Savannah Vomitting. - Page 2

infernalis · 07-21-12, 10:10 AM

I harvested my dirt from a creek bank.

If you must buy dirt, purchase untreated topsoil, mix in a little sand and you are good to go.

desert_savage · 07-21-12, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by infernalis

I harvested my dirt from a creek bank.

If you must buy dirt, purchase untreated topsoil, mix in a little sand and you are good to go.

Unfortunately in California the idea of safe dirt is a lost concept, most developed areas are close to businesses and the like so you can never know for sure what's in the soil. I'll have to grab a tub and some sand and soil and mix it up. He's looking much better today so I'm guessing throwing the extra lamp on all night last night brought the temp up to somewhere he's happier.

infernalis · 07-21-12, 11:41 AM

Yes, they do like it hot....

desert_savage · 07-21-12, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by infernalis

Yes, they do like it hot....

So I'm aware, I was apparently under the faulty assumption that I had it hot enough, but really without an accurate means of measuring the temp that was a foolish assumption.

infernalis · 07-21-12, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desert_savage

So I'm aware, I was apparently under the faulty assumption that I had it hot enough, but really without an accurate means of measuring the temp that was a foolish assumption.

Wait till you see the changes in behaviour..

I mistakenly kept my first sav at less than optimal temps, He was always so "mellow" (later learned Lethargic was more accurate)

This time around I have been keeping tight control over the environment of the enclosure, these two are on meth compared to the last one.

crocdoc · 07-21-12, 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by infernalis

...these two are on meth compared to the last one.

Lol. Love it. I'm always telling people that the difference between monitors kept sub-optimally and those that have access to adequate basking temperatures is that the latter look as though they are on speed.

infernalis · 07-24-12, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crocdoc

Lol. Love it. I'm always telling people that the difference between monitors kept sub-optimally and those that have access to adequate basking temperatures is that the latter look as though they are on speed.

Someone recently commented on one of my videos that they never knew Savs could jump so high...

Amazing what proper husbandry can do.

DiscoPat · 07-24-12, 05:23 PM

Yeah, I was feeding steve a pinky the other day, I had to lure him out of his burrow but after he realized that it was food he bolted all the way across the cage and jumped to get it, he got it off the tongs much before I expected him to.

desert_savage · 07-26-12, 01:15 AM

My closest hardware store had crap for soil selection so I picked up burrowing soil from my local herp supply store, as it turned out 40lbs of burrowing soil basically filled one corner of his tank so I'm going to have to go track down a bigger/better soil supply on payday to fill out the rest of his tank. Having trouble getting his temps up where I want them, but according to the temp/humidity gauges we're keeping a consistent 60-70% and the temp hasn't dropped under 100* after some adjusting. His activity level has changed completely and after giving him a few days for his system to settle I tossed a few 1"/1.25" roaches in there and he bolted them down and after investigating his tank end to end a dozen times to see if there were anymore he's settled down and he's basking. No sign of vomiting or discomfort.

infernalis · 07-26-12, 07:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desert_savage

. No sign of vomiting or discomfort.

This is good news.

varanus_mad · 07-26-12, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desert_savage

My closest hardware store had crap for soil selection so I picked up burrowing soil from my local herp supply store, as it turned out 40lbs of burrowing soil basically filled one corner of his tank so I'm going to have to go track down a bigger/better soil supply on payday to fill out the rest of his tank. Having trouble getting his temps up where I want them, but according to the temp/humidity gauges we're keeping a consistent 60-70% and the temp hasn't dropped under 100* after some adjusting. His activity level has changed completely and after giving him a few days for his system to settle I tossed a few 1"/1.25" roaches in there and he bolted them down and after investigating his tank end to end a dozen times to see if there were anymore he's settled down and he's basking. No sign of vomiting or discomfort.

Google it... find a company that delivers it by the ton... over here its around £60 a ton.

desert_savage · 07-27-12, 02:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by varanus_mad

Google it... find a company that delivers it by the ton... over here its around £60 a ton.

Well I think by the ton might be a little excessive, I figure the tank needs roughly another hundred pounds or so to fill out. I wouldn't know where to store the other 1900lbs in an apartment.

jarich · 07-28-12, 01:02 AM

I suppose the difficulty is that it seems likely your friend will not know where to put it either, and that is the amount of soil a sav requires. I really do wish I had better news for you, but these animals require a huge amount of space, dirt, time and money, to name a few things. If your friend hasnt been able to provide those things yet, its unlikely she will be able to in the future. Im really not trying to be mean about it, its just that many people take these animals in without knowing the extent of what it takes to keep them healthy. Monitors are not like other lizards. It might be time to think of a back up plan.

DiscoPat · 07-28-12, 06:23 PM

I took one in without knowing any real ways to take care of them, I thought I knew because I read a book and several care sheets as well as found many websites, unfortunately this was not one of them.

I started him in a 4x2x2 enclosure with a 150W bulb and reptile carpet, even at this time I knew he would get huge and need at least an 8x4x4 which I planned on building once the lease is up on my smallish apartment now (the end of august) he seemed normal to me then, very calm. I now know he was probably very sick. The next day I found an amazing book titled "The Truth About Varanus Exanthematicus." It informed me about how they need dirt, humidity and the ability to burrow. So I went out and got 3 bags of topsoil and 2 bags of playsand. mixed them up and filled his enclosure, this made it about 6 or so inches deep, I also wet the dirt with spray bottle so it would have humidity, He almost immediately seemed more active with the dirt.

A day later he was sitting in his water bowl a lot so I decided to search google and I found this website, where people seemed to know what they are doing.
I posted my conditions, thinking they were good but not the best, A 150W bulb still and a screen top cage.
I was told that they do this when there is not enough humidity and that the screen top had to go as did the bulb because it was drying up the air, Wayne recommended a piece of plywood as a temporary fix. And to get a cluster of lower watt bulbs so they don't dry up humidity. After all this he became way more active and started becoming more defensive to being touched. Which is a good thing, I was told it is a sign that he is in better conditions.

Since then I raised his basking spot closer to the bulbs by putting more dirt/sand in one side to make kind of a bank, raised the dirt up to about 9-12 inches on one side and 7-8 on the other. I planted grass on the lower side and put moss around his water bowls to keep humidity better.

I feel I have the best conditions currently possible for me and in august I am going to be building him a 10x5x4 or a 12x6x4 depending on the size of the garage that is in the house. insulated on all sides and based on Wayne's cage blog with a little adjustments.

I got my first paycheck last Wednesday so I did all of this while basically being poor so it doesn't take too much money, and in my opinion it will most definitely be worth every penny. If you really commit yourself to it even if you started uninformed you can dig yourself out of the whole and you should try because in reality that lizard would be way worse off in almost any pet store because most have absolutely no idea what they are doing/selling, and just being on this forum and listening to the people here, especially Wayne, you will be more informed than someone else who would probably buy the lizard.

tl;dr
If you commit to making a good environment for the lizard and make your friend do the same you can save it and give it a good life. Also if I can do this as a broke college student then most people who try should be able to do this.

Then again I may find it easier to commit to spending a lot of money on my savannah monitor and making sure he has the best conditions I can provide because I have loved reptiles, especially lizards, ever since I can remember. But since you/your friend already have one you are kinda obligated to provide the best conditions you can.

desert_savage · 07-29-12, 09:00 AM

infernalis I have a question/concern. He's vastly more active, he's eating readily and aggressively, he hasn't vomited since the incident that I reported, but I still haven't seen a BM from him this week. He had 5 1-1.25" roaches on the night I mentioned them above, and last night seeing as my herp store was closed I picked up 20 large crickets which he went through in minutes. Is there anything I can do/give him that would help/encourage him to have a BM? I know some animals can be given a small amount of olive oil or mineral oil in their food to aid in passing things through, I was wondering if there was something I could do or give him to have the same laxative effect.