Savannah Monitor Redemption

nepoez · 03-20-13, 08:05 AM

Hi All,

I am a failed savannah monitor owner many months ago. Using the wrong info from books and internet causing gout and death of my baby savannah named Nugget. After it was too late I came across infernelis's website and started learning about the right ways of keeping savannahs. Also got the book about the truth about savannah monitors(recently got a better/clearer version from this forum) But I have been reading a lot of the correct info for the past few months.

Today I will be receiving 2 baby savannahs! No clue what sex they are. I'm very excited but almost worried at the same time that I will do something wrong. So I want to keep here a journal of what I'm doing so that people can quickly correct me if I'm doing something wrong.

I had sand before this, which now I know is bad but here below is what I have got now, and what I'll get in a couple months.

I converted my old dessert tank into a moist tank.
- aprx 2ftx4ftx3ft
- half a foot of soil/sand mix(75%/25%) (moist but not wet on the top, except when I dump water in it)
- Right side is raised brick with a MVB bulb + ceramic bulb that yields a 130F basking spot
- left side has no heating which gets coldest of 75-80F ambient
- and anywhere between the 2 points is a gradient b/t the 2 points of temps, avg(middle part is 85-90F)
- tank is sealed with just a couple small gaps on the top that doesn't let much moisture or heat out. Humidity can be 60-70% I can feel the humidity when I open the tank in my face.
- I need the ceramic emitter because it's cold here at night and when the light turns off the emitter will prevent the cage from cooling down.

This tank will last a couple months for the babies, then I'll be building a 8x4x4feet tank this summer, that's as big as I can make to fit in my house. Using the same technique above except, I won't be using MVB, but
- 3 flood light halogen 45W,
- with 1 UVB coil bulb
- I'll be putting in 1.5ft of soil/sand mix
- I wanna add some roly polies and spring tails if I can find any, also earth worms in the soil
- I want to try to make the substrate bio-active

I plan to give them crickets and super worms. Not sure if I can dust that many crickets since they eat lots, so should I just feed the crickets fruits, grains and fluker's high calcium cricket food? Or can I mix reptile calcium powder into whatever I feed the crickets/worms? I need some guidance in this area, couldn't really find any good info about this specific area.

Anything else you see wrong here, please let me know! I'm here to make sure I'm doing things right this time.

I'm so excited! I've been counting down to this day! Please do not let me screw this up! And I'll be posting pictures and maybe videos! Then I'll keep updating this thread to keep everyone updated on what's going on, etc... thx!

nepoez · 03-20-13, 08:13 AM

p.s. I got a temp gun so I measure correctly.
Also an extra info is that since I got my substrate setup for a few weeks now, when I water it, many times I smell mold for a little while.... not sure what this is going to do. But I assume as long as there's soil, there's gonna be some kind of mold in there, cuzz moist plus warmth = breeding ground for mold?

fuzzhc · 03-20-13, 12:56 PM

My sav started with an enclosure almost identical to yours and he done fine. Although if I were to start over again I would start off with the full sized. My guy hasnt ate in 2 weeks due to the stress of moving. Also make sure your doors are fitted with locks on the new one. Mines figured out how to open them if not closed over tightly lol

Edit: dont know about the bulb and emitter though. I used 2 50w flood lights

murrindindi · 03-20-13, 01:35 PM

Hi, can you give the size in length, width and height? Also, what`s the make and wattage of the UVB bulb and why that instead of the low wattage halogens? An 8 x 4 x 4 feet enclosure is the minimum size recommended for ONE monitor, not two!
I`d also like to ask why you`ve bought two monitors which might need separately at any time before you`ve got experience with keeping even one healthy? Absolutely no disrespect, it`s just a question.

Pirarucu · 03-20-13, 04:24 PM

Sounds to me like you're good to go, though if you can I'd raise the basking temp to over 140F, they just do better from what I've seen. I'd also get them in the larger cage as soon as you can, and see if you can't set up something bigger. Maybe set it up in a corner and extend it?

DeadlyDesires · 03-20-13, 04:30 PM

8x4x4 is only size for 1 monitor.. you WILL deff need bigger...

DeadlyDesires · 03-20-13, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nepoez

Hi All,

This tank will last a couple months for the babies, then I'll be building a 8x4x4feet tank this summer, that's as big as I can make to fit in my house. Using the same technique above except, I won't be using MVB, but
- 3 flood light halogen 45W,
- with 1 UVB coil bulb
- I'll be putting in 1.5ft of soil/sand mix
- I wanna add some roly polies and spring tails if I can find any, also earth worms in the soil
- I want to try to make the substrate bio-active

I plan to give them crickets and super worms. Not sure if I can dust that many crickets since they eat lots, so should I just feed the crickets fruits, grains and fluker's high calcium cricket food? Or can I mix reptile calcium powder into whatever I feed the crickets/worms? I need some guidance in this area, couldn't really find any good info about this specific area.
thx!

dust anyway. i dust everything with calcium and once a week with a multivitamin, as for the substrate ... make it 2 ft. also dont use a coil uvb bulb get a florescent fixture its better with eh T5 high output bulbs..

DeadlyDesires · 03-20-13, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fuzzhc

My sav started with an enclosure almost identical to yours and he done fine. Although if I were to start over again I would start off with the full sized. My guy hasnt ate in 2 weeks due to the stress of moving. Also make sure your doors are fitted with locks on the new one. Mines figured out how to open them if not closed over tightly lol

Edit: dont know about the bulb and emitter though. I used 2 50w flood lights

in my enclosure i have 3 60watt halogen flood lights for the day and a 150 watt emitter for night temps to stay up when i turn off all the lights..

also you started with an enclosure his size for 1<<<< sav, i just wanted to point that out. He will have 2 i believe he should start with an 8x4x4 enclosure for 2 and then go bigger from there..just my opinion.

murrindindi · 03-20-13, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pirarucu

Sounds to me like you're good to go, though if you can I'd raise the basking temp to over 140F, they just do better from what I've seen. I'd also get them in the larger cage as soon as you can, and see if you can't set up something bigger. Maybe set it up in a corner and extend it?

Hi, from what you`ve seen of captive hatchling monitors, why should the surface temp be over 140f, and how is that small " matchbox" with a full 6 inches of substrate "good to go" for two of them?

Pirarucu · 03-20-13, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by murrindindi

Hi, from what you`ve seen of captive hatchling monitors, why should the surface temp be over 140f, and how is that small " matchbox" with a full 6 inches of substrate "good to go" for two of them?

Wayne's certainly used temps that high, and if they use them, why not offer them? I'm not saying they can't do without them, the question is why should they?
Six inches is enough for a hatchling to burrow in, remember my premise was that a new cage be built sooner rather than later. By good to go, I meant that his new temps/humidity/knowledge should be sufficient to raise a Sav. I did not say his current cage was good for two adult savs, which is how you seem to have interpreted it. That cage is fine for housing two savs up to a bit under a foot, IMO.

nepoez · 03-20-13, 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by murrindindi

Hi, can you give the size in length, width and height? Also, what`s the make and wattage of the UVB bulb and why that instead of the low wattage halogens? An 8 x 4 x 4 feet enclosure is the minimum size recommended for ONE monitor, not two!
I`d also like to ask why you`ve bought two monitors which might need separately at any time before you`ve got experience with keeping even one healthy? Absolutely no disrespect, it`s just a question.

Hi, don't worry I'm here for information and I filter out any emotional aspects from messages and just take the data.

I have an exo-terra mercury bulb 100w, that alone is not enough to yield 130F basking spot, and I don't want to get a really high wattage one as I read it can dry thing out easier so I got the low wattage one. Plus a ceramic heat emitter(as suggested in Ravi's book). Those 2 together gave me 130F basking spot and when night time comes it still keeps the tank warm, just a little cooler than day time.

Quote: "why you`ve bought two monitors which might need separately at any time" - I'm not sure I understand what that part of the sentence means, perhaps it's a typo of some sort. But I bought 2 because Ravi's book said it's good to house more than 1 monitors together as long as you monitor aggressions. I felt that I have gotten a lot of knowledge the past few months to succeed this time, plus I'm also going to be on this forum to take advices(hence this post), that's why I bought them.

I was under the impression that Infernelis also has a 8x4x4ft tank for his 2 monitors. Perhaps I got it wrong? Please correct me if I'm wrong...

nepoez · 03-20-13, 05:58 PM

I wouldn't mind raising that a little too. But so far the babies seem content with 130F, and they don't stay there very long(under 1 minute) before they become hyper active and start running around lol. They are VERY active haha.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pirarucu

Sounds to me like you're good to go, though if you can I'd raise the basking temp to over 140F, they just do better from what I've seen. I'd also get them in the larger cage as soon as you can, and see if you can't set up something bigger. Maybe set it up in a corner and extend it?

nepoez · 03-20-13, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeadlyDesires

dust anyway. i dust everything with calcium and once a week with a multivitamin, as for the substrate ... make it 2 ft. also dont use a coil uvb bulb get a florescent fixture its better with eh T5 high output bulbs..

Please tell me the recommended complete lighting setup in your opinion, thx!

nepoez · 03-20-13, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by murrindindi

Hi, from what you`ve seen of captive hatchling monitors, why should the surface temp be over 140f, and how is that small " matchbox" with a full 6 inches of substrate "good to go" for two of them?

Please note that this enclosure is only going to exist for 2-3 more months. 6 inches substrate should be good for hatchlings. However, now that you mention 8x4x4 is too small for 2 adults, I might have to sell 1 if more experts on here concur with you.

nepoez · 03-20-13, 06:05 PM

Here's an update. I have gotten them finally, and after basking under 130F they became really active. I captures some photos and videos when they first started to move, but after I took them, they became even more active, literally running around the whole cage and eating crickets! They rejected small crickets and would only go for 5 week old crickets and they ate several each.

https://plus.google.com/photos/10364...CPnGurOry93_RQ

P.s. keep the feedback coming. If you feel the need to be hostile towards me that's fine as long as your feedback will help the monitors, that's the whole point.