Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i need some help with my savannah monitor..hes been having kinda bad sheds..i mist him 4 times a day..what else can i do? not sure of his age but hes about20 to 24 inches long..thanks
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wife
snakes
lizards
kids
dogs
cats

vitamin c defficiancy mabye?? I used to keep tegus and learned that if they didn't eat enough fruit they would have cruddy sheds. try green grapes cut in half, peach or mago baby food, or I used to mix orange juice with eggs and they would drink that too. hope this helps!!
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Alone, alone, all, all alone. Alone on a wide, wide sea.
-Rime of the ancient Mariner

All monitors, except the Gray's monitor, are carnivorous...

Anyway, let me guess, a fish tank with screen top? Screen tops are no good. They release humidity and heat, leaving a dry and dehydrated cage and animal. You should not be having to mist the cage everyday. I constantly have condensation on the cooler side of my ackie's tank. Although, you will have to add water to your substrate sometimes too, as some moisture loss is inevitable. Fish tanks aren't that great in general either, but covering the top with something solid is most important right now. You should also be providing a good, deep, moist dirt substrate for your monitor to dig burrows in. If they have access to these high-humidity burrows, they should not be having trouble shedding. Good luck!

Ryan

whats a good dirt substrate???
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wife
snakes
lizards
kids
dogs
cats

It depends on where you live. You should, at first, try to get a dirt from your area outside. Dried creek beds usually contain good soil. You want it to contain as little organic material as possible. If needed, you can add sand to your soil to get the right feel. If, however, you don't have access to soil outside, I would recommend topsoil (NOT potting soil) mixed with sand from a store like Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. I used a mix of sand and peat moss with my ackies while they were a young age, and they dug burrows in that stuff too. The person that gave me my ackies breeds his on peat and sand as well, and produces many hatchlings. But, I would try to get a soil outside first.

What is your setup like for your animal? Nothing personal, but many beginner keepers that are using fish tanks with screen do other things wrong as well. What are your temps like? How and what are you feeding it? You should be feeding a young sav as many insects as it will eat everyday. You can also give the fairly infrequent rodent as well. Try to stick with insects as long as it will eat them, though.

Good luck,
Ryan

I live in tx and my sav is kept in a 100 gallon aquarium with a screen lid that is 3/4 covered with plastic and i heat with uth heat..i keep a big water dish in there..i feed pinkies and superworms..he will eat as many as 7 pinkies and 2 to 3 containers of superworms..thanks for your help
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wife
snakes
lizards
kids
dogs
cats

You should be using a light (probably a bank of lights) as your primary heat source. 45 watt floods are commonly used. You can add a heating pad on the side of the tank to help raise air temperatures, if needed. Just make sure your temperatures are correct in the cage, don't just try to guess. If you haven't done so already, invest in a temperature gun to read surface temps and a good digital thermometer to read air temps. These can both be found at proexotics.com for an excellent price. Your surface temperatures should be up in the high hundreds (it sounds hot, but it is the surface temp, not air temp). Your air temperatures sound correct though. Cover all of the cage, most of your heat and humidity is still escaping. You shouldn't need the water dish, as your animal should not have to drink out of it with proper humidity. You might replace it with a smaller one though, just in case it does need to drink. Monitors that live in arid areas, like ackies, savs, blackthroats, sand monitors, etc., rarely, if ever, drink from a standing water source. They get all of the moisture they need from their prey and surroundings in thier underground burrows. In the entire year I have had my ackies, I only saw them drink once when they were tiny babies.

Oh, and you do mean that you are feeding those items daily, don't you? With proper temperatures and space, monitors will not become obese. You may try feeding roaches and crickets, if it will still eat them. These will provide extra excercise for your sav.

If you can, post a picture of your sav and its enclosure, if you don't mind some criticism if it needs to be done.

Ryan