Steve The Lizard

[DiscoPat]

This is my Savannah Monitor Steve in his temporary enclosure.

[DiscoPat]

Here are the rest of the images.

[infernalis]

looks great....

Don't trust those dial gages though.. They are junk.

[DiscoPat]

I don't, I feel the air myself and if he goes in his water I know I need it to be more humid in there.

[snake man12]

Cute little lizard

[infernalis]

I don't, I feel the air myself and if he goes in his water I know I need it to be more humid in there.

Not always true. My cage was at 83% (digital hygrometer) and I caught one of my savs swimming around in circles in the water.

[DiscoPat]

I will keep that in mind. I am getting a digital hygrometer once I get my first paycheck on the 10th.

[DiscoPat]

He has grown a lot since the first day I got him. It was 1 week ago today.

[alessia55]

Steve looks real nice. :)

[infernalis]

Oh they grow very fast..

[DiscoPat]

How old are Littlefoot and Cera? In the Building Trust 3 video.

[infernalis]

about 3 months old..

This thread chronicles nearly every day I have had them...

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/varanid/91028-littlefoot-cera-new-video-pictures.html

[moshirimon]

looks great....

Don't trust those dial gages though.. They are junk.

What thermometers/humiditygauges do you recommend? I have the same dial ones and i KNOW theyre not working accuratley

[infernalis]

What thermometers/humiditygauges do you recommend? I have the same dial ones and i KNOW theyre not working accuratley

Once I got a temp gun, I quit buying thermometers, except the digital weather Thermometer/Hygrometer combo units.

Then you have a probe you can put in the substrate to monitor the temps there, and use the temp gun to check your basking spot, animal, water bowl and anything else you can think of, just point and click, presto you have the temp.

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/general-enclosure-discussion/93302-temperature-guns.html

http://www.chompersite.com/LF/again.jpg


http://www.varanus.us/husbandry/tempgun1.jpg

[DiscoPat]

The last 3 I took today, he has grown a lot.

[alessia55]

Looking good.. growing lots I see :) :)

[infernalis]

I really like this shot...

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/attachments/varanid/19799d1341706049-steve-lizard-dscf0983.jpg

[DiscoPat]

I do too. I saw him basically standing and I grabbed my camera really quick. I was so happy he didn't move.

[jarich]

Well that's pretty random, my savs name is Steve as well.

[DiscoPat]

It is a good name.

[DiscoPat]

More pictures taken in the last few days.

Earlier today when I was taking pictures through the glass he seemed very curious about what the camera was, he would walk towards it and get as close as he could.

[DiscoPat]

I like the ones where he is hidden in the grass a lot.

[DiscoPat]

He is growing quite fast. I went to the pet store where I bought him and the other ones they have there that are the same age as he is are much smaller. they have grown very little.

[DiscoPat]

He looks like the Velociraptors from the first Jurassic Park in the first 2 photos.

[Lankyrob]

Not sure if it is true but i was told that they used photos of sav's heads to model the velociraptors on :)

[varanus_mad]

Not sure if it is true but i was told that they used photos of sav's heads to model the velociraptors on :)

I can see that now you mention it :cool:

[Pirarucu]

They used monitor heads to model them on, but it would seem that nobody knows what species. I've heard Perentie, lacie, nile, and most commonly croc monitor. Now I'll add Savs to that list I suppose.

[infernalis]

I would have to say that the raptors look more like they were fashioned after Perentie heads, pointed and slender.

Perentie also have the long slender necks.

[DiscoPat]

I would have more pictures of him but he has been in his burrow a lot.

[Pirarucu]

I agree, Perentie would be my guess as well, though they made it taller.

[DiscoPat]

Saw him out and making a new burrow. He had quite a lot of dirt on him.

[DiscoPat]

He gets all puffed up when he hears people when he is out of his burrow.

[infernalis]

Looking great!

[DiscoPat]

Thanks. He is coming out of his burrow more and more by the day. When he first made one I didn't see him for 2 or 3 days but I could hear him a I knew he came out because the crickets I put in there were always gone the next morning.

[CK SandBoas]

I love the last picture of him!

[DiscoPat]

Steve climbed up my arm out of his enclosure yesterday. I was feeding him a pinky and letting him rest on my hand and he jumped out. I eventually got him to climb back on my arm and put him back in. He is coming out of his burrow more and more by the day it is really nice.

[infernalis]

That is so awesome..

[DiscoPat]

He gets pretty defensive with hands it seems, sometimes he will even whip at mine if he is looking the other way and doesn't see my hand come towards him before it is there. but he was perfectly content on my arm.

[DiscoPat]

Finally started building his enclosure today. Almost done, have to do a little more tomorrow.

[DiscoPat]

It seems huge in that garage. Getting the dirt sometime this week he should be in it by the 20th or so.

[DiscoPat]

He is getting quite large now. Just in time for the new enclosure.

[infernalis]

Seeing all these nice big cages coming together lately is really cool folks!!!

[alessia55]

Looks great. What are the dimensions of the new enclosure?

[DiscoPat]

Looks great. What are the dimensions of the new enclosure?

I initially wanted a 12x6x4 but the place I ended getting had a 1 car garage and my roommate decided to basically throw a fit because he wanted to place a of his junk in the garage instead of either throwing it out or keeping it in his room. So I had to build an 8x4x4.

one of the side panels is held on by screws that are screwed from the outside in so it will be easy to remove to change it to a 12x4x4 once I can get him to move his stuff.

[Pirarucu]

Seeing all these nice big cages coming together lately is really cool folks!!!I concur! If all goes according to plan, I may be adding another to that total in the next few months.

[DiscoPat]

Almost done, Just need to seal some of the edges.

Found some free dirt, what can I use to test if it is alright to use? There are like 10 ads for people giving away dirt so I have options.


the last one is edited because the corner was super dark, I just quickly used the Dodge tool in photoshop, that is why there is discoloration.

[infernalis]

Can't hardly wait to see it finished.

Looks great so far.

[DiscoPat]

Thanks, it should be ready for Steve to use by the end of next week. I got a non toxic silicone weatherproofing for sealing any edges and then I am off to go get the dirt.

[DiscoPat]

It is finally done.

I still need to make sure it holds the humidity well and that everything checks out with the temp gun. I will add dirt over time but it has about 13-17 inches currently.

I sealed all of the enclosure with good caulking, If it doesn't hold the humidity I will add more around the top. He seems to enjoy exploring a lot currently.

[infernalis]

did you seal the wood?? it looks untreated, if so it will be toast in about 2 years if that long.

[DiscoPat]

Yeah I used a clear waterproofing stain is what it was called, Maybe it is just the lack of light on the inside, I shot with a forced flash and fast shutter speed.

I did not seal the outside though (by seal I am assuming you mean making it waterproof)

Do I need to seal the outside?

[infernalis]

Yeah I used a clear waterproofing stain is what it was called, Maybe it is just the lack of light on the inside, I shot with a forced flash and fast shutter speed.

I did not seal the outside though (by seal I am assuming you mean making it waterproof)

Do I need to seal the outside?

No.. no need to seal the outside.

I did not realize it was a clear coat... My bad.

The sealer I used was grey...

As long as you seled the wood up good, then the dirt won't rot it out.

[DiscoPat]

Okay,
It was a good thing to make sure of.

The enclosure lost almost no humidity overnight, stayed around 75-80 percent, His basking spot is about 130-135.
The temperature on the hot side is about 90 and still rising. the left side was 75 last night and it is staying around there.

[Ragnar]

Savs are brutes! Good lookin liz bro

[DiscoPat]

Savs are brutes! Good lookin liz bro

Thank you.

He seems like he is enjoying the extra space from the new enclosure as well

[Ragnar]

Thank you.

He seems like he is enjoying the extra space from the new enclosure as well

nothin makes a big terrestrial monitor happier than more space to walk around!

[DiscoPat]

The temperature seems to be tapering off. It still needs to be a little hotter. How can I achieve this without losing humidity?

[DiscoPat]

Fixed the heat problem, Put in a 50W Halogen flood light, originally could only find 90W it seemed to be too hot and I think it would dry the air so I tried Lowes and found a 50W

[DiscoPat]

Had to take him out last night to install a few more lights. The temperature is starting to drop so the lights will overcompensate for that.

He is getting quite big, he is also becoming quite good about handling. He is squirmy if there is a lot of noise or a lot of people but with just me he is quite calm.

[DiscoPat]

He got territorial again once he was put back in his enclosure. He seemed to wander all over the place after the lights lit up most the cage.

3 50W bulbs

[Pirarucu]

He's looking good!

[DiscoPat]

Thanks, when I opened this thread I saw the old pictures of him and it is crazy to think how fast he has grown.

[infernalis]

Thanks, when I opened this thread I saw the old pictures of him and it is crazy to think how fast he has grown.

a clear indication that you are doing things right.

[reptile man]

he looks great

[jarich]

Nice enclosure, reminds me of someone else's ;)

[DiscoPat]

Had Steve out to let him wander the room to let him out of his enclosure for like 10 minutes. He is big enough now so there was no place in the room he could get between and hide, I kept an eye on him the whole time either way.

[DiscoPat]

He has no longer hisses or whips at me anymore. It seems it is only me though, he gets defensive whenever there is someone who isn't me or my girlfriend around.

He seems to bask in the morning and roam around his enclosure and then during mid day he will be underground for most of the time. It seems he has a schedule.

It is nice for me because I know when I have the most likely chance of seeing him.

I also got him a much larger water dish today, it isn't any deeper but it is a lot bigger.

[AjaMichelle]

What a little cutie! :) about how big is he? Are you feeding to satiation. Everyday?

[DiscoPat]

He is about 15-18 inches, I haven't been able to measure him recently, I can't find any of my rulers or tape measures. So based on how big he is compared to my computer screen.

When I got him he was very small for his age because the pet store didn't feed him enough. At the beginning of this thread there are pictures of when he was a month to 2 months old. That is how old the pet store said he was when I got him.

I am feeding him everyday, he gets one decent sized, I think they're popper or hopper mice every day. 1 or 2 large dubias and at the beginning of each week I put quite a bit of crickets in his enclosure.

The crickets are nice because there will often be baby crickets in the enclosure during that time that act as a clean up crew.

Once I get time to set up breeding rats I will probably feed him several pinkies rather than 1 decent sized one.

[AjaMichelle]

Hmmm I asked because he looks thin and fairly small in the photos. I'm assuming that he was hatched this year so he should be significantly larger than that even if he wasn't fed properly initially. My second sav came to me at 16 inches total length. He was taking adult mice easily, though his previous owner was only offering crickets and fuzzies. I began initially feeding to satiation at least twice a day. On the days vertebrate prey was offered, he was readily consuming an adult mouse, 15 to 25 dubia roaches an inch or more in length, and 5 to 10 adult night crawlers (6 to 8 inches) per day. In addition, he was eating several hundred crickets a week. :)

6 weeks later he had more than doubled his mass and increased his total length by 5 inches.

You may want to start feeding him more food, it doesn't sound like you're feeding to satiation, and his tail looks pretty thin.

[DiscoPat]

Okay. I will start feeding him more, thank you for the advice.
Do you think he would be able to take down an adult mouse at his size?

Edit:

Do you know a good site to buy Dubias to start a colony?

[Pirarucu]

Okay. I will start feeding him more, thank you for the advice.
Do you think he would be able to take down an adult mouse at his size?

Edit:

Do you know a good site to buy Dubias to start a colony?I would say yes, but IMO more smaller items are better than one big item.

Kingsnake.com Classifieds > Live and Frozen Feeder Classifieds (http://market.kingsnake.com/index.php?cat=145)
Feed and Feeders For Sale/Wanted - FaunaClassifieds (http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=961)

[infernalis]

I put links to every resource ever needed on my web site, including a commercial roach breeder.

Click the word "Dubia Roach" and the site will open.

[DiscoPat]

Thank you guys.

[DiscoPat]

I put links to every resource ever needed on my web site, including a commercial roach breeder.

Click the word "Dubia Roach" and the site will open.

In the selling section are there males and females when you buy them? I want to make sure because a lot of places will only sell males.

[infernalis]

Dubia Roaches for Sale: Buy Blaptica dubia Roaches Here (http://www.nyworms.com/dubia_roaches.html)

[infernalis]

as a bonus, you can get night crawlers in bulk, same order.

[DiscoPat]

Sweet, thank you.

[AjaMichelle]

Okay. I will start feeding him more, thank you for the advice.
Do you think he would be able to take down an adult mouse at his size?

Edit:

Do you know a good site to buy Dubias to start a colony?

My savs were both eating adult mice at 16 to 18 inches ToL. I agree with Pirarucu about smaller items being preferred, but the adult mice were taken easily. There was no struggle to eat them, and they were typically requesting more immediately after. I've also found them to be the best value for what I pay. You might try it and see how it's received, though you can always feed a few of whatever size is the next size smaller.

With respect to the dubia roaches, I order from buydubiaroaches.com. You should order at least 100 to 200 unsexed nymphs and some adult females so your colony stabilizes and can be fed from more quickly. I don't remember the source of this info, but I believe one male can service around seven females. As they mature, you can feed extra males to the savs.

Do not feed your roaches commercial pet foods as they contain carcinogenic preservatives, pesticides, phosphates, and other poisons you won't want your savs to take in. Commercial pet foods range from Ol' Roy to Purina to Science Diet.

[DiscoPat]

Okay, I was planning to feed the dubias fruits and vegetables if that would work fine.

Are all the nymphs on the site unsexed? because I don't see a specific unsexed section for buying. I just want to be 100% sure.

[Pirarucu]

Okay, I was planning to feed the dubias fruits and vegetables if that would work fine.

Are all the nymphs on the site unsexed? because I don't see a specific unsexed section for buying. I just want to be 100% sure.You can't sex the nymphs, so yes they're unsexed.

[AjaMichelle]

You'll need to feed something higher in protein along with the fruits and veggies. I usually use an organic ground yellow corn/organic oats/calcium carbonate mix but when my colony needs more protein I use organic dog food.

I recommended buying large nymphs because it's cheaper than buying females outright. However, you do have to wait longer for them to reach sexual maturity. But if you want guaranteed females you can of course just get the females. :)

[DiscoPat]

I will probably buy quite a few large nymphs and then get 10 or so females just to be sure that I have some.

I should be able to order them with my next paycheck on the 17th. I already have a large tub with egg crates and I have several extra heat lamps and fixtures.

Do you recommend any specific organic dog food brand?

[AjaMichelle]

I would recommend using Merrick dog food. You should be able to find it at most companion animal health food stores, and you can probably order it online. The calcium to phosphorus ratio is about 1 to 1 (specifically, 1.3 to 1.0, respectively), so you'll want to be sure to supplement with calcium carbonate, to achieve an appropriate Ca to P ratio for reptiles (2 to 1). You can use any of the formulas, (Classic or Grain Free). I like to rotate.

You'll also want to think about which greens, fruits, and veggies to use. Staples should include mustard greens, dandelion greens, collared greens, turnip greens, escarole, watercress, and endive as they have an ideal Ca to P ratio (at least 2 to 1). Bok choy is a good rotational veggie as it's Ca to P ratio is also 2 to 1, but it's rich in goitrogens which interfere with iodine uptake so it shouldn't be a staple. You can include spinach, kale, chard, and arugula as rotational items, but you'll want to keep these to a minimum as they're high in oxalates which inhibit calcium absorption and initiate free radical formation. You don't want to use lettuces and cabbage because they have poor Ca to P ratios and don't offer much in the way of other nutrients. By 'lettuces' I mean, Green Leaf, Red Leaf, Butterhead, Iceberg, Romaine, etc.

Good fruits to use include figs, mango, papaya, and prickly pears. Don't use citrus fruits or tomato. Most other fruits (pumpkin, apple, blueberries, peaches, etc.) are okay as rotationals but shouldn't make up a significant part of the diet, as they have poor Ca to P ratios, are rich in sugar, low in nutrients, etc.

Good veggies include squashes and green beans. Poor veggies include avocado, rhubarb, corn, and brussel sprouts.

[DiscoPat]

Thank you for all the information. So if I were to buy 50 large nymphs and 100 mixed and 5-10 females and a few males would that be a good starting size?

They limit the large nymph buying to 50 and I figure with how much cheaper the mixed is and the chance to get more larges in the mixed it is a better deal than buying 100 mediums.

[AjaMichelle]

That sounds like a good starting size! :) If you maximize all resources (heat, humidity, and food), you'll probably have good nymph growth in 2 or 3 months. :) And the females should feel comfortable soon after you get them and start produced offspring quickly. :)

[DiscoPat]

Sweet, I get paid on the 17th So after the colony is good Steve will be happy, He really likes Dubias.

He is eating 2-3 hoppers a day now, I haven't moved up in size yet, going to wait just a little longer for full grown mice.

I am also planning on starting up breeding 2 or 3 sets of mice or rats. My fiance said she'd take care of that part. It will be nice having her help.

I was leaning towards rats because I remember Wayne saying something about them being better to breed. I can't remember why but I remember he said Rats were better.

[jarich]

They take care of each others young and dont smell anywhere near as bad as mice.

[DiscoPat]

They take care of each others young and dont smell anywhere near as bad as mice.

They're also bigger right? That not smelling thing is actually enough to convince me either way. I have to do it in the garage and I don't own the house.

[AjaMichelle]

Rats are much, much larger!

[infernalis]

Rats are faster, Because they are larger, a "junior" rat is the same size as a mouse, less raise up time before they are food.

Even my garter snakes are on rat pups.