gotta love christmas!

bampi · 01-01-14, 11:58 AM

Well i'm rescuing a savannah monitor today! I have not owned a monitor before, but have had various lizards/snakes. From all the reading i've been doing, I've learned that you need quite a large enclosure as well as a good amount of substrate for burrowing.

To start i've found somebody with a scummy small reptile glass tank and that will be it's home for about a week while I construct my first attempt at a forever home. I'm planning on 8.3'x3.3'x6.5' I know it's not the largest it could be. But hopefully i'm getting a female, and it will suffice for a few years. I've already gone out and got my lumber, so this afternoon will be a busy one. And i'll post pictures as it comes together.

For substrate I was reading that using 60% eco earth to 40% childs play sand is best mixture. And that is what i'm planning on. The biggest question I have at this point. Is does anybody have advice on lights. Type and placement. I know I need a basking area minimum 130F. Which I plan to achieve with a small cluster of 50w flood lights. Placing various ceramic heat bulbs throughout the tank to keep a temperature of about 85F and then let one side fall to around ambient. I have never worked on a scale this large before. Keeping my snakes environment was fairly easy once you got it set up. But any input on lighting would be phenomenal. Also water. I'd like to have a large dish of water on the basking area, to help keep a higher humidity. Will be a larger "pool" type water. But I was also thinking of keeping another water bowl on the ambient side to have a nice cool water supply. I know that savannahs don't swim/wade much. So thoughts on that? Anyways, it's about time to go pick up the small temporary tank and get that set up to support the baby when it comes home!

Thanks for your time looking through this post and I look forward to your input.

alessia55 · 01-01-14, 07:00 PM

Welcome to the forum! Please read our sSNAKESs forum rules.

kwhitlock · 01-01-14, 07:05 PM

The man you want to ask questions about Savannah's is gonna be infernalis. He has the best looking Savannah's I've ever seen!

drumcrush · 01-01-14, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwhitlock

The man you want to ask questions about Savannah's is gonna be infernalis. He has the best looking Savannah's I've ever seen!

^^^ yep, I couldn't agree more!

bampi · 01-02-14, 12:09 PM

awesome. Thanks for the replies. And thanks for the welcome! As for an update for this morning. Put her into a temporary home, 60 gal glass. Finding it's very hard to maintain humidity with a glass box. Unfortunately I have a screen top at the moment as well.

Current conditions
basking temp 120F
cool ambient 80F
Two water dishes; one on basking side, one on cold.
humidity unknown. Getting a hydrometer tomorrow.
50/50 mix of excavator/eco earth; only about 5 inches deep atm.
Lights:
1 uvb 1.5ft bar
1 ceramic heat on cool side
2 75W basking bulbs on basking side, adding a third today to get up to 130F
at night I have 1 100W infared light that maintains 100F on hot side.

The monitor is only about 8 inches long, ate a pinky/3 crickets yesterday. Seemed very hungry as he took food almost immediately in a new habitat.
I popped 4 more crickets in this morning about 30 mins after I turned basking lights back on before I left for work.

seems very skidish around me still. Going to attempt some handeling today after work. But all in all very active exploring new areas, hasn't attempted to burrow yet, just hiding behind the basking log. Will post pictures today after work.

infernalis · 01-02-14, 12:11 PM

well, my question has been answered.....

have a look at Correct Savannah Monitor Care

bampi · 01-02-14, 01:35 PM

That's the main article I was going off of, which is why I have 2 smaller bulbs instead of 1 large. I'm getting another today to get basking a little hotter. But some advice as to how to keep humidity up until I finish the larger sealed enclosure would be amazing.

murrindindi · 01-02-14, 02:43 PM

Hi, I take it the fishtank has a screen top, so in order to better control the humidity you need to cover that as completely as possible. The easiest (temporary) way is with kitchen foil, cut out tight fitting holes for the heat/light bulbs.
Please do NOT force handle the monitor, you are causing a great deal of stress, just place the food and water. Make sure the area around the food/water is well covered so the animal doesn`t feel exposed. It would also be a good idea to cover the back and sides with something such as cardboard/plywod, taped around the top and bottom edges on the outside, that will offer some "privacy" (it will also raise the temps somewhat so keep an eye on those).
You basically need to know two temps; the lowest ambient @ approx 24c (75f), then the surface at the basking site at between approx 50 to 60c (120 to 140f), this being a hatchling/juvenile it will heat up very quickly.
Can you put up a few photos of the whole enclosure?

infernalis · 01-02-14, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bampi

That's the main article I was going off of, which is why I have 2 smaller bulbs instead of 1 large. I'm getting another today to get basking a little hotter. But some advice as to how to keep humidity up until I finish the larger sealed enclosure would be amazing.

bampi · 01-02-14, 08:37 PM

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so there's the set up as I was describing earlier. I'll be making some modifications tomorrow as in wooden top with lighting inside that for no holes. and enclosing the glass with something for a feeling of security. I'll try the enclosing before adding another light, because it was VERY dry when I got home today. Will have to set up a rain system of some kind most likely. Just changing the water she got scared and puffed up as she was burrowed under one. So the handling is still on hold. But it was good to see her dig her way back under after replacement!

murrindindi · 01-03-14, 11:42 AM

Hi again, thanks for the photos, it makes it a little easier!
I would suggest you use some soil, mix it with what`s is now, and add a little playsand. It needs to be very well tamped down, moist but not wet and firm enough to hold a burrow. 15 to 20 cm will be useful for now (6 to 8 inches), and should help create some humidity once the top`s been covered.
Even though this setup is very temporary, you need to add much more cover (firmly fixed branches, plastic plants, etc).
Edit: Pinky mice are not very nutritious because the skeleton hasn`t formed and there`s little protein, much better to offer fuzzy mice (cut them in half along the length while still frozen if too big to swallow whole).

bampi · 01-03-14, 01:44 PM

thanks for the information. I'm going out to get superworms today. I'll pick up some more substrate and ground cover as well. Are there any live plants that will work to help with high temperatures? think that may help my humidity issue out as well. Started building the top this morning. Will post pictures of completed top soon. Thanks again for all of your help!

murrindindi · 01-03-14, 02:29 PM

I`m not sure that live plants will stand up to even a juvenile Savannah monitor unless they`re really sturdy, and in this relatively small enclosure that might be difficult?
I do believe that once the top is covered and more substrate`s added the humidity range will be o.k.
By the way, why are you keeping the nighttime ambient temp at 100f (unless you want to provide 24/7 heat and light, which is fine)?
Edit: Is the monitor 8 inches ToL or SV?

bampi · 01-03-14, 04:06 PM

tip of tail to snout. I'll post some pictures this evening of tank modifications. See what the thoughts are at that point. Thanks again for the help!

bampi · 01-03-14, 05:32 PM

so first modification is complete. Thought it was a good idea to split it right down the middle and make two halves so I would only ever have to remove half the lid at a time. Bad judgement call on my part. Now I need to find some way to seal the middle up when not removed. Anyways...here are some pictures. Going out to get superworms/substrate now. Will post pictures of that when I figure out how to put it in without stressing her out!
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