Finally got my first monitor

[wil_son]

Hi all,

I finally found a place where they sales baby savannah, and for a pretty low price. Thats why i dropped my first choice ( Argentini Black and White Tegu) and got this lil guy instead.

However, this guy is acting a lil weird from other Savs according to what I have read from here and from other forums. This guy havent eaten any crickets eversince it came to my place. I have seen him chasing down one and ate it in the store before I bought it. But, seems like he doesnt like the crickets that I feed him. He just look at the crickets and maybe smell them a lil then he will either go back to sleep or walk away. Is it normal that they usually do that in their first couple days? Moreover, this guy is sleeping A LOT, almost 24 hrs it sleeps. Is that because the temp in my tank is not right? Or smths wrong ?

I have some pics of him and the environment that where its living right now. Please help me sort out all these questions /problems I am having now. I will really appreaciate that.




http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/--==wilson==--/Savanna%20Monitor/IMG_1709.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/--==wilson==--/Savanna%20Monitor/IMG_1725.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/--==wilson==--/Savanna%20Monitor/IMG_1724.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/--==wilson==--/Savanna%20Monitor/IMG_1723.jpg

[crocdoc]

You should have bought the tegu. Making choices based on price for an animal that should (if you keep it right) be with you for twenty years or so isn't usually a wise move.

That said, you need to do a bit of research about monitors.

Get a front opening enclosure - screen topped tanks suck (literally. They suck the moisture out the top).

Ditch the paper towel (or use it for cleaning windows). Fill the bottom with a deep layer of humidity holding substrate - dirt that they can dig in is good, or dirt mixed with mulch, dirt mixed with leaf litter etc. Then you can put bits of wood as well as your plastic cave on top of the dirt so the monitor can dig underneath for a secure, humid, hide.

Get a temperature gun and measure the surface temperature (not air temperature) of the basking spot - it should be around 45C for a young savannah monitor, hotter for a larger one. That may be a problem in a small tank like that, for then you will not have much of a temperature gradient. You want it to be around 25C in the cooler end of the enclosure.

[wil_son]

thx a lot for the advices
actually...Savanna Monitor was the first monitor that triggered my idea of keeping one of the. However, it seems like everyones telling me to get a tegu instead cuz they are more tame. So i started to look for one, but then its really hard to find one even I am willing to pay the money. Suddendly, my uncle's pet store got a few Savs came in and with some further consideration. I decided to have a savs instead. lol....I am really stunned with they cute + dummy face. What I mean is, I really like my sav now and certainly I will keep him as long as he lives.

I have built him a front open plywood box thats 4'X2'X2'... I bought a Exo-Terra 150W Sun Glo Spot light and an Exo- Terra UVB 10.0 lamp. I also have heat pad and heating equipment which should be enough for the temp.

The last question I have is.......I thought Savs are originated from Africa, and its all dry sandy land, howcome I will need mud and stuff to keep the moisture? Do they need a really humid environment? Or they prefer a dry one instead? Sorry I am just really confused with this concept right now.

[fullofquestions]

well i keep mine on lizzard litter the little tiny bark chips and all 3 love it and i got a hida log in there for a cave and silk plants i got a heat pad under and a basking lamp and they are doin superb :) eatin crickets like mad even enjoying a few types of worms and i even gave them a bit of ground rabbit they other day they didnt know what to make of it till i put some in their mouths and man they love it!

[crocdoc]

I thought Savs are originated from Africa, and its all dry sandy land

1. They don't come from deserts
2. In the wild they live in burrows which retain humidity and can access those burrows whenever they want to avoid dehydration
3. Hatchling monitors have much higher surface/volume ratios than adults and are particularly susceptible to dehydration

fullofquestions, how long have you been keeping savannah monitors for? I'm guessing a couple of years or so at most. Long term, those bark chips aren't that good as a substrate.

[wil_son]

thx Crocdoc!!!

seems like you are the only one whos there to tell me what I need to know.

The enclosure I built is done today, and I have put my lizard into it just "for now". I know there are many things wrong inside the case such as the lighting and bedding. I am actually looking for smth from exo-terra.

Which one below should I pick?

http://www.exo-terra.com/images/shared/products/jungle_earth_pack.jpg

http://www.exo-terra.com/images/shared/products/plantation_soil_pack.jpg

http://www.exo-terra.com/images/shared/products/forest_moss_pack.jpg

http://www.exo-terra.com/images/shared/products/coco_husk_pack.jpg

which will be the best choice for me? I know soil/ dirt is good but I am afrid of they carry eggs of mites and other trouble insects to my place.

[wil_son]

I have also got a exo terra Sun Glo Spot bulb (150W) and a 26W UVB 10.0 bulb, is that enough as lighting?

heres my latest pic for the enclosure http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/--==wilson==--/Savanna%20Monitor/IMG_1785.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/--==wilson==--/Savanna%20Monitor/IMG_1784.jpg

[crocdoc]

You needn't worry about getting reptile mites from local soil - the species that people get in reptile collections isn't native to Canada and isn't going to be found in the soil in your back yard. But if you really insist on buying soil, then that 'plantation' stuff looks like the better one (it's hard to tell, though, for I can't see or feel it). One problem you may have with the new enclosure is that it has no litter dam. The bit of edging on the front that's normally beneath the sliding glass doors, which would hold the soil in. If you put any soil at all in there it will get in the grooves of the sliding glass and will also spill out every time you open the door.

You'll have to test the lights to determine whether or not they're alright and then move the basking light (hopefully it is a flood light rather than a spot light, the difference being the shape) closer to or further from the basking area until the desired temperature is achieved.

[wil_son]

Thx again crocdoc~

I will be getting the bedding within this week. Seems like this monitor I got isnt really healthy at all. His diet is really hard to follow because sometime he refuses to eat crickets, sometime he just take them all. Its been about 7 days since I got him and he only poop twice. Both looks fine....not liquidy....a lil smelly....I think hes had about 5 to 8 crickets in these 7 days. I dont know if this is good for him or not. I have calcium powder dusted on the crickets before I feed them to my Sav. However, he looks really weak as his action is slower than the Savs I see on "youtube", his apetite isnt as good as those ones. He is also making this " piseeeeeeeee" sound time to time, that sound is like a leaking of gas from a tire or balloon "tho the sound last only 1sec". Theres also some white powderish mineral kinda stuff around his nose " see the pic below".....
is that even normal or had my Sav caught any sickness? If so....I guess I will need to find a vet asap.....




http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/--==wilson==--/Savanna%20Monitor/IMG_2088.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/--==wilson==--/Savanna%20Monitor/IMG_2089.jpg


PS.... Is he a little to skinny? Hes 16.5cm long

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/--==wilson==--/Savanna%20Monitor/IMG_1752.jpg

[crocdoc]

The white around its nostrils can be one of two things:

If it is wheezing, then it may be dried mucous and it has a respiratory infection.

Otherwise, it's salt build up. Monitors get rid of excess salt by excreting it through glands in their nose. This is especially true when they are in a dry environment and have to reabsorb moisture from their food via their gut.

Both of these are husbandry related. You need to sort out your enclosure quicksmart. The monitor needs a hot basking spot and humid (but not wet) substrate, with hides to dig under so it can retain humidity.

[wil_son]

Its already been more than a month since this post has started. Thank you for all the advices, my little savanna has been growing bigger and bigger day by day. His diet I think is kind of weird. He loves to eat beef and chicken, sometimes he likes to chase after crickets just for fun. However he still love chicken and beef. I tried to feed him with crab meat once when I was eating cooking a crab. He tried to eat it but I took the meat away before he got it. I was afrid he might get sick from it because it wasn't cooked. Seems like hes love to bask under sun a lot. I just shot some pictures couple days ago.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/--==wilson==--/Savanna%20Monitor/IMG_2269.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/--==wilson==--/Savanna%20Monitor/IMG_2274.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/--==wilson==--/Savanna%20Monitor/IMG_2282.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v335/--==wilson==--/Savanna%20Monitor/IMG_2291.jpg

[crocdoc]

I'd lay off the chicken and beef and stick to small whole animals, like insects, pinkie mice (or chopped up adult mice - chop them up when frozen, so it's not as messy), even small crayfish with the claws removed.

The problem with chicken and beef is that it is mostly just protein - it lacks all of the important vitamins, minerals (including calcium) and roughage that you'd get in whole foods. A diet of chicken and beef is usually a fast track to metabolic bone disease.

[wil_son]

Thx crocdoc again
Hes around 27cm now and I think hes got 10CM larger from how big he was in March. I know he needs a lot of calcium as he grows up thats why I dust his meal with lots calcium powder (literally dipped the chicken/beef into it) 3 times a week....Do you think thats enough for his minerals? Another really important question. How do you provide your lizard with vitamins? Is there any powder like vitamins for them? Because I tried looking for it in different pet stores and all they got is just calcium powder....

[Aaron_S]

I can be dead wrong and the Crocdoc can correct me but I do believe that the vitamins can't just be supplements. There's a reason why it was suggested to give him the whole prey items for vitamins. You can't just feed him what is convient for you.

[wil_son]

thx for the comment Aaron. I have done research on what people normally feed their Savannahs and the result I got is most of them feed chicken, beef, pork, feeder fish, and crickets for their savannahs. All of those provides the lizards fat and protein ( Beef might have some iron in it). Due to the lack of minerals people often dust their lizard's meal with calcium powder...which is what I have been doing. But then for the vitamins, I have no idea what kind of natrual source I can provide him for vitamins. I am already feeding my lizard with fuzzies now what should I add into his diet for proper calcium and vitamins?

[crocdoc]

Wilson, as I said earlier, lay off the chicken and beef, stick to small whole animals. Dust any insects you feed your monitor with vitamin and calcium/D3 powder, but you shouldn't have to supplement the mice/rats etc.

The problem with internet 'research' is that you can ask dozens of people what they feed their monitors and you will get all sorts of answers, but their answers are not complete unless you ask them a whole lot of other questions such as "how long have you had your monitor for and is he/she healthy?" What you'll find in 99% of cases is that the people advising you to feed your monitor chicken and beef haven't owned a monitor for longer than two or three years. Or if they have, it's their third or fourth monitor and the previous ones "must have been sick" when they bought it because they all died at a young age.

Here's the thing - monitors have evolved for millions of years to feed on small whole animals, so their bodies are perfectly adapted to cope with the balance of vitamins and minerals found in small whole animals. If you are confident that you can match that balance perfectly by what amounts to a Russian roulette of vitamin dust on cooked chicken and beef, then I can't stop you.

[Aaron_S]

Crocdoc beat me to it, but I was going to say the same thing about who you have asked. Just because someone feeds their animal that, it doesn't make them right or healthy monitors. Besides, your monitor would prefer the stimulation from a bit of a hunt then to just be fed off a platter.

[wil_son]

thx both of you.
so if I stop feeding him with chicken and beef instead i feel him with whole pinkt or fuzzy and dusted crickets? is that going to work for him? I want to give him the best food so he can grow in a healthy life.

[crocdoc]

Yes, pinkies, fuzzies, insects instead of chicken/beef.

[wil_son]

thx crocdoc....i will make his diet into whole animals now....but then....do you know how to make him to have a little more interest in frozen pinkies or fuzzies? seems like hes not really liking them...

[crocdoc]

Is the enclosure set up the same way still? Usually lack of appetite comes down to insufficient basking spot temperature and humidity.