Grow up enclosure for baby savannah

[Vegasarah]

I started monitor keeping with a Nile, and now I have been given a baby savannah to care for! She came as a surprise, owner surrendered to me and I couldn't say no to a baby monitor in need. I will be looking for a new home for the little guy within a year or so and he will only go to someone I deem to be a responsible and experienced keeper. He is about 8 inches long tip to tip. Right now he's in a 40 gallon 'breeder' tank that I can either upgrade from soon OR modify to suit it's needs a little better. (Build an addition on to it, etc.) Here's what the weekly diet is looking like right now:

Sun- 50 crickets
Mon- super worms and SZD (if wont eat it, fertile goose egg)
Tue- 30 regular meal worms
Wed- 25 small dubia
Thur- 10 wax worms and SZD (if wont eat it, nightcrawler or mealworms)
Fri- 3 to 5 whole f/t silversides
Sat- 3 to 5 f/t pinkie or fuzzie mice

Any changes I should be making other than the enclosure is obviously not going to last very long with a growing baby?

[smy_749]

Wheres the top? I can't see it but you might just have removed it for the pics? Looks like you have dirt on one side, try to pack it down a bit more maybe, looks kinda fluffy (again, just going by pic so I could be wrong).


And add a water dish :P

[Vegasarah]

Originally Posted by smy_749

Wheres the top? I can't see it but you might just have removed it for the pics? Looks like you have dirt on one side, try to pack it down a bit more maybe, looks kinda fluffy (again, just going by pic so I could be wrong).


And add a water dish :P

I put more in and tramped it down so he can dig some burrows. The water dish is in the back corner, that tile is leaning on it!

[smy_749]

Ah ok now I see it. Sorry bout that. Start a burrow for him to give him the hint if he doesn't do it on his own. Sometimes they just need a small 'hole' to explore and make bigger

[B_Aller]

Where is the top?

[formica]

for that size tank, i'd switch out that lamp and put in 2 or 3 GU10 with halogen floods, you can use lower power rating to achieve the same basking temp, without over heating the tank

I'd also move the heat lamp to the other side, this will allow the soil to stay a bit cooler and give a better temperature gradient

tbh he looks like he's only just big enough for that enclosure, it will be a matter of weeks before he needs something bigger, my hatchling went from 5inches, to 18inches, in 4 months, for some time he grew at almost an inch a week - I have to use grown on enclosures aswell because i'm moving soon, but given the choice i wouldnt do it like that again

[Vegasarah]

Originally Posted by B_Aller

Where is the top?

The top I took off for the picture because you can't see anything with it on- it's a wooden top that slides into place making it air tight to keep the heat and humidity in!

[Vegasarah]

Originally Posted by formica

for that size tank, i'd switch out that lamp and put in 2 or 3 GU10 with halogen floods, you can use lower power rating to achieve the same basking temp, without over heating the tank

I'd also move the heat lamp to the other side, this will allow the soil to stay a bit cooler and give a better temperature gradient

tbh he looks like he's only just big enough for that enclosure, it will be a matter of weeks before he needs something bigger, my hatchling went from 5inches, to 18inches, in 4 months, for some time he grew at almost an inch a week - I have to use grown on enclosures aswell because i'm moving soon, but given the choice i wouldnt do it like that again

If I had the choice I wouldn't do it this way either, honestly. I really wish I had the resources to not even have to bother with a grown up enclosure! That will come with time- I'm hoping to get a 150 gallon tank this week or if not then I might modify this one and make an entire addition wooden top with a viewing window and fill the entire bottom 40 gallon tank with substrate.

I don't know what you mean about the halogen lights. Right now I just have the one bulb with a 100 watt outdoor flood light in a ceramic fixture. His whole body is covered by the light. Gives a very high basking temp without drying anything out too much- the wooden lid really makes it like a sauna in there.

[infernalis]

sauna good, as long as there is a place to hide when the animal no longer wants to be in a sauna.

What he means about the lights, they sell (all over) little mini flood lights for track lighting fixtures.

[Vegasarah]

Originally Posted by infernalis

sauna good, as long as there is a place to hide when the animal no longer wants to be in a sauna.

What he means about the lights, they sell (all over) little mini flood lights for track lighting fixtures.

The cool side has the water dish and some drier substrate along with that log hide which he uses just as often as the "hot" hides. He uses every inch of that tank. Can't wait to get him a larger one soon! I will look into those lights, I never thought of those. I could mount them right to the lid!

[formica]

Originally Posted by Vegasarah

The cool side has the water dish and some drier substrate along with that log hide which he uses just as often as the "hot" hides. He uses every inch of that tank. Can't wait to get him a larger one soon! I will look into those lights, I never thought of those. I could mount them right to the lid!

damp soil is an excellent coolant, you will find with the lamp over the log, you can provide a wider range of tempretures and a cooler sleeping area inside the soil

these are the lights I was talking about, I managed to maintain a good gradient and humidity level for my hatchling until his grow on was ready (but only just - with 2 X 35W lights it was ok, 3 was pushing the temps to much)






they are very cheap, i paid £9 for the fitting, £3 for a set of 3 lamps - I attached mine inside the enclosure using a simple wooden frame, with a polycarbonate plastic lid to seal the whole unit

[Vegasarah]

Originally Posted by formica

damp soil is an excellent coolant, you will find with the lamp over the log, you can provide a wider range of tempretures and a cooler sleeping area inside the soil

these are the lights I was talking about, I managed to maintain a good gradient and humidity level for my hatchling until his grow on was ready (but only just - with 2 X 35W lights it was ok, 3 was pushing the temps to much)






they are very cheap, i paid £9 for the fitting, £3 for a set of 3 lamps - I attached mine inside the enclosure using a simple wooden frame, with a polycarbonate plastic lid to seal the whole unit

Thank you!!!

[Vegasarah]

Changed up the layout a little bit so I could add a lot more soil and bank it up/ tramp it down more. I think I'm finally happy with it, even if it is just temporary.

This lil guy sure is fearless. He gets a little defensive when I first open the top to feed/ do water changes but then calms down. I fed him his 15 silversides yesterday and he waited around for more. He kept looking at my hand and reaching up towards it with his front feet, so I placed my hand down in the tank right beside him facing up and he climbed onto my hand. His back legs were on the ground and the front of the body was in my hand. I wiggled my fingers and even moved my hand around a little and he didn't seem to care one bit. I slid him off after about a full minute of just sitting like that. Went and fed my other guys their fish, came back, stuck my hand in again beside him and same thing! Front two feet holding on to my finger like a branch! I've never seen a properly supported monitor tolerate any kind of interaction with my hands before... No signs of distress, not trying to run or hide, climbing onto my hand of his own free will.

I'll try and get a picture next time or see if my roommate will take one. I don't know what to make of this behavior, though.

I'm going to wait on those track lights- looks like I'll be getting a 125 gallon tank this weekend for him. Going to make a custom top for it and I will definitely be using those types of lights. I like how small they are compared to the huge flood lights I usually use!