Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've got 2 baby savannah monitors that i recently purchased. I have been trying to get them in eat in a special "feeder tank" (15 gallon plastic storage bin). The problem is that they won't eat in the tank. I will leave them in there for a while with a bunch of crickets and all they will do is try to excape or sleep. When put back in their cage, they eat fine. The lizards are 10 inches long and eat about 15 crickets each a day. The cage is a TEMPORARY 20 gallon with a 124 degree basking spot with average temp around 85. What do you guys think is the problem? Thanks in advance.

np

Think about it. In cage A, they are eating fine. You move them to cage B and they don't feed. Well, I would feed them in Cage A. How did I do? Or maybe, make cage B exactly like cage A, then they will not know the difference. Or Wait until they grow larger and stronger and may not be intimidated.

Are you sure they like cage B, as it seems to me, they don't.

Please don't get upset at me, but I think I have had it wrong this whole time. I thought we were suppose to adjust to them, as we humans are the smarter ones. Not making them adjust to us. Oh well, its not the first time I was wrong.

Good luck with them, I do like these kind of problems. F

np!!!

Is it because youre afraid of them getting snappy with you after they associate you with food? If so, dont worry about it too much. You can feed them in their home and get alot more positive effects than negetive. It is true that they will be overzealous from time to time, and tend to be a bit jumpy when you first get into their enclosure. They will learn the difference between when you have food, and when you dont. Give em time, and dont just interact with them at feeding time. Let them get to know your scent. Theyre just scared little guys now. They need to feel as secure in their environment as possible in order for them to adjust well at all. Leave em be. It is really crucial at the juvenile stage that they feel secure, so that they dont end up skitzo as adults.
...just my humble theory,
Michelle

From most of the stuff i read, i thought it was better to feed them in a seperate place to tone down aggression, ect. I guess i was wrong. I'll continue feeding them in their regular cage until they get a bit older and then see if that helps. Thanks for the advice.

Guess what I did the same thing with my hatchings when I first got then a month ago. Then after a while I began to notice that one of the hatching was being to get a runny nose and looking sick. I went back to my hand book on monitors and it said the cause could be stress. I began to leave them along and also rise the heat in their closure. Sure enough the sick one has began to eat again and his nose has also stop running. I think I was trying to hard to tame then and in return I was also the cause of their stress. Now the are eating and looking fine I go lots to learn.