Wierd Breathing?

[LORI34205]

I have a young sav which is about 7 inches long as some of you may know and while hes sleeping and now and then when hes awake he will breath one breath heavily out then in,sometimes he will wake up out of his sleep and do this.Call me a worrier but it just seems wierd to me.Any advice what could be the prob?
plz reply fast
tks

[LORI34205]

Im sorry and i forgot to add he does this breath through his mouth.

[LORI34205]

hes seeming to do it more and more as i watch him

[Steeve B]

Hello Lori,

Tot this may help you with your new monitor, first about bottom heating! The thread you started on hot rocks is valuable in the sense that it may help manufacturers to improve their products; obviously they are designed by peoples with little reptile’s experience.
Most of my enclosure have floor heating, as floor temperature in any Canadian basement will get or may get too cold for our tropical varanids, the best heating for this is cable, flex watt or hot water piping, must be installed fallowing manufacturer instruction.

I agree savannahs are one of the best starter varanids, but theirs one thing much more important then a good starting monitor, that is a good starting Varanophil, if your devoted and understanding then any varanids may be a good starter, proof of this can be seen with a few that started off with Niloticus and still have them 5-10 years latter.

As for your monitors health, pleas let me help you a little on this one!
The invisible enemy is stress you can’t see it, but your varanids suffers from stress every time you handle him or knock on his glass, disturb him in anyway or simply a dog or cat that passing by. These are the physical stress factors, theirs also the environmental stress witch is just as detrimental to your varanids, this includes heat distribution, humidity and water supply, substrata and even furniture, example I often see forest varanids kept with rock formation or concrete floors, you can easily spot them by their worn out claws bleeding gums and digits. These are all form of stress that experience will teach you to recognise and help you become a better Varanophil able to help others, but most of all able to help varanids.
Good luck with your new venture, have fun and enjoy this wonderful opportunity.
Rgds

[V.hb]

Everything Steeve said is good advice for sure!!

I think your little guy is OK, alot of people can throw so many things at you at once you make you self diagnose problems that arent even there.. Just watch how much he eats, etc.

[LORI34205]

so if his habitats all good i should leave him alone?

[V.hb]

like steve said, they need alot of furniture for hides and security, proper substrate (outdoor dirt works best, dig something up from a clean area) make sure all the humidity stays in, hes got a cool end to retreat too, a really hot bask.. and if hes eating, leave him be for awhile..
I wouldnt handle him at all until hes been eating well and begins basking in your presence.. Not worth stressing him out, like Steve said you cannot see stress, its an invisible problem!

[LORI34205]

hold on hes ok there he comes out and basks he eats like a savage he runs around his cage he just does that breathing thing and it worries me of a respitory infection or somthin

[V.hb]

if its an RI and your temps are right he wont have the RI for very long.... Just make sure hes hot

[Linds]

I read through that caresheet you had posted by M. Kaplan. Since you posted that caresheet and didn't list your temps, hopefully you aren't follwing hers or you will have a sick monitor indeed They aren't snakes. They need a basking spot of at least 130 degrees (not 95 )

[LORI34205]

126 good???
could you set a link to a "good set of care sheets"?

[V.hb]

www.themonitorspot.com