Reptile & Amphibian Forums

for the last few weeks my savvy has been spending most of his time in the water bowl i checke the temps and they are all normal im starting to get concerned ... also his feeding behavior has changed he still eats crickets but will no longer take frozen/thawed mice he wants only line and thats a real pain...its not too bad cause i only feed him mice once in a while but ive got a bag of 20 forzen mice that i was hoping would be a sound investment and now all i have is... fail...so is anyone has an idea on what i could do to chelp this guy out let me know

thank you

what do you consider a normal temperature,they actually do best with a variety of temperatures under proper husbandry.Can you be specific about his enclosure and conditions.

Yes, something is not right! Savs are good feeder, though. Maybe your temperature is wrong. I'd double check the temp if I were you and get a second thermometer.

And He may have parasites (mites) if he is soaking in the dish all the time. the best thing is to take him to the vet and to see if there may be something medically wrong with him. Be sure to bring fresh fecal sample, too, so they can check for internal parasites. Put it in a plastic Ziploc bag and put the bag in the refrigerator to keep it fresh.

hey his temps are about 130 on the hot side and 80 on the coller side with variations in between. He def. does not have mites his skin is clear and beautiful... and i didnt say he wasnt eating he eats like crazy he just no longer wants to eat frozen thawed he gobbles crickets like crazy ...he eats grasshoppers but wont eat too many of them ... and yesterday he ate a live mouse and a live fuzzy...he likes...turkey with bone meal and vitamins and will eat eggs any day of the weak... hes a great eater and he is definitely too big for his cage i have to build him a bigger one but i wanna get down to why he sleeps in his water and spends so much time in there

thank you

130 in basking spot

Most Savs would take dead or live ones just the same, though. That's my point. He may get excited chasing the mice, but in the end they all get eagerly eaten, whether dead or alive. Just double check the temp with a second thermometer and see if it reads the same. They do prefer different food at different temperatures. I also notice that with my turtles, so I put in the water heater....

when monitors spend to much time in their water bowls,it can be from incorrect conditions.That's why you need to be specific about the enclosure,type of cage,type of top and ventilation,how you and what you use to heat including wattages,substrate type and depth,temps including room temp.size of monitor size of cage.

i have him in a 40 breeder with like 7 inches of dirt i use a 50 watt flood light for basking spot with a 60 wat incan. bulb next to it with a 5.0 uvb light next to that the basking spot is about 130 degrees F. and is all stone the rest of the cage is dirt substrate the lid or top of the tank is made out of ply wood with holes in it for the light fixtures to sit inside of the tank... humidity is about 60 percent ...i use a red 60 wat night bulb for night time lighting ( allowing the overall tem in the cage to drop at night...the dirt is deepest on the cool side of the cage maybe 2 inches deeper and i know he should have a bigger enclosure cuz he is pushing 1.5 to 1.7 feet long his water dish is big enough for a full body soak ... this tank used to be an aquarium at a fish store near my house so it has a few holes in it for filtration i utilize the holes as ventilation ports......the hide sits on the dirt and he digs himself deeper into the hide ... thats about it like i said the basking spot is 130 while the cool side is about 80 with the hot side varying between 130(bask spot) and 100

the only thing i can think of doing differently is maybe using two 30-35w or a single 45-50w floodlight and leaving them on 24hrs and lose the night light,just provide more tight hides for security.To me a fifty and sixty watt bulb is too much and it wouldn't hurt to have the cool end cooler 75F.I had the same basic set up with a single 50w flood in a 66F room and had proper range of temps and humidity.Hope this helps

I know you said the cool side is around 80, but after reading about your setup I am concerned that it is to hot on the cool side. I mean is that 80 all the way at the corner of the cage or is that in the middle of the cool side? With a wood top and what sounds like only a few small holes for ventilation a 130 basking spot will easily overheat a tank that size. Is the basking spot elevated? Using an elevated basking spot makes it easier to reach high basking spot temps without overheating the cage as badly. Could you post pictures up of the cage? That would be a big help.

your a genius problem solved thevtank was overheating!!!!

Sarcasm? Please let me know so I can respond appropriately.

Hell no im serious it was overheating u really helped out thank u thank u thank u

What does he have as far as hides? Is he able to/does he burrow in the dirt? Burrows are used to retain water/hydration in the lizard, without that he is forced to use the water bowl as a humid hide (humid area with low air flow/high humidity). If he isnt burrowing, I'd look into getting him some hides that allow for him to be in the substrate at a depth.