Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all. Just thought I'd let you know that it seems that my sav was indeed not basking and that was what lead to the sudden loss of appetite. He had managed to knock loose the 3rd level of his cage and I think he got freaked out.

Once I lowered and reattached the basking level his appetite pretty much came back immediately.

Question: how much/often do you guys feed your adult savs?

Thanks again for all the suggestions last month,

Phiff

Hi again Phiff,
good to hear everything`s o.k with your monitor now.
As far as feeding schedules are concerned, if the animal`s kept under optimum conditions, no reason you can`t feed something daily, the real problems start when they`re undermetabolised, and put on excess weight.
In the main, it`s the total ammount of energy consumed, versus the ammount of energy expended (unfortubnately, here in captivity they often don`t expend much at all)...
Do you have a couple of pics, it would be nice to see the monitor again? Thanks!

Will do. I am worried that he might look a tad bloated. Just want to be sure to not overfeed. The temps are perfect in the cage these days though.

Still have not improved the aesthetics of the cage but here are some pics of the animal. The heat pad is really ugly but it seems like I need it for the winter; it's not plugged in currently.

Hi, thanks for the pics. I would like to ask you where the monitor sleeps/hides? It seems fairly sparcely decorated (not suggesting it should be full of useless accessories).
The monitor looks o.k, maybe a bit on the heavy side in the bottom photo, but not too bad.
Can you give a rundown on foods and feeding regime just now? Thanks!

It looks in the pic as though the water bowl, etc. are sitting on a piece of plywood that is over a trough. I'm assuming the sav is burrowing in there for hiding/sleeping purposes?

Bill

He often sleeps next to or inside the little bark hide thing on the plywood. He also sleeps on the dirt sometimes. Any suggestions for better hides?

I have been feeding him 2 or 3 large mice and some canned superworms, crickets or grasshoppers 1 or 2 times. 2 or 3 days without feeding per week.

"I have been feeding him 2 or 3 large mice and some canned superworms, crickets or grasshoppers 1 or 2 times. 2 or 3 days without feeding per week."

Wayyy too much mice for a Savannah monitor. Tells me right away that you haven't done your research on the species. They are mainly insectivores.

They aren't terribly active (especially in captivity) and will be feeling the effects of having adult mice thrown at him weekly. Make that more like 1 - 2 mice per month. Too many Savannah's never live out a long life because they are stuffed with mice their entire life. Yes, throwing 2-3 adult mice at a Savannah monitor weekly is stuffing.

Feed MAINLY invertebrates. Think crustaceans. Think roaches. Think breeding your own roach colonies so that YOU can CONTROL what those insects are eating and thus what your Monitor is eating. Gutload the roach colonies with good foods like fruit and veggies and you can't go wrong.

Anyone who says Savs aren't active has done a lot of research-that's the problem,research.Practice proper husbandry and feed mice daily-practice WRC1228 husbandry and you'll be forced to feed inverts only,because his research and husbandry produces fat obese monitors when fed rodents.Inverts will barely meet it's nutritional needs,thus giving a sense that it works-the inactive part tells you it's not.Healthy monitors even Savs are strong and active when kept properly-mice meet their requirements more efficiently under PROPER HUSBANDRY.

Hi WRC1228, not sure who told you Savannah monitors are mainly insectivores, but that`s totally WRONG?!
If you`re refering to the studies by Daniel bennett, in that case, the animals were feeding mainly on Giant African milipedes and snails, NOT insects...
As far as I know, Daniel has never said they cannot/should not consume rodents in captivity.
Kept under optimum conditions, a diet consisting mainly, or exclusively of rodents, will support them in every way.
Obesity is NOT caused by feeding rodents, but in the main, by keeping these animals undermetabolised...

Very well said.As good as the Sav book is,i find it a very basic start to varanid care.It gives framework without the fine tuning.If a book came out on a lot of other monitors,we would be having this same discussion,where we take data and think we can apply it to captive conditions.You can not take away what monitors eat in the wild,that's what they eat,but we narrow it down not taking into consideration what they can eat.Conditions in captivity do not mimic the extremes and variety of choices in the wild.Savs experience a harsh environment for periods of time,where they are forced to conserve energy-these are not necessarily conditions we need to duplicate in captivity which people inadvertently do when they are ignorant of what proper husbandry.Why aren't people making a fuss about people who feed their Prasinus/Green Tree Monitors rodents?That's because they have less margin for error,and those that know what the hell they are doing know how all factors including diet work together.Green Trees don't have that reserve to keep them going through poor husbandry-they die ,and not languish after a year or two like Savs.

Hi Phiff, if it were my enclosure, I would take out the plywood over the trough, AND the second level piece, too. That leaves just the soil and the basking shelf, then put a large log [or a "Retes stack"], running from the soil up to the basking spot. I think the soil under the plywood will be quite cold, maybe he/she might sleep under there at times, but it`s really not somewhere the monitor will be too active in just now.
I think from what you`ve said previously, this animal wasn`t getting sufficiently high basking temps, that can also cause them to gain weight, because they aren`t digesting the food efficiently enough, and far less active than "normal".
You need to put hides the animal feels secure in, that bark thing is too small, the little branch is doing nothing.
Just my thoughts...

Thanks so much for the suggestions. I'm gonna make some changes. Will let you know how things go.