Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi there everybody, it appears that I am having a serious problem with my new savanah monitor lizard. My dad got me it for my 14th birthday two days ago. He used to have one when he was a kid, and thought it would be a great pet, because they'll eat anything, including pizza a hamburgers.. I already have a lot of experience with other lizards, especially the chameleons that live outside my house.

When I brought him home from the pet store the other day, I put him in his brand new, sparkling aquarium, but all he did was hide, so I went in to check on him to see if he was alright. When I picked him up, he crapped all over me, and these two big, ugly purple worms came out of his butt. I called my father, and he said he's never seen anything before in his 20 years of herp keeping and catching. My mother did not want my dad to use her good pair of tweezers, so he got the needlenose plyers from the toolbox, and we tried pulling the worms out. He was able to pull out/break off some of one, but the rest of it retreated back into the monitor's butt. We think that we got the head, but a bloody piece sucked back into the lizard. I am wondering if worms can regrow their bodies, or can live without a head? I heard that earthworms can do it, not sure if it is true.

What should I do? Should use tweezers to try and reach into the lizard's butt and try to nab the rest of them? I only saw two of them, but could there be more? Should I take it to a vet? My dog had worms and we have some extra pills laying around. Can I give some of this leftover medicine to him?

I am just very concerned, as the guy at the Petland where I bought him/her from said that he was a captive bred animal, who was raised at a guys house for the past 2 years(Godzilla is about 3.5' long). If it is captive bred, shouldn't it be parasite free? I am scared because I have heard that worms can kill animals, and these worms were big and juicy, as if they were feeding for some time-kinda like how a tick fills up with blood. I don't want that to happen to my newest cold blooded addition. Any expert recommendations/ opinions on what I should do?

Please help...don't know what to do...

Travis McDonald
Ft Myers, FL

The best way to troll as a 14 year old is to use 14 year old style grammar. Refer to wannaBmonitorguy's posts below for an example of SMS style text. The grammar in your post was too tidy for a modern 14 year old, so you aren't going to get the "OMG WHAT ARE YOU DOING RIPPING OUT YOUR MONITOR'S HEMIPENES!" style posts you are after.

You may want to try something along the lines of:

my montor haz wurmz i saw sum b4 wen i pic hm up sumtin wuz stikkin out his butt wut cn i do ne help wud b gr8 ty

frikkin_hot_bmx_bike@aol.com

Hi there, dk,

why are you calling me a troll? I am just trying to get some advice on what to do with my savanah. Why are you making fun of my grammar. Should it be bad? I am homeschooled, if that makes any difference.

What is a hemipens? Is it a type of worm?

Please give me advice on my lizard... I don't want him to die. He hasn't been moving around lately, just sitting in a corner. He hasn't wanted to eat or drink or bathe. My dad thinks that he is just shocked to be in a new house. Is this true? What about his worms? Is there anything I can do?

Please help me. Any advice would be awesome.

Travis

I agree with DK, you are most likely a troll. I am sure I will regret giving you a response... but here goes.

Those purple things were not worms. They were hemipenes. Hemipenes are monitor penises; monitors use them to reproduce.

If you really took tweezers or whatever and ripped the "head" off of one of them, you basically just ripped off part of the monitor's penis. Your monitor is probably in extreme pain, and if it is lucky, it will die very soon and be out of its misery.

If your father has raised reptiles for 20 years, he should have known that. You should have known too since a 3.5 foot monitor has fairly large hemipenes.

Of course, you are most likely a troll looking for a quick, stupid "thrill."

If you are not a troll, then your next home school assignment should be to learn about monitors/reptiles/animals. You should also give away all your animals until you are better prepared to care for them. Destroying a hemipene because you think it is a worm is a sign of very little understanding of... anything.
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^x^ Bloodbat ^x^
Monitors, monitors everywhere
and all the food they ate.
Monitors, monitors everywhere,
their parents loved to mate.

Hi there,

it appears that what you think are parasites, is actually the animal's sex organs. Instead of us humans, who have one sex organ, monitors, as well as other lizards, and snakes, possess two.

So, by inadvertently grabbing the "worm" you have tore a piece/major section of the animal's sex organs out, which is not a good thing... He could be hemmoraging to death now, as we speak...
How long ago did you say this happened?

I would definately go see a vet immediately!!!!!! This is a serious matter...

I am disgusted in the fact that your father, who supposedly has all of these years dealing with reptiles, did not know the difference betweeen a hemipene and a worm... But, nevertheless, the damage has been done, and I hope that you do take him to the vet and get him the medical attention that he requires.. Best of luck to you, keep us posted on his hopeful progress. Take care, I hope this gives you some help that you are in need of..

here is a sketch of a varanid hemipene, although they differ from species to species, it gives you an understanding of what it looks like. cheers.

treevaranus

The Odatriad

Treevaranus, you are the only person who did not jump at me and call me names.

My godzilla died last night, his eyes were closed, so maybe he died peacefully, and painlessley in his sleep. After hearing some posts, and understanding what a monnitors penis looks like, I now know that we have made a terrible mistake, and I am very sad that I feel we probably caused hisdeath.

It kills me to see any animal die, like the other day me and my mom were driving and came across a runover gopher tortoise.. It was still alive,although it was half crushed. I wanted to take it home and give it care and TLC, but my mom wouldn't let me. The drive home i was was upset for not helping it.

Tomorrow my dad said that he'll take me to the store tomorrow to get me another lizard to cheer me up. I don't know if I'm ready for another pet, because of what happened, but something inside tells me to get over it, and to learn from this. The pet shop has another savanah, only smaller. They also have something called a Kimberly Monitor which is very pretty but expensive. Does anybody know anything about these? ARe they hard to care for? Do you guys think I should get another monitor? I sometimes read on here some of you experts saying that you must make mistakes in order to learn... I think that's so ture. I have already learned a valuble lesson today.

Is there any books I can read about savanah monitors? I have a book right now that has some really good pictures of savanah monitors and green iguanas(my other true love)..

Thank you for your comments, those of you who tried to help.

Travis

while it is true that everybody makes mistakes and they usually teach valuable lessons, it's a little different in your case. The valuable lesson you should learn is that you don't know anything about monitors, and you're not ready to take care of them. The lesson is NOT just that monitors sex organs look like worms to you. You're not ready to go out and buy another monitor.

If you really like monitors, or any other animal for that matter read up on them, and find out what it takes to take care of them. READ, don't just look at your book with pretty pictures. And don't come here and ask every little detail. Research and find out the basics and then ask us anything that is unclear to you.

But please, don't dont' subject another animal to your horrible ignorance.

tony

PS- if you are trolling, I hate you.

There are several books you should read before getting another monitor. Your mistake was pretty major (and still unbelievable) and strongly suggests you and your dad do not know very much about reptiles. That's not a problem, everyone has to start somewhere. However, is where your knowledge is at, then you should learn BEFORE getting another animal.

Here are the books

The Savannah Monitor Lizard: The Truth about Varanus exanthematicus by Daniel Bennett and Ravi Thakoordyal

Monitor Lizards: Natural History, biology, and husbandry by Daniel Bennett. This is expensive nowadays, but well worth the money.

You could also read

Nile Monitors by Robert Faust

Read the books BEFORE getting another monitor. You will avoid a lot of really horrible and painful mistakes if you bring your knowledge a bit more up to speed first.
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^x^ Bloodbat ^x^
Monitors, monitors everywhere
and all the food they ate.
Monitors, monitors everywhere,
their parents loved to mate.

I am terribly sorry to hear about your loss. The loss of a pet is always heartbreaking. It is very unfortunate that your father and yourself are inexperienced in keeping monitors, or even reptiles, for if you had done your research correctly, you would have avoided this horrible turn of events. But the past cannot be changed, what's done is done. I don't however, feel that he died peacefully, and painlessly... Having his eyes closed at the time of death means nothing in regards to physical pain or suffering.

I would highly recommend that you do not acquire another monitor, or any other animal for that matter, until you do your homework, and realize what's right and what's wrong with the picture.. If you read the past years worth of information on this forum, as well as others, you can gain some knowledge of monitor anatomy, physiology, and reproduction. There are also many books worth checking out as well, such as the ones bloodbat listed... I encourage you to hit the books and do some in depth term paper-style research...

I wish you a good day, and once again, I am sorry for your loss. Please tell your dad not to buy you any more animals until the two of you figure out what's best for the animal in question. Tata for now,

treevaranus
The Odatriad

If you are not thats about the dumbest thing I ever heard of. Mistaking a monitor penis for a worm? And how much reptile experience do you have???

Also what is your background? are you a vet.? If not then why would you even think of getting tweezers or pliers and pull on something coming out of your animal?

Isn't there a law against practicing surgery without being a licensed Dr.?

Heres a pic of one of Shvars blackthroats hemepenes.

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James Grigsby - " When you try of all your forces to make your own way, you will help some of others and will be helped by others. As long as you do not make your own way, you cannot help anybody, and nobody can help you. " (Shunryu Suzuki)

OMG, MY MONITOR HAS WORMS LIKE THAT TOO!

The only lesson here learned is that you should not own a pet at all.If your dog developed a tumor would you and your dad go to the shed a get a saw and cut it out ??? This is why some people disagree with keeping herps in capitvity because people like yourself.

If you learned anything here it is to not own any reptile and preferably any pet. I am disgusted by this entire scenario and can't believe the gross stupidity of your actions. Buy a book, buy lots of books, all about carpentry, at least then when you make a mistake, an animal does not have to suffer for it. Sorry if this seems rude, but I really can't help how I feel about this poor animal and I doubt it died peacefully.

Pam