]

All evidence seems to indicate that Savannah Monitors don't frequent streams very often.

Can you link or describe the evidence? I would be very interested to see.

[mdfmonitor]

i've seen them bury their poop before & i think they poop in the water to help avoid predators ( can't prove), my sav use to go in one end & out the other pooping on the way, maybe if he'd had a great set-up like Waynes he may not of poop in his water, i'll never know. :)

[nepoez]

My sav had only crapped in the water once, ever. That day the humidity was low because I left a top hatch open accidentally, not sure if that had to do with anything. Other than that time, he would always poo in the same spot farthest away from his burrow, which is interesting. A few times he would actually go for a quick 30 second bath, then explicitly exit the water bowl and goes to the poo spot to poo. Almost seems like he knows not to crap in the water.

He also doesn't drink that water if it's got to much soil in it after he washes his burrow soil in it. I say this because he'd not drink the water until the moment I replace the water, could be coincident but it happen many times.

[formica]

Humidity in my enclosure is 75-80%, so not sure humidity has much to do with it, and it definitly seems to be quite a common thing for Sav's to do. My Sav spent some time in the water without pooping just before shedding and only after I've cleaned it (and probly then because the humidity was only 60% in the first enclosure), but thats the only time except to rinse then poop in the mornin; have been wondering the water should be warmer for him, but a quick check now tells me its at 21C and its at the hot end, so its still going to warm up for another 7hours, I very much doubt a Sav would encounter warmer water than that in the wild. - hmm if anything it would be allot cooler, next enclosure I think will include water at both cool and warm ends

Interesting tho, some Savs do seem to have their own prefrences - mine also has a huge pile of v damp sphag moss, which he likes to chill on and inside, when he's had enough of basking, might be why he's not fussed about soaking so uses the water as a toilet

[nepoez]

Just remembered one thing. The sav's brother who used to live with him. He also behaved the same when they lived in the same burrow. They both pooed in the far end. But when my sav started to bet territorial and no longer allows his brother to stay in his burrow, his brother ended up sleeping above ground in a hide. Not sure why he didn't dig a new hole, but when they used to live in the same hole, they both dug the same burrow.

Anyways, after he got kicked out of his burrow he started to only poo in the water.

[formica]

Just remembered one thing. The sav's brother who used to live with him. He also behaved the same when they lived in the same burrow. They both pooed in the far end. But when my sav started to bet territorial and no longer allows his brother to stay in his burrow, his brother ended up sleeping above ground in a hide. Not sure why he didn't dig a new hole, but when they used to live in the same hole, they both dug the same burrow.

Anyways, after he got kicked out of his burrow he started to only poo in the water.

interesting, this does sound like a defense mechanism then, to avoid detection

[formica]

could also perhaps some kind of terratorial scent marking is going on, in Sav's that use the substrate; for the Sav's brother to mark the same area as his brother would cause some tensions, to say the least, if thats what its about

[nepoez]

no idea haha. I didn't have much time to make more observations as the fights become more intense each time. My father in law noticed blood one day, so we sold the brother.

Interesting thing here is the brother used to be the big one. After he started getting bullied.. my guy started to out grow him. Maybe the stress level was too high for him to function properly too.