Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, recently i've rescued a savannah, it is around 1-2 years old, 27inch long, and weigh 7 1/2 pounds!!!! it's so fat that it cant breath, or swallow it spits without problem, i've tried to let him run around the house for exercise but he just fine a little corner and just fall a sleep. I'd even let a mouse run loose in a room hoping he will chase it down to eat it but he just walk slowly after it and after a couple attempts he just gave up, i mean i have to catch the mouse my self and hand it over for him to eat, god i'm getting more exercise then he is i think i've lost 10 pounds catching his food,,,lol. But seriously i just dont know how to get it to loose his fats, oh it look like he's tame but no, it's just to fat to even try to bite/tail whip me, it's very fat i will get a picture of it up for you guys to see this Fat A$$, just like human if it doesnt loose those weight i'll die lot earlier then what it should be. thanx.

I'm new but i'm going to take a swing at it anyhow. Savannas for what I know, are chubby kind of monitors and I've seen some at my friends house try to catch a mouse and they're not as fast as some of the other monitors. However, you said your monitor is really fat so I'll tell you what I would do, not sure if its good, but I hope it helps.

First, you would want to make your monitor more active, I believe giving him some good humidity and raising the temperature really high will help him burn some fat and make him active. Feed him less than usual. And if this doesn't hurt, I think you should visit the vet. I believe crickets should be a good diet at the time. For what I know it just fills up the monitor, but doesn't make him fat. Hope I helped and I hope your monitor will be okay, he sounds cute lol.

Decreased and less frequent food intake, exercise in a warm heated environment helps (their cage), but it takes a long time to get there, after all it took along time to get it that fat with improper husbandry. Having dirt deep enough to dig and burrow in is a big factor in exercise, climbing helps alot.

I run a small reptile rescue out of my home and the oddest thing is that I see more morbidly obese Savannahs than I do sick,emaciated ones,the reason being is that monitors will eat just about anything you put in front of them,it's almost like a wierd case of neglect,the previous owners neglect them by not putting in the effort to obtain proper food items and instead reach for easy to obtain things like dog food,which is recommended by some,adamantly opposed by the experts in the field such as Pete Strimple,John Coborn,etc...
This kind of feeding attributes to most cases of obesity and cases of death where fatty acids build up in the liver and cause failure,one of the worst cases was a Savannah monitor that came through my rescue,it's surrendering owners were feeding him Vienna Sausages (those little canned sausages,packed full of fats and sodium),canned dog food,wet kibble dog food and raw bacon!
Of course we tried to put him on a proper diet but he eventually died anyways though there have been a few others than pulled through alright and went onto become healthier active monitors.
The first thing i would suggest is to raise the cage temperature and limit feedings to crickets,waxworms and other invertebrates,pinky and adult rodents should comprise little of his diet for now,most Savannahs in the wild eat mostly invertebrates really,especially as juveniles,not that rodents,chicks and other such larger prey items aren't valuable in the diet,they should just be less liberally fed than commonly practiced,in my opinion and from what I've researched.
Raising the cage temperature should stimulate him a bit and removing him from his cage for walks and exploring sessions may have some benefit.
It will be a long slow process for him to lose weight,they put it on fast but lose it slowly,they've evolved to hold onto those fat reserves to see them through times when prey is scarce or through illnesses so getting it off will take some time and alot of reduced feedings and exercise!
Good luck to you and your pudgy Savannah Monitor!

StormyHall