Reptile & Amphibian Forums

greetings all,

I am just getting back into the reptile hobby after not keeping reptiles for over 2 years, my previous experience was with leopard geckos, bearded dragons, african rock pythons, burmese pythons, ball pythons, and kingsnakes. Had to leave the hobby with a broken heart after my wife and I lost our big girl faith who was our 13 foot burmese. Now after my wife and I talked we decided to do lizards once again her with a bearded dragon and myself with a baby savanah monitor. My sav is a cb I know the breeder he owns the exotic pet store I got this lil guy from. So I just had a few questions I know that basking temps should be around 130 and mine are at that but my lil guy doesnt seem to like them that warm he hides under his log rather then bask in the heat I even tried using a lower wattage bulb which dropped basking temps to 90 and he still doesnt like to bask in it, just want to know is it ok for him not to bask in heat as long as his log is directly under the heat source. question number 2 is i would like to start him once a week on f/t pinkies but he is uninterested in them when put in his cage so is there any way to entice him into eating it, he eats crickets fine about 18 medium crickets a day I just want to get him started on f/t at a young age so I can avoid feeding live food. Any help would be much appreciated and sorry for the long post
Sincerely,
Joey

"If" the seller bred the lizard, I would be asking him, not some folks on a forum.

Scott
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Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

Hey ,
I dont know what that other guys problem is ... some people are just ignorant..

This forum is so herpers can communicate with each other.

I have a Large savannah , he hardly ever basks.. its completly normal... once in a while though he will... its just a hit or miss sorta thing ... Even though he is captive bred his instincts are to stay safe... my savannah comes out of his hiding spots and awaits being fed ... Monitors can be extremely intelligent... He can tell the difference between food and my hand ... gently taking the food every time... some keepers recommend never hand feeding , i would say use discretion... i wouldnt recommend hand feeding an Argus ..

Anyway , Welcome back to the hobby ... feel free to ask as many questions as you like ... ignore the last lame brain responder...
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Safari Tom
See'em Touch'em Save'em
www.SafariTom.com

Welcome back to the hobby,
Burms are quite a handful...I'm sorry it passed, It happens alot with monitor keepers too. If you read here(this forum) thoroughly, it won't happen until much later.
What your savannah is doing is quite normal. It will spend most of it's day hidden away- usually under the dirt or between or under the Retes stack if he is given one. How deep is your dirt? If you give him the proper basking site/temps he will use what he needs and get on with the day. Think of it like the coffee pot(lord knows I spend the day basking on mine)... You use it then move away, get sluggish, use it again then move away- Only if your temps throughout your cage are set right, he will spend alot of time in his hole too. I hope that this is helpful. Oh and since I haven't heard from Noah in over 2 years, what's the weather in Ghana like? That's where the pet store is, right? Best to you all- Mike

actually the pet store is in cicero ny recently opened the owner is someone ive done bussiness with for years when he worked at a pet store down the road which i wont mention the name of since all thier reptiles carry mites and other diseases along with being malnutritioned and the supposed "reptile expert" has no idea about an herps and gives advice which leads to many reptiles dieing which thank god ive heard there are pending lawsuits with that bussiness. But anyways im glad to hear hes being normal and his substrate is 2 inches deep currently and he never digs other then small areas for fun more so then hiding. but any help on getting him to eat f/t pinkies will be much appreciated and many thanks for the advice thus far, also pics will be coming soon
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cead mile failte

In Kap10's defense, he's putting a tongue-n-cheek in there that you didn't pick up on. Savannah monitors are not bred (maybe a handful here and there, but not on any real scale or at a pet store for sale for $50). They are very plentiful right now as this is import season from places like Ghana (the other tongue-n-cheek reference). Females are caught from the wild and either allowed to lay eggs (dug up and incubated) or something more hideous is done to them. Mass quantities are exported to the US and sold as C.B. or F.R. (farm raised). So many vendors and pet shops tell people they are captive born it's ridiculous. I should save this post so i can cut and paste it here and on many other forums every couple weeks when this topic comes up.

Hello,

To the originator of this post: Welcome back, I truly mean that... in addition, the "hobby" as it can be called has not changed in some areas, regretfully, since you have left. Still thousands of imports(this can be bad or good) but, also still those claiming to have bred them(always bad). Best to you-Mike

If and when you buy from a breeder, the breeder should be giving you advice and answering any and all questions you might have.
If someone haves the success it takes to breed and hatch Bosc, he/she would be the one I would be asking questions of.
Not us knuckleheads here that merely keep them alive and thriving.

I for one will not buy a critter if the seller isn't willing to answer any follow up questions I might have down the road.

Scott
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Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

You say he should ask the breeder/? What is wrong with asking keepers and breeders here on Kingsnake? What is the purpose of this forum ? I always though that it was for giving and sharing and asking advice from professional or hobbyists..

I have no problem helping others out .. I have been keeping and breeding reptiles for over 20 years and have no problems or feel the need to be sarcastic when someone aks for advice ..

Thats my take on it ...

Tom
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Safari Tom
See'em Touch'em Save'em
www.SafariTom.com

thank you tom i just look for help from multiple people becuae to trust the judgement of one person even if they are an expert might not be right for your companion and i do know this genmtleman has cb sav's since he has never lied to me i have been to the shop hes worked for and his own and he is the only expert around here i know i can trust him but anyways i must be off to me zoo
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cead mile failte