About how old is my sav

dnoy88 · 12-13-12, 09:33 PM

I have a female sav and she's about twelve to eighteen inches long including her tail, so about how old would she probably be?

they told me she was two but she seems a little small to two I think

infernalis · 12-13-12, 10:09 PM

That does seem very small for a two year old.

Mine are under a year and 30 inches long.

BarelyBreathing · 12-13-12, 10:33 PM

You may never know. If she wasn't properly cared for, she may never reach her full potential.

dnoy88 · 12-13-12, 11:30 PM

So so u think she'll get much bigger as long as I care for her proberly because I heard that they grow the most in the first two to three years and jst out of curiosity about how big should she be at two years old

infernalis · 12-13-12, 11:40 PM

honestly, the first year of life is when the most massive growth rate is, then it tapers off abruptly.

An animal that is stunted during the first year, rarely catch up to full adult size.

A well cared for Savannah Monitor should be about a yard long with an athletic build.

What many people fail to understand is that with proper caging, these beasts can consume unbelievable amounts of food while growing up, and not get fat doing it.

I remember one night that my juvenile savs each ate 6 rat pups and a dozen night crawlers all in one sitting.

They looked hungry again the next morning.!!!

dnoy88 · 12-14-12, 12:29 AM

So feed feed feed unless she starts to show sights of obesity then but rite now she's in a ten gal tank but I'm building one rite now that's 5'x3'x3' will this be big enough as I don't have me where to put a bigger one

infernalis · 12-14-12, 12:56 AM

5x3x3 is too small.

I can't stress enough, it is impossible to get the correct environment in a 10 gallon tank.

Read over the web site links at the bottom of my post, it explains everything in great detail.

Each purple word on the home page is a window link that will pop up a photo that explains what you are reading.

You need to change that lizard's housing like last week.

EmbraceCalamity · 12-14-12, 03:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dnoy88

So feed feed feed unless she starts to show sights of obesity then but rite now she's in a ten gal tank but I'm building one rite now that's 5'x3'x3' will this be big enough as I don't have me where to put a bigger one

What? Dude, I wouldn't keep my leopard gecko in a 10 gallon.

~Maggot

BarelyBreathing · 12-14-12, 12:38 PM

Savannah monitors need:
-A custom built 8x4x4 enclosure made from wood, 100% sealed (no screen, no open vents)
-2 feet of sandy soil. I use and recommend a 60/40 mixture of Eco Earth and children's washed play sand for monitors. Substrate should be moist at depth.
-60% ambient humidity measured several times daily with a DIGITAL hygrometer
-A basking spot of 130F or higher, measured several times daily with an infra red TEMPERATURE GUN
-A cool side of 75F measured several times daily with a DIGITAL thermometer with a PROBE
-Plenty of hides
-A water dish that is large enough to soak in
-A diet that mostly consists of invertibrates

dnoy88 · 12-14-12, 01:25 PM

Ok so I don't have my costum built eclosure yet but I moved her to a travel tote that's about 31/2x2x3 height I put about ten inches of soil in it and laid moss across the top with be sufficient for a week or so keep in mind she's tiny 12-18 inches total including her tail I mean her head is smaller than my thumb another reason I find it hard to believe that she's two years old but I have come to realize the people at petco don't really know a whole lot bout what they sell I mean they told me she was a desert lizard and to all sand and keep humidity at 10-20 percent would be fine

infernalis · 12-14-12, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dnoy88

Ok so I don't have my costum built eclosure yet but I moved her to a travel tote that's about 31/2x2x3 height I put about ten inches of soil in it and laid moss across the top with be sufficient for a week or so keep in mind she's tiny 12-18 inches total including her tail I mean her head is smaller than my thumb another reason I find it hard to believe that she's two years old but I have come to realize the people at petco don't really know a whole lot bout what they sell I mean they told me she was a desert lizard and to all sand and keep humidity at 10-20 percent would be fine

This is why I dislike PETCO so much, and most other pet stores too.

Over half a million dead Savannah Monitors because of this crap info places like that pass out.

dnoy88 · 12-14-12, 01:30 PM

I am havering a hard te getting the temp up in this enclosure though I'm useing two 60 watt bulbs and a 100 watt bulb all with cones and keeping the room temp at about 70 but the enclosure doesn't up much more than 80 I jst tried putting an under the tank heater under it where her basking platform is ill let you all know if help much and thank you all for the advise I new to reptiles and you have been a great help thanks again

infernalis · 12-14-12, 01:34 PM

The cool end does not have to be really hot, 70-80 is plenty fine.

On my web site, there is two buttons to check the weather in Africa where Savannah Monitors live, I have seen days where it was rather cool by tropical standards in Ghana.

EmbraceCalamity · 12-14-12, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dnoy88

Ok so I don't have my costum built eclosure yet but I moved her to a travel tote that's about 31/2x2x3 height I put about ten inches of soil in it and laid moss across the top with be sufficient for a week or so keep in mind she's tiny 12-18 inches total including her tail I mean her head is smaller than my thumb another reason I find it hard to believe that she's two years old but I have come to realize the people at petco don't really know a whole lot bout what they sell I mean they told me she was a desert lizard and to all sand and keep humidity at 10-20 percent would be fine

You said you don't have anywhere to put an enclosure bigger than 5x3x3, and it's been pointed out that that's too small. So what are you going to do?

~Maggot

infernalis · 12-14-12, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dnoy88

I have a female sav

Did petco tell you it's a female too??

They are difficult to sex, and I can all but guarantee that petco cannot even guess with any reasonable certainty.

If she is in fact female, you are in for a rough ride.. without that proper big enclosure, she will cycle eggs and refuse to lay them, it's always fatal, as the eggs begin to decay inside the lizards belly.

They do not need a male lizard to lay eggs, it's a natural ovulation cycle that happens often, beginning at sexual maturity.