Is my sav too fat?

[nepoez]

Hi all, I just looked at Infernelis's savs again and I think mine is just not lean like his and wonder if mine is too fat. I've posted some photos here and in the photos it doesn't really show his fat belly, but the video shows it better and it almost looks like he's got a beer gut.

I've been making him work out(on top of his daily roaming around) by making him chase a mouse and jump around, climb up ramps, until he's really tired out. Usually takes 5-10 minutes of chasing and he will get too tired to jump and run anymore at least not fast like the beginning of the work out. In the video you can see he's tired and slower than usual in the jumping parts due to the session of chasing he just completed. I've been doing this for a few weeks but his belly is still fat and touches the floor, not like infernelis's.

My setup is like the recommended... humidity is always 80% or even more when I water, basking temp is 140 give or take, he doesn't sit under too long, on and off between roaming around.. he usualy roams around for hours, everything seems normal.

I haven't been feeding him much insects, mostly whole mice(each day), and smelt, or yellow croakers for some snacks, so I'd say 50% mice 50% fish... Once in a while I give him a couple hundred crickets(some times he doesn't eat them) or super worms(he loves them) but it's rare that I feed insects due to the small size(no roaches in Canada)

Any help would be appreciated thx!

Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/103641022791999749733/FatSav

Video:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?pid=5936493158163697762&oid=103641022791999749733

[murrindindi]

Hi, the video isn`t working for me? From the photos I would say the monitor is just a touch "heavy", definitely NOT obese, I would advise feeding a diet of 50% vertebrates to 50% inverts, rather than mostly rodents and fish (though they are both excellent in themselves).
Absolutely no disrespect to Wayne, but people should not look at his monitors and think that they are (or were for a time) in such terrific condition (not as hatchlings/juveniles, rather as they came into adulthood). A well fed and healthy captive Savannah monitor (young adult upwards) starts to look fairly "stocky" (that does not mean too heavy), both Wayne`s were "underweight" to some degree (too slender, in my opinion). I am aware that the stress of being housed together meant one animal was dominating the food for a period which led to a difference in growth.
I know he offers them excellent food items but I think they would do well if the amount were slightly increased in total, and as Wayne`s stated they are extremely active, I don`t see any problems in doing that (they will not become overweight and unhealthy)! :)
You might slightly decrease the amount (maybe you could offer rodents 3 or 4 days a week rather than every single day).
As always, the amount of energy they need depends on the amount they use. If they look a little chubby reduce somewhat, a little skinny, increase (it`s so easy once you know how)!
Do you know the length and weight of your monitor (an actual measurement, not a guess) ?

[nepoez]

thx for the response! Yeah I measured him he's 2 feet 4 inches. But I can't weigh him, I mean I could but I don't pick him up.

So my action items is make inverts 50% instead of just fish and rodents and cut down rodents by 50%. But now in Canada we only have crix and superworms where I live that are affordable. There's silk and horn worms but those are way too expensive. I read crix are pretty empty and superworms are really high in fat. So what are your suggestions? thx again and I'm all ears, I want the sav to be a long term pet.



Oh here's a video of after him working out, as you can see he's tired out and doesn't sprint for the food anymore but it's a good video to show his belly.


ebTWa7nZrbk

[infernalis]

Just a wee gut going on, stout tail base, good muscle tone on the limbs, Not bad at all really.