Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all,
First of all Ive been thinking alot about the substrate of my savanna's cage. Right now theres regular top soil in there and I know that that is most likely the best thing for her but it always seems so dusty despite humidity levels and both she and her food gets filthy. Is there any alternitive that would still allow her to burrow and keep her clean as well? My next problem is that i just adopted another savanna from a poor home. I do have the space and the money so I thought why not but the poor thing is said to be three years old, semingly very dry and dehidrated, his right eye is enflamed and crusted closed and hes only about 2 feet long. My other Savanna is about the same age and weighs considerably more and is a few inches over three feet long. If I care for this second savanna they way I care for mine, and take him to the vet for an eye exam (my appointment is tomarow), will he be able to turn around and grow to the proper size or is his growth stunted from poor care?

Thanks,
Kerry Smith

First off, I do not like responding to these types of questions because I have a habit of making the poster mad(telling them things the do now want to hear) So if I do, I am sorry. No one else is responding so here I go.

Topsoil sucks, plain and simple. its also foreign to your Savs understanding. They use arid lands soils, as in very poor soils. Mostly sandy, silty, gravelly, hardpan, etc. Is that dust your talking about that fine dark stuff. Oh man is that nasty.

So yes, arid poor unrich soils.

About your next question. There is no answer. As no one knows the actual problems your monitor has. Monitors are tuff as nails, and by the time something is overt, it could be a huge problem. Or not, a vet may be of help.

As for size, your larger monitor is dwarfed by my standards. We all have our own set of standards. Lets see a friend of mine went to africa where Savs are exported from and said, most are about 20 inches to two feet long. Hmmmmmmmmmmm how can that be? Those captive giants are unheard of over there(at least where he was) Again another set of standards.

Personally I do not worry about size, my goal is to let them achieve lifes events, to hatch, to grow, to mature, to reproduce and at a later date to die. Hopefully the middle is longer then a few years and the end is rapid.

consider if you look up the size Savs are suppose to get, you will get a range of sizes, not one size. That is because they attain a range of sizes based on potential and conditions. Its normal for conditions to limit size or allow size. All part of being a reptile.

So don't worry about what size it will be, worry about returning it to health. Worry about giving it the ability to do the things it was designed to do.

To reproduce is more then making babies, its all about pairing, and nesting and guarding the nest. Its their lifes purpose. They will indeed give their lifes to accomplish this. Cheers

FR,
I would just like to thank you I have read many of your posts before and Im a firm believer in constructive critisism and that deffinatly seems to be your area of expertise, I took no offense to your post. Thankyou for the info in your post especially about the soil, in my research nearly every substrate recomended was either top soil or decomposed granit. Do you think the decomposed granit would be a better choise? As for the size of my monitor, she is very active, has a very large enclosure and gets plenty of exorcise, not to mention she eats like a horse. I know she is smaller than most Ive seen of her size and I truley believe shes a freak of nature. I will do my best to help out the other one. Thanks again!
Kerry Smith
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Rydair

0.0.1 Savanna Monitor (Were guessing girl)
1.0.0 Albino Green Burmese Python
0.0.1 Schnider's Skink
1.0.0 Ferret
1.2.0 Cats
1.0.0 Yello Lab
1.0.0 Green Parakeet
1.0.0 Angora Rabbit
Assorted Fish

ANY soil does not necessarily make GOOD soil. topsoil alone doesn't work well, and certainly can be dusty.

a good soil holds moisture, won't be dusty, and won't dehydrate your monitor, as it appears your current setup is doing.

it is hard to say what monitors can be turned around, too many variables to guess online.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles