Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok. I work at a pet shop, and this guy came in to buy food for his lizards. He'd just bought 3 lizards from Petco (don't know exactly how long ago...maybe a few days), and he brought them in so he could find out what size mice/crickets to feed them. I took one look at the Savannah and was absolutely stunned. It was bright green! I am positive it's a Savannah...the pattern/look of it all matches, and he said it didn't look like that when he got it, but it just shed, and afterward, it was green like that. He bought it labeled as a Savannah, but I've never seen a green one. How common is this??
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1.1 Albino Nelson's Milks
0.1 Dumeril's Boa
0.0.1 Albino Corn
0.1 Mex Mex
0.1 Northern Blue Tongue
0.0.1 Green Tree Frog
0.0.1 Cuban Tree Frog

Green is one of the many colors that they turn during their lives.Not green like a green tree monitor(or Iguana),but an army kinda green.If it was bright green,then he painted it

Hmm. Alright, thanks I'd just never seen a green one before. It was more of an iguana green, but not all over...kind of faded on parts of its body, especially the stomach and tail, as well as the very top of the back. Thanks.
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1.1 Albino Nelson's Milks
0.1 Dumeril's Boa
0.0.1 Albino Corn
0.1 Mex Mex
0.1 Northern Blue Tongue
0.0.1 Green Tree Frog
0.0.1 Cuban Tree Frog

Hi,
Some hatchlings have some green on their fore-legs, and sometimes on their neck? But whole body bright green! Ive never seen that in 22 years keeping/working with savanna monitors - he's a lucky fellow....I had a (dorsally) banded savanna, and another who had six toes on both hind feet! But never bright green whole body...

cheers,
mbayless

Not really its entire body...it varied in intensity. The back of the neck and legs were bright green, and the top of the head and flanks were green, but not as bright...the sides of the head, top of the back, and tail were strongly hued, and the stomach was just slightly tinged.
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1.1 Albino Nelson's Milks
0.1 Dumeril's Boa
0.0.1 Albino Corn
0.1 Mex Mex
0.1 Northern Blue Tongue
0.0.1 Green Tree Frog
0.0.1 Cuban Tree Frog

I never did get any good leads to pics of Boscs with the brow ridges. I cant remember if it was you that spoke to me briefly in response to my post in regards to the feature, or if it Daniel...

Any idea of what Im talking about?

Rgrds,
Michelle

HI Michelle,
The skull of V. exanthematicus has two bones, one over each eye shaped like a 1960's Star Trek emblem or odd-shaped triangle. These bones protect the eyes, the ridges are caused by these two bones over the eyes....

cheers,
mbayless

had VERY pronounced rigdes. It looked very ugly to me at the time, so I didnt give it a second thought. However, now, after not seeing any other specimens since, Im curious to see if there have been many accounts of this unusual trait. Ill try and see if the book is still in my collection(perhaps in my attic), to cite the source...

Thanks,

Michelle

It just came to me! This little monitor book, by Micheal Balsai..."The General Care and Maintenance of Savannah Monitors and Other Popular Monitor Species"1992). It was my very first monitor book I ever bought. That was over 10 years ago! -And I said a couple year ago. Man was I off. I just realized, where it was too. It all came back to me

Anyways, I just dug up the book out of my memory box, and sure enough, there's that ugly Bosc sitting on page 17.(picture by Glen Carlzen) I actually think it looks kinda neat now.

Man, this is outdated! He actually reccomends using "hotrocks"! -And whitethroats/ blackthroats were still considered a subspecies of the Bosc. The ..."Ideal ground media for maintaining large monitors are newspaper or brown butcher's paper"...-At least he reccomends, even back then, a rodent based diet.

-Michelle

Here's a thought.
If memory serves PetCo places a green Rabbit Pellet type substrate into thier reptile cages. I've seen Savannahs on this substance, and considering that PetCo stores overall are not known for keeping their reptile cages in the best shape I wonder if this Savannah didn't spend too long in a wet cage giving the green dyes from the pellets a chance to change this Savannahs skin color.
Ask the owner if you see him again to let you know if after a few sheds the green color suddenly begins to dissapear. Assuming of course this individual isn't using this stuff in his own cages.

Well my theory anyway.

-kit

Well, the new owner is keeping it on Carefresh...that paper stuff. I was thinking the same thing, actually...but this green was way too bright. It was a brighter green than even any baby iguana I'd ever seen.
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1.1 Albino Nelson's Milks
0.1 Dumeril's Boa
0.0.1 Albino Corn
0.1 Mex Mex
0.1 Northern Blue Tongue
0.0.1 Green Tree Frog
0.0.1 Cuban Tree Frog

The stuff that makes those pellets green isn't a dye. They're actually made out of alfafa. So it would be more analagous to a grass stain (if it happened) and wouldn't stain the whole animal. The pellets tend to suck up any liquids pretty well at any rate. Horrible substrate, in my opinion. Nothing attracts bugs and mold better than keeping an animal ON FOOD...
There are other pelleted beddings made out of non-alfafa, but they're not green. Still a stupid substrate unless it's for a bird cage or litterbox.

- a guinea pig owner

Well I was recently hired as the new reptile specialist at Petco, I can tell you that it nice to be able to make the needed changes for the reptiles.

When I get new animals in I keep them in quarentine in the back for at least a week, on very "clinical" conditions, at the petco I work at we do not use the pellets, I use the small bark or the cork bark and I never feed the juviniles in there "floor" enclosures to ensure that they do not get impacted.

I also REFUSE to overcrowd any of my enclosures, I hated that when I was just a customer.

any way just wanted to add my two cents.....this is my first post here......hehehe