Updated: Lucifer & tank

[Snip3r]

http://www.angelfire.com/pro/scales4sale/rockluci.jpg

I FOUND THE MACRO MODE!!!!!

[Snip3r]

Tank picture #1

[Snip3r]

tank pic #2

[Snip3r]

another of Lucifer

[SerpentLust]

GAWD he is sooooo cute. You keep making me want to be rash and buy a Sav NOW!

Jenn

[ohh_kristina]

adorable!

[reptilez]

AHH MAN!!!! I Cant Wait till i get my Sav!!
They look so Awesome:D!:D
-Reptilez

[V.hb]

Cool sav, I dont mean to pick apart your husbandry but i would get him off that sand, its really not good for them. Check out numorous other posts on here to see why. Don't worry you're not the only one thats made the same mistake.. I think we all did at one point.

Get yourself some out-door dirt, and make less ventilation available, in order to keep humidity at a decent level. No, you dont want tropical humidity, but 70's works.

Good luck and nice sav,

[Snip3r]

Originally posted by V.hb
Cool sav, I dont mean to pick apart your husbandry but i would get him off that sand, its really not good for them. Check out numorous other posts on here to see why. Don't worry you're not the only one thats made the same mistake.. I think we all did at one point.

Get yourself some out-door dirt, and make less ventilation available, in order to keep humidity at a decent level. No, you dont want tropical humidity, but 70's works.

Good luck and nice sav,

Yea, the humidity stays in the 70s...72 or so...the hot spot temp is up to 110 or so...I need to find some out-door dirt tomorrow...Also could someone tell me the reason not to use sand?

[hudson]

You shouldn't use sand because when your sav is eating his crix he's also eating a lot of sand at the same time which could lead to an impaction which could cause alot of problems if not death.
Also sav's like to burrow which is impossible in sand. Give him about 6 inches of dirt and he can tunnel threw it. You can put more than that in if you want, he will have a blast digging.

Kate

[JeffT]

Nice monitor, and nice cage. I hate being a repeater but like they said....NO SAND!!! I have lost a gecko to impaction already and I havn't used sand since. If you dont know what impaction is basicly when they eat (accidently) too much sand, it then completely clogs their intestines and they will die in just days.

[V.hb]

Hudson covered the sand issue... its completely useless, if you insist on using sand you would be far better off with newspaper.


Outdoor dirt holds burrows much better, but also become useless with too much ventilation, so use it wisely!

[Jeff_Favelle]

Wrong substrate.
Wrong depth of substrate.
Wrong setup.




Nice lizard.

[paul_le_snake]

straight to the point as usual jeff, fair shout fella!

cheers
paul

[JeffT]

lol Jeff, maby you should inlighten him then. I agree though, setup is deffinately wrong. There is a lot of wasted space in there and judging by the photo his one and only hide isnt even big enough for him. You need some nice rock setups for basking and hiding and should probably loose the stick, they arnt much aboreal.

[crucified]

ha.. my first savannah.. i named her lucifer ;).. lucy for short.. haha ;)

[Jeff_Favelle]

Ok.......


http://www.varanus.net/faq/

[Snip3r]

ok so remove the driftwood...use dirt, not sand...put in some more rocks to create hiding areas as well as somewhere to bask...Im gonna go for 8inches of dirt or so...

This sound ok?

[V.hb]

I see nothing wrong with driftwood, dont use rocks.. use pieces of plywood in the dirt, monitors like to burrow under, or beside objects.. all of mine do anyways.. 8 inches is a start, but your monitor is 12" right? Go with about 12-20 inches of dirt.. Good luck

[TheRedDragon]

Heh heh heh...Lucifer seems to be a pretty popular name, so, I suppose I won't be naming my first Sav that when I get that one...instead it'll be Leviathan. :D

[Dragoon]

Just a note...
Sand does not cause impactions.
Neither does rodents, bugs, gravel, whatever.

Improper temps cause impactions. Dehydration causes impactions. This all leads back to the setup you have, NOT what it is eating.
Please guys, lets stop these rumors before others read it, and repeat it.

As proof, I've had my monitors a year, and they eat rodents. And they wipe their wet rodents in the dirt many times before swallowing. They are eating dirt by the spoonful sometimes, LOL, and it all comes out the other end. No problems whatsoever. Skin, bones, cartilage is all digested, the only thing passed out with their waste is the hair.
It is said the fur is good roughage and keeps their bowels healthy. My own animals are telling me this is so. I keep rudicollis. They generally crap when placed in a clean tub, so I can SEE the amount of sand they are passing, and it all comes out fine. The fur, well, floats, and requires a lot of rinsing and splashing of tub and animals, before a 'clean' bath is provided. Luckily, I enjoy bathtimes with them.

Keep searching for info guys, its all out there. And mostly, pay attention to what your animals are telling you.
(Mine say they want to eat the snake that is at floor level with them. ) Too bad for them.
D.

[V.hb]

I really cant agree with the sand issue.. To much sand is definatly not good for any reptile.. Yes heat, and lots of water aids any possibility of impaction, however I would assume that any animal that consumes sand on a regular basis would run into problems somewhere along the lines in the future.

From what I understand, you have acquired eggs from your rudicollis, so you have good success! But my question is, do you use sand? Iam sure you use some other kind of dirt?

[Dragoon]

Hello.
I am not saying its good or bad, just nothing to worry about.

I used to fret when their food got 'dirty', and now I don't . My female in pariticular likes to toss her mouse around and beat it on the dirt before swallowing, it picks up quite the coating of dirt. She passes it all without incident. No change in her stools either, I don't even know if the grains become part of the stool, because the soft stools break apart, and the sand is on the bottom of the tub. In water, it is so hard to tell.
What concerns me most is hydration. Now THAT is something to worry about. Lately, I've been very busy, and sometimes neglect their water needs. Soon as I do that, I get harder stools. So water is extremely important.
I said 'sand' because dirt after being passed out the other end, and rinsed down a drain, no longer resembles dirt, but sand.

I have them on topsoil I got from a landscaping place. This topsoil dried out into cement-like hardness, so I had to add many bags of playsand to soften it up. Its still not very good dirt, I don't like how it holds a burrow. When they go into their new cages, I'll be trying some different composition dirt. I expect to make many many tries before finding something suitable, from what I have read about people's quests for dirt. lol.

She laid her third clutch this year recently.
Still waiting for the impactions, but I'll let you know.

My concern is for newbies who will deprive their new monitors of a suitable substrate (and people are just LOOKING for any excuse to not use dirty dirt, its just so unaesthetic), and not focusing on the real important issues, like hydration. A dehydrated monitor won't live long period. If they can't blame the dirt, what's next? The mice?
D.

[V.hb]

thats interesting.... Was just looking at alot of my dirt, and it gets quite hard when not moistened often, I wonder if a bit of sand mixed in would do the trick?What do you think?

congrats again on your accomplishments! if you do indeed hatch some, let us know and definatly post some pics!