Reptile & Amphibian Forums

As of a month ago, my Savanah Monitor was lost to a form of muscular cancer.
Unfortunately, my Vet had not seen a case of this type of cancer before as the cancer seemed to be highly agressive. (FYI: A tumer formed in my Sav's lower abdominal muscular region and quickly invaded his gastro-intestinal organs within a matter of two weeks. This information comes from my Vet.)

I had looked after my monitor for nearly 8 years, (his estimated age was roughly 10 years), and I have found myself missing him terribly.

I would like to ask other monitor owners if they have had any of their animals die as a result of malignant cancers. I have searched the web and have found very few accounts of cancer in captive monitors aside from some articles published in a few academic journals that appear to say little except that cancers of various types have been found in reptiles but there is little that discusses prevention (at least mitigating risk) or treatment. Does this information exist? Does anyone who uses these Forums have any information to share?

My Thanks to everyone in advance for any assistance you can provide.

Kit.

I have reports of Vara-cancer from V. salvator (1969) and (1972), and I have seen grape-cluster cancer in a V. exanthematicus in 1992 - what type of cancer the V.e. type of cancer is, I do not know, but my Mother, who was a post-W.W.II nurse had seen this in surgery, and remarked it looed exactly like that seen in human patients of 1946-48. If you can ask your vet to publish or share your necropsy report with me, I would be appreciative...such results need to be published so others may be aware of them, as this is a trend that needs to be followed!!
Many Thanks,
mbayless

My Vet did tell me she intended to share my monitors necropsy report and her analysis with a herpatologist she knows at Perdue University.
Who that is I do not know, when or if any information gets formally published somewhere I do not know that either. When I have time I'll ask her if her collaboration yeilded anything useful.
Anything I learn I'll gladly pass along.

-Kit

I know not many other than newbies visit these forums (I am one), but how many 10 year old savannas are there really?
Kudos on having the commitment to care for your pet throughout its life. Your sav was lucky, to have you and your care.
With sympathy, Goon.

Thank you for your kind words.

I hope I took good care of my Sav, it is difficult to know for certain since until very recently, good husbandry information was difficult to come by.
I have been told that Savs have lifespans in the range of 20 years or more. I do not know if this is a fact or not, perhaps others can lend their views on that topic.

Again Thanks,

-Kit

I've heard 12-15 years is normal.I had a Sav that lived to be 12 years old.He had cataracts and was blind in one eye,then suffered a stroke like seizure that made it very hard for him to eat or even walk without stumbling.

My 7 year old female dumerils monitor developed a swelling in her rear thigh.I thought(hoped)it was maybe a lack of calcium.No such luck.I had the tumor removed in a complicated surgery(it was wrapped in and around the muscle tissue).Within a month it came back in the same leg.After another surgery and $1000 I hoped that was the end.It came back again so I had to have her put down,out of consideration of her pain(not a money issue).It was very sad.I had never heard of monitors getting cancer before that(7 years ago).

Like you, when my Vet explained the severity of his tumor, namely the fact that it had spread into his intestines and there was no chance of it being successfully removed I told her to have him put down, otherwise he would have wasted away for several weeks before he expired of starvation and a compromised immune system.
I cannot stress enough to new reptile keepers out there about the costs of owning these animals. The Vet bills associated with his treatment cost over a thousand dollars for this ONE incident. I cannot guess what my Sav cost me over his entire lifetime, but it was substancial.

Well, I'll climb off my soapbox now.
Thanks for your reply.

-Kit