Baby sav question

[Makavelli]

Thanks for reading!!

I'll post some pictures first since everyone loves those!

Our new sav and his/her enclosure(36" L x 15" W x 24" tall?):
18703

one hide, a water bowl that won't work for long, and some mealworms:
18704

one with Mak in it:
18705

and one with Mak basking:
18706

I have a few questions, but my main one is this....the store we bought him from suggested this tank, but I'm not a fan of the screen top. The analog humidity gauge has been at about 45% but I haven't checked the substrate yet..we got a handheld gauge today. What should the ambient/substrate humidity be at, ideally? And really, will a screen top cage ever achieve that? We do have about 5 days left to return this cage if needed, but the only alternative at that store is a vision cage which is about 4x as much around $400. It is one large plastic piece and much better for humidity, but costly. Also, we plan on using this tank for a good while until he is about 1 to 1.5 feet long, or until we move. So, we planned with growth in mind, but don't want to totally go for the full boat yet(at which point I'm doing 12x4x4!! screw 8ft!)

PS as you can see, we place a thin piece of plastic along most of the top(bright green). That fits perfectly as far as blocking the screen, but it's not air tight or "sealed"...


Other question: we gave him a pinky the day we got him(W). The next day(Th) we gave him a pinky(which he ate) and some crickets, which as far as we can tell he hasn't eaten. He has come across them, but hasn't eaten any. We added mealworms today(Sat) which is what the store had been feeding, but only a few hours ago. Pinky tomorrow! I was just surprised he didn't eat the crickets?

[infernalis]

Please read my site, and slow down on those pinkies..

If that Sav baby is not chasing the crickets around, then everything is off about the cage.

#1. No fish tank on planet earth will ever be a sufficient monitor enclosure. (pet shops lie)

#2. your humidity is too low, and analogue (dial type) hygrometers are useless junk, go digital.

#3. Savannah Monitors need to be kept really warm, the overall temperature in the cage should be no lower than 80 degrees at the coldest point, and all the way up to 130-150 at the basking spot.

When you pull up my site, watch the videos (There is a menu tab "videos" at the top of the site) there you will witness normal behaviour.

Also, if you click on the link, you can buy Daniel Bennett's fantastic book for a whole $5, That book is a must have for any Savannah Monitor owner.

I am always more than happy to help out, as I want your lizard to live a long and healthy life in your care.

They are amazingly intelligent, and if you take proper care of it, you will certainly enjoy the time you will spend interacting together.

Just click the SavannahMonitor.co logo at the bottom of this post. Happy reading!

[Makavelli]

Thank you for answering, Wayne!! I have been reading your site! And Bennett's book is on the way. I want a fully tame, fully trained, fully grown monitor. I was peeved to read how commonly pet stores mislead/misinform customers.

#1...did not know that on Wednesday, but after more reading I was expecting that. I didn't get to my point with the question...we can return the tank, but what do we replace it with?

#2 we have the digital now, what should the ambient/ground level be at though?

#3 whew! we got one right. Our basking spot is about 135(had to get the stand to achieve that). And the rest of the tank is 80+.


He ate the pinky very similar to your video "Cera attacks worms" and he does roam! He likes to hid under the big cork log best, and he sleeps. He isn't sluggish! Is the crickets still an issue?

[Makavelli]

PS we fell prey to the "misinformed" care sheets! Or we would not have ended up with the screen top. We were told 2-3 pinkies a week, is that better?

[millertime89]

Wayne FTW. Listen to that man, he learned the hard way what happens when you mess up even a little bit when it comes to Sav husbandry.

Cute little monitor you've got there btw.

[Makavelli]

Wayne FTW. Listen to that man, he learned the hard way what happens when you mess up even a little bit when it comes to Sav husbandry.

I'm all ears! I respect that he shares what he learned, and furthermore keeps asking experts for more so we can turn this species' captive survival rate around! Like I said...I was pretty ticked at the store! And they are a reptile specific store, to boot! That said, it's ultimately on us. So, we're rectifying the cage asap!

Cute little monitor you've got there btw.

I have't seen an ugly one yet!! Thank you :)

[alessia55]

Wayne will guide you well.
Mak is real cute :D Congrats!

[mo9e64]

ALessia55, I like Wayne,this isn't a putdown but a reality check what beginners can learn from Wayne is from his mistakes.How can you guide someone without first making the trip.
I have been accused of hero worship,and it ain't going to change but having websites,or degrees doesn't make you an expert-experience does.Wayne doesn't say he's an expert,but by others impling he is ,sends a message to beginners.

[KORBIN5895]

Actually what beginners can learn from Wayne is from his experience. See there is a huge difference between making mistakes and gaining experience. You can own a hundred savs but if you never learned from your mistakes you still have no valuable experience to share. Admitting your short comings and mistakes ( which Wayne does) gives you a legs to stand on. If you are unable to admit your mistakes (like some people) how can you learn from them and help others?

[mo9e64]

This wasn't about Wayne,he has experience to where he is now-to have experience to guide is usually experience from beginning to end-after discussions of longevity and conditions that effect longevity a good guide would have animals living into late teens or more.

I've admitted to mistakes,but that doesn't mean i've learned from them,that is shown in results.

[KORBIN5895]

Lol! That last line has such an odd odor to it. Let's see who does that remind me of?

[infernalis]

I've admitted to mistakes,but that doesn't mean i've learned from them,that is shown in results.

You're going to hate me moe.. but damn.

What you just said in the simplest of terms..

If you follow a path and it leads you to failure, then you will repeat that path because in your very own words, you do not learn anything from your mistakes, so that means you will repeat them, over and over.

[mo9e64]

I won't hate you,that's a good question
I make a mistake,i take a different coarse of action,the results tell me if i learnt from my mistakes or not.But being a beginner without knowing the best possible outcome/or action my actual perception of my results is subjective based on my conditions/experience.I'm not sure where i implied i would do the same thing,but still the next different action might not be the right one or the best one.

[Lankyrob]

Actually what beginners can learn from Wayne is from his experience. See there is a huge difference between making mistakes and gaining experience. You can own a hundred savs but if you never learned from your mistakes you still have no valuable experience to share. Admitting your short comings and mistakes ( which Wayne does) gives you a legs to stand on. If you are unable to admit your mistakes (like some people) how can you learn from them and help others?


Exactly why Wayne wil be my Sav coach (if he agrees ;)) if (when) i get mine :)

[mo9e64]

Korbin,oh you,how are the monitors doing?