Sav. Monitor help

[Jacob1750]

Hello all my names Jake and I'm new to this forum. I would like very much if a few of you monitor experts out there could give me some advice.

I purchased a savannah monitor a few days ago. He is a juvenile of about 10 inches in length. He looks very healthy but he won't eat for me. I have offered him crickets, roaches, freeze dried crickets, and earthworms but he just won't take them. I'm wondering if this is expected since he just arrived and needs to acclimate to his tank or if I should be worried and need to try some different feeding techniques. Any advice from an experienced monitor owner would be amazing.

Jake

[infernalis]

Hi Jake... That sounds off, way off.

Even baby Savannah monitors are feeding frenzy experts.

When mine was a baby he ate non stop.

[stephanbakir]

Sounds WAY off, have you offered live, then left him alone? Could be that you are stressing him out by watching? I wouldn't eat with a 300 foot giant staring me down.

[Aaron_S]

What are your temps? What are you keeping it in? How often are you handling the animal? What is your humidity like? You need to give more information before we can give any proper advice. My initial thoughts are that it's being kept too cold.

[Freebody]

thats what i was thinking aaron. my baby sav would try to find a way to eat that 300 foot giant lol

[infernalis]

What are your temps? What are you keeping it in? How often are you handling the animal? What is your humidity like? You need to give more information before we can give any proper advice. My initial thoughts are that it's being kept too cold.


My thoughts too.

Pictures and details mean the world when asking this kind of advice. ;)

[Jacob1750]

His cool side is about 90. His warmer side is about 100 with his basking spot being 120-125. He's in a big 75 gal tank, but I already have an enclosure that's just a room that's been sealed off lol. I didnt want to move him in there until he got bigger. I've tried dropping the live crickets in last night and he actually might have ate them. I would like to get him to feed from tongs.

[Dehlida]

I would need to see pictures of his enclosure. However.

Savannahmonitor.org is a great place to start.

[infernalis]

His cool side is about 90. His warmer side is about 100 with his basking spot being 120-125. He's in a big 75 gal tank, but I already have an enclosure that's just a room that's been sealed off lol. I didnt want to move him in there until he got bigger. I've tried dropping the live crickets in last night and he actually might have ate them. I would like to get him to feed from tongs.

There should never be a need for tongs.

I let mine chase his bugs, I hand feed him worms (I dangle the night crawler until he has one end) and he eats his shrimp off a plate.

During the summer I let him forage his own snails and crayfish.

does your Sav have any dirt in the cage?? they love to dig.

[Jacob1750]

Yes his substrate is about two feet of two parts dirt and one part sand.

[Dehlida]

Any luck so far on getting him to eat? I'm willing to place my bet that he isn't eating out of stress. Seeing as though you have a picture of you holding him as your avatar- I would guess you aren't afraid to reach in there and disturb him. Cover his tank, leave him 100% alone for awhile, let him get comfortable with his enclosure.

THEN offer him food, in a dish, somewhere he can eat safely. The more I read this the more I think your animal is just stressed and scared.

[Jacob1750]

He is eating now. I think he just needed some time to get used to his new home. I found out the people i got him from had been feeding him nothing but mice. I bought some monitor bites and some crickets and he wasn't eating them. But since I have given him a mouse he has been eating both out of his dish. I think stress was the issue at first but i left him alone for a while and now he is doing fine. At first he would scurry away when i even came near his enclosure but now, since he is eating, he seems more curious when i come around.

[Freebody]

your going to want to get him off the mice, insect are the way to go, get yourself a Dubia roach collony, they cant fly or climb and dont stink. :) glad to hear its at least eating now

[Dehlida]

Exactly as stated above, go buy some dubia roaches :)

[infernalis]

He is eating now. I think he just needed some time to get used to his new home. I found out the people i got him from had been feeding him nothing but mice. I bought some monitor bites and some crickets and he wasn't eating them. But since I have given him a mouse he has been eating both out of his dish. I think stress was the issue at first but i left him alone for a while and now he is doing fine. At first he would scurry away when i even came near his enclosure but now, since he is eating, he seems more curious when i come around.


Night crawlers, Jumbo raw shrimp, Crickets, Roaches, Locusts, snails..

Chomper loves snails, he will chose them over other foods.. He can sniff out snails in my yard with amazing precision.

Watching him chase grasshoppers is a hoot too.

Get away from feeding rodents, Arthropod diets are what they eat in the wild.. I found out crustaceans are abundant during the rainy season flooding. Savannah monitors gobble these up. (Crabs and shrimp are giant water bugs)

[NennaMeerkat]

On some wildlife cameras I have seen monitors chasing small fish and eating up crustaceans before. I think it is a great thing that you are including that into your Sav's diet. Though I am sure if Chomper had his way it would be slimy slugs all the time!

[Dehlida]

Wildlife cameras of savannah monitors? Bosc monitors have completely different dietary requirements than other monitors..

[NennaMeerkat]

Well the monitors I saw were in the African bush but the person manning the camera never got close up so I could really see them when I did. They were more for the large animals that came to drink. So as for species I can't really say, but whatever it was loved to "fish" on the banks of the watering hole.

[infernalis]

Wildlife cameras of Savannah monitors? Bosc monitors have completely different dietary requirements than other monitors..


Quoted from ...... The Savannah Monitor, Varanus exanthematicus – Feeding – Diet (http://savannahmonitor.org/feeding/diet/)


Aside from the cost of caging, the cost of maintaining this medium to large lizard solely on its proper diet of insects, mollusks, and crustaceans is enough to make anyone think twice about keeping a Savannah Monitor. Owning several or more self sustaining colonies of insects will be a necessity. Being such a specialized feeder, it’s one of the many reasons that this monitor should never be looked upon as a “beginner monitor”.

In nature Savannah Monitors do NOT eat rodents, turkey, eggs, dog food, cat food, bird parts or any other crap some misinformed people may recommend.