immediate help please

[beanersmysav]

Just now I was feeding my Sav a mouse, he's 2 1/2 feet, I was feeding with tongs to ensure he doesn't swallow some of the bark that was left in the cage i used it temporarily and i had to stop while removing it so there was still some under the carpet but some got above probably from him digging. i only used the bark for a short period of time but he's never even had the chance to swallow it somehow when he was thrashing the mouse around a piece attached to the back of the mouse.

long story short he swallowed a small cubic inch or less piece of coconut bark what should be done if anything?

[beanersmysav]

Also right now he seems alright he's just basking under his nightlight and he's gone and drank his water and done his usually nightly walk around the cage to make sure the premisis is safe for a long nap but i dont know if that means anything or not

[mbayless]

Hi,
Get a small mouse, and using an eye dropper, insert as much mineral oil into the little mouses mouth as possible (asuming it is dead), amd give it to the savannah = mineral oil can help 'slick' up its guts and allow it to pass = back in 1971, a killer whales swallowed an inflated inner-tube and all of the aqua-keepers had a cow over what would happen to it = well a few days in was expelled via the back door, still inflated!! hahaha.

Did you say you use carpet for a substrate??!!!! GET RID OF IT ASAP... carpets for varanids suck, host ticks, harbor diseases, promote mold and other noxious things...use vermiculite/soil mixture so they can dig, be happy, and dig more...
good luck,
mbayless

[Bartman]

Or from what ive been told is the best is plain old dirt. Hope your sav pulls through.

[beanersmysav]

Yeah he looks to be doing fine thanks for the help. As far as they soil I've tried differant type of soils and sand. The problem is weither people argue with me or not HE is not a digger Savannahs may be but not this one. I will ditch the carpet but I still need to find something thats more suitable. The sands and soils stick to him because he loves to bathe and when leaving the water he just lays in the stuff and it cakes right to him and starts to stink thats why I haven't used it in awhile.

The bark was temporary as is the carpet if you knew my situation at my current residence you'd understand but I'm moving in a week or two if you guys have any other ideas that may be better I'd like to hear them. I just dont want to deal w/ a smelly monitor but I guess if thats the best option I'll deal with it.

Oh and note also I havent had a tick problem since I've ditched the soil, and thats surprising since I live in the woods :-)

[crocdoc]

1. ticks don't live in soil
2. ticks are usually fairly host specific. Most ticks in your area will be mammal ticks, not reptile ticks
3. all savs dig, yours just hasn't been satisfied with the types of dirt you've tried so far

[beanersmysav]

like i said no matter what the cliche is this one doesn't dig. I've used a soil substrate, that naturebed stuff that you add water to and make it expand, and sand all deep enough for him to dig. Usually a little over 9 inches to a foot deep when I use it. He's acctually been more of a climber than anything. But if you think there's a substrate he'd like to dig in please let me know.

[crocdoc]

Originally posted by crocdoc
all savs dig, yours just hasn't been satisfied with the types of dirt you've tried so far

Sorry, I can't go test dirt for you, but trust me when I say that the three things you have tried clearly weren't satisfactory for your monitor. I could have told you from here that 'Naturebed' (or any other petstore product) isn't going to do the trick, neither will pure sand. Unfortunately, not all soil is the same, so the 'soil substrate' you tried may have just been unsuitable. Have you had a look around your yard to see if there are any patches that hold burrows well? Or go for a drive and dig some up. You have to test them out on the monitor, we can't tell you which one to get.

[beanersmysav]

oh yeah definatly alot of dirt like that around, if i did it do I just bake it to get rid of all the bugs or what?

And I know you can't test them for me but to know which works best for others monitors is what i was trying to get at especially if people use anything besides those 3 for their monitors.

[crocdoc]

What most people that keep burrowing species of monitors use is dirt dug up from their backyard or somewhere suitable, rather than soil from a store, sand or any commercial petstore bedding material. No need to bake it. Make sure it doesn't have a high clay content, which you can tell by feel.

[beanersmysav]

alright will get right on that today then hopefully to some kind of luck. Thanks.

[beanersmysav]

I'd like to report that he had a bm today and everything all good again :D fed him another mouse and ive got him a good outdoor soil. He hasn't yet began to dig but he started to when i put it in there but he just laid in it with his head propped up on his favorite log that he moves from oneside of the cage to the other.

[TailsW/Scales]

Ok now wait a minute. You just said in three (I think) of your replies that your Bosc doesn't dig right?
The why did you say this in your starting post: "but some got above probably from him digging. "

Whether your Bosc digs or not really doesn't matter. But what does is that carpet will make your monitor extremely sick to the point of death. Glad you got that crap out. Your bosc will dig at some point and time. I have never personally seen one of my Salvators dig but know that they have in one spot of the enclosure. Give him time. He may or he may not. Who knows.

[kap10cavy]

I also tried different substrates for my monitors, my savs finally were digging happily with backyard dirt, my albig seems to prefer soil from the river banks.
Just my 2 cents.

Scott

[beanersmysav]

Yeah I guess that is kind of a contradiction right? But what happens as Im sure any of you with carpet know or have used carpet his poor claws get stuck to the thing and he had to pull and i had to carpet pieces in their and he basicly just moved them how he wanted them exposing the coconut bark.

[beanersmysav]

Also about the carpet does any species of reptile use it? Or is it reccomended for any of them? I've seen in many caresheets that carpets and newspapers etc are ok for Savs obviously wrong from the responses I've got on here so I'm just wondering If I can keep anything else on it or if I should just ditch it all together.