Here is my Savannah Monitor

[jdub]

Here's my Savannah monitor. He is about 2 years old and about 28" long. He walks/runs with his full body 1.5-2" off the ground.

I started him off on crickets and mice and then moved to dubia roaches (I have a colony) and mice. I am currently feeding him about 24 adult roaches and three hoppers a week (does this seem right? I have never found a concise answer on feeding amounts of a roach/mouse diet for adult and adult-ish monitors). I am thinking of switching him back to pinkies because his feces currently contains a lot of fur, obviously it's not benefiting him at all.

When I got him at maybe 6 months old he was off to a rough beginning. He was already missing many front toes but was at least a healthy (looking) weight. Part of the reason I got him is because the guy said, "you don't want that one, he's missing toes." So I figured someone has to man up and at least try.

He does not live in the aquarium pictured (which should be obvious but unfortunately I am sure there are monitors living in 55 gallon aquariums), that's just where I feed him roaches so I can make sure they are all eaten and none escape.

He lives in a 6x4' enclosure with 18" of dirt (which I realize is somewhat of a compromise, if he hits the 36" mark I may revisit). He doesn't dig at all due, I think, to missing his front toes, one foot is basically a club with only one claw left. I've tried to start burrows for him but I think the dirt is just too hard for him to dig in. I'm honestly thinking of switching to mulch in this specific scenario where he was essentially mutilated by a previous owner. When I first got him he was on mulch while I built his enclosure and he dug in that. Any thoughts on that?

[infernalis]

Can you get some pipe and bury it??

If you use the perforated drain pipe, the humidity and temperature will still be par with your lizards needs.

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

[jdub]

Yes, I could do that. I was thinking about it actually.

I'm also having trouble with the humidity. It is very, very dry in Colorado. It takes a lot of effort to even keep it up around 60% humidity. I am using a fogger and also have a tub full of cypress mulch in there. The box is sealed pretty well, not perfect but pretty good for a wooden box. I used Drylock on the entire interior and I've sealed the seams with weather strip. There are slight gaps around the lamps but that's it.

The dirt I am using is pink breeze which is a decomposed granite that came highly recommended. But it is not living up to my expectations.

[infernalis]

mix a little sand and topsoil (decomposed vegetation and clay) and it will retain moisture a lot better than the decomposed granite will.

Mix it right in with the decomposed granite.

[jdub]

Ok, I should be able to do that with a little bit of effort.

The enclosure is pretty full and it's in my basement. I got the dirt down there through a chute in a small window up by the ceiling. Getting it back out will require buckets and stairs. But I would be doing that if I changed to mulch anyway, only a lot more buckets.

[jarich]

I wouldnt switch back to pinkies, as they have very little bone matter, just cartilage. One of the best nutritional values of rodents is in the calcium of their bones, so a hopper is better for that reason. The fur passes through without issue.

Id say for the bulk of your enclosure do like Wayne said and add some sand, soil and detritus. You can cover the ground with leaves as well so that it retains its moisture better. You could also pick a corner and put mulch in, though I wouldnt recommend it for the entire enclosure. That way you have the bonus of the humidity from the soil, but he would still be able to dig in the mulch corner if he wanted to.

[jdub]

Does 28" seem reasonable for a 2-year-old monitor?

Any thoughts on my feeding amounts? It seems like others are feeding their monitors A LOT more than I am. What are signs of under feeding? He's obviously hungry all the time so that's not really an indicator. I would assume maybe fatigue but he is always insanely energetic.

I would worry if he became obese, sluggish, or lost interest in food. Any other things to look out for?

[franks]

Buy a few bags of saphgum moss to protect your substrate. It will help considerably with your humidity.

[Pirarucu]

Are you keeping the dirt moist? You need to dump a few gallons of water in or it won't hold a burrow or keep the enclosure humid.

[jdub]

How often do you do that? I have a hose I wet it down with but that makes the surface hard. I think the mixture is just off.

[Pirarucu]

Depends on how quickly it dries out and how much dirt there is. You should be able to compress it into a solid ball that doesn't just fall apart on it's own, but crumbles if you jab a finger into it.

[jdub]

I sprayed it all down with the hose, got it pretty wet. It quickly absorbed a lot of water so it must have been very dry.

I was in there digging a few weeks ago and it seemed wetter as I got deeper which seems to make sense to me. I don't want it be too wet at the bottom. I coated the entire box with Drylock and sealed it with silicon but it's probably not 100% water tight. I have dreams (nightmares?) where my monitor cage is all warped and deteriorating and I start to panic.

I checked my monitor about an hour after spraying it all down it appeared he had fresh dirt on his nose and head (more than normal) so maybe he was attempting to dig. That would be nice.

[jarich]

28" is reasonable for a 2 year old, especially if it's a female. Are you certain it's a male?

As far as the dampness of the soil, it's pretty easy to check. The top can be dry but when you dig down under the surface it should still be moist. If you have to go any further than a half inch to find moisture then you need to add more water. You shouldn't need to do that more than once a week. If your dirt is drying out faster than that, then you need to find where your air is venting out of the enclosure and close it off.

[jdub]

I'm certain he is a male. I've seen his hemipenes while soaking him.

[KORBIN5895]

Actually I have seen many double and triple gene animals for sale on kijiji. This includes boas, royals and corn morphs. I have also sewn anacondas and dums for sale on there.

@jdub
As far as dubias are concerned you are the first person I have ever heard claim that temps lower than 90° f were good for the roaches and they bred fine. Now as for your claim of 78°f that just sounds ridiculous. Also you didn't rescue that monitor, you purchased it.

[jdub]

I consider it a rescue because he was already missing toes and I was even told, "you don't want that one." I was also his second owner, someone purchased him before me and dumped him off at a local reptile store for store credit. You call it what you want. I will call it what I want.

I started my dubia roach colony a year ago with three females and one male. I have never kept them over 90 degrees unless it's a really hot day and the room gets up that high (I don't have A/C). In the winter I use a space heater on a thermostat set at 78 degrees. From October to around March it is NEVER over 78F (actually it hits 80F right when the heater kicks off) in the room. And yet I have thousands of roaches. The evidence speaks for itself. Now you can call me a liar without knowing me, that's fine. I don't really care, I'm not here to impress anyone. I'm here to learn more about caring for my monitor.

Blaptica dubia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaptica_dubia)

According to that I am on the lower end of ideal but well above where they won't breed. Do you breed Blaptica dubia? I do. Could they breed more? Possibly. I would have to experiment. But why bother? This thing sort of runs itself. I give them water crystals, fruit/veggies and food every couple days and there are constantly babies in there. It was remarkably easy to set this up, way easier than I would have expected by reading about them on the internet.

[jarich]

Ya, they definitely aren't hard to breed! They are roaches after all. You have them at sort of the base level of heat, any lower and I think you would definitely see a big difference. The heat does make them breed better, but its the humidity that I have found to be more essential.

[jdub]

I'm getting pretty good molts without much humidity management. They are in a tub with a pretty large screened opening at the top. I have read with these that providing them with ample hydration and lots of fruit/veggies, they do pretty well in marginal humidity. They seem to be doing well. I always have more fresh babies than anyone could count and very minimal dead. I think dubia roaches are among the easiest, I am sure there are others that are much harder. I'm somewhat fascinated by them, for the same reason I respect that I don't want them at large in my house. Although I do know an exterminator...

[infernalis]

I have had escapees, but they have never bred or infested my home.