Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got my first monitor yesterday . He is a five inch baby savannah monitor . I brought him home and put his tank which is a 55 gallon so he has plenty of room to run around in . He has been running around catching crickets and exploring allot . He seems healthy , he is active , alert and good weight a bit dehydrated but I gave him a bit of a soak and he had a good long drink. He has a variety of food to choose from but seems to prefer the crickets , I have waxworms , meal worms , cooked egg , half a pinkie and a butterworm for him but he hasen't shown to much interest in those. I plan on getting a fecal done asap and if he has internal parisites I will treat him with fenbendazole . I want to do everything right so if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them .

Also this is what he cage temps are
90 warm end
82 cool end
128 hot spot

At night his cage temps drop to 75-80 but he has a heating pad that provides a warm area of about 94 , should I improve anything ?

He has a UVA/UVB bulb during the day , I know it is not nessicary but it cant hurt to provide it right ?

All his food is dusted in calcium and vitamin suppliment .

Also a few people have told me to just treat him for parisites as a precationary step then get a fecal to make sure he is clean , should I just do it this way ? I have done may rescues and treated many animals so I have no problem with the doses and administering it with out the help of a vet . I will take him to the vet without hessitation if need . By the way I get free fecals done by a friend of mine who runs a reptile rescue the only problem is it is hard to get to her place . So should I get a fecal and most likely have to treat him and then get anbother fecal or treat him then get a fecal to make sure he is clear of any internal parisites ?

Thanks .

I have to wonder, why would you think about treating a healthy monitor. If I have a monitor thats feeding and gaining weight(progressing) I would not have it treated for anything.

The very best preventive medicine, is good husbandry. Good husbandry is expressed with a healthy monitor. A healthy monitor is one thats growing, feeds well, etc.

You do understand, that parasites are normal for wild healthy monitors. You do understand, they reinfest themselves with every meal. So why do you think you need to get rid of the parasites?

If normal parasites exhibit a problem, then theres something wrong with the monitor, that allows such an abnormal thing to occur. Its a circular type of thing.

I hope you understand, just because you know the name of a medicine, and have access to it, means you should use it. I think all the above is suppose to mean, don't treat the healhy, only treat if the monitor is sick. To prevent sickness, apply solid husbandry. To have parasites is not being sick. Cheers