Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everyone
I have a Savanna Monitor named Page. We got her at the reptile expo in white plains newyork in april from a vender that was highly recomended to us. Well my question is why she really isnt growing that much. When we got her she was about 3 inches long from tip of the nose to tip of the tail and now...6 months later...shes only about 5-5.5 inches. I was just wondering if this is how slow they grow or if somthing in her diet is missing. She eats about 1 to 2 dozen large crikets a week with the very occational catfood that she seems to like. Please tell me everything you can, should I feed the crikets before giving them to her, powder them? She hates mealworms and wont eat them i really dont think shes big enought for pinkies. So what do you think?

Your monitor's current lack of growth probably has little to do with what you feed it (except, perhaps, the catfood - give that to the cat in future), everything to do with how you have it set up. Please describe your setup in detail and people will be able to solve your dilemma. A photo of the enclosure would help, if possible. In your description, include temperatures (particularly the surface temperature of the basking spot), whether or not your enclosure has a screen lid or a solid top etc.

Hi...

I actually purchased my Savvy around the same time, April 18, and is now about 13 inches total length. and about 90 grams.

I have never fed anything but crickets and pinkies.

Once a day I feed about 12-20 crickets (dusted and gutloaded) and maybe 1-3 pinkies a week.

I'd say just feed it more... around 80-120 crickets a week??

hope I've been helpful.

Mike

Here is a picture of her cage. It is a 40 gal. tank I was told she would be fine in for her whole life as for temp. I only have a your standard UVB light and a Basking light, both of wich i just picked up at a pet store i did have a heating pad on the "hot side" but it broke. As a result it is pretty much the same temp through out the cage. This is my first monitor so please dont be to harsh when telling me what im doing wrong. Before I got her I did do some research but I suppose not enough. Any constructive critisism will be greatly appreciated.
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In order to post a photograph, you'll have to upload it to an online photo gallery or photo site. Kingsnake has it's own gallery:

http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/index.php?cat=557&thumb=1

The most important thing about keeping monitors is that you need to know (not guess) the temperatures of your enclosure. Chances are that your monitor does not have a hot enough basking spot and is barely able to digest what it's eating at the moment, never mind eat enough to grow.

A 40 gallon tank is not nearly big enough to keep your monitor in for life.

Please give us more details of your enclosure. Full details, everything, including temperatures on the surface below the basking light.

Ok sorry about the photo this one should work. As for space, I move out in a year and months I will be able to get her a 1000 gal. tank if she needs it...ok well maybe not 1000 but you get the idea. Temperature...I have no thermometers in the cage i suppose that is on my to buy list but I could try with a regualr medical thermometer...haha turned off at 107 degrees so we know its hoter than that. Im very sorry that i cant give you temperature spacifics. I hope the picture helps. Ask me more questions if you need to. Im right here

This is what I would do with that enclosure:

1.If that is a screen lid, get a piece of wood that covers the whole top, cut holes in it for the two lamps and use it to seal the tank better. There will probably be enough air leaking around the edges and around the lamps that a vent would be unecessary, but you may need to have a small vent. The problem with glass tanks is that you can't have the vent low on the side of the enclosure, where it needs to be to avoid moisture loss.

2. Get some unfertilised, pesticide free dirt from your garden and fill up the bottom few inches of the tank with that instead of the chips you are currently using. It will allow your monitor to dig, so it can hide from you and will also help it retain moisture. Small monitors dehydrate easily.

3. Fill the tank up with cage furniture, such as Bits of bark or flat pieces of wood to hide under, branches to climb, more of those curved bits of cork so that it can move around without being exposed all of the time. The way you have it set up right now is pretty sparse and would freak out a small monitor. The hide you currently have is also so spacious (I can see through to the other end from here) that the monitor would never feel secure hiding there. When you have dirt in there, half bury one of those curved bits of cork bark so that only a small gap is left above the surface. The monitor will squeeze its way in.

4. Move the cork bark that is currently under the basking lamp over so that it is directly underneath the lamp. Get an accurate temperature of the surface of the bark and if the temperature isn't around 130F, raise the bark closer to the light until it is. Do all of this after you've put the wood top on, for the temperatures will rise with the wood holding the heat in.

Do continue to ask questions, the responses you receive will run the gamut from helpful to hostile - simply due to the fact that by all appearances you acquired an animal you know little about, and the information you were given is insufficient to meet it's basic needs. But at least you're here - and trying to find out how to correct things - that's great.

A couple of things off the top. You should be fully aware that the several inch long animal you have right now will be the size of a small dog - and will be physically longer than the aquarium in which you currently have it housed. Savannah monitors average between three and four feet in length - and can exceed ten pounds.
It has the potential to live at least as long as that same small dog.

If you search this forum you will find plenty of information on Savannah, or Bosc Monitors. For a general guide and caresheet, look at ProExotics care sheet for Blackthroat Monitors. The guidelines are virtually identical for your Sav. While you're at the ProExotics site, pick up one of these as well. As DK pointed out, it is important that you know what the temperature ranges are within the enclosure, particularly the basking site.

Just so you don't think all of this is ridiculous, here is a shot of my enclosure.

Take note of what you don't see ... a Savannah Monitor lizard. He remains hidden in a humid hide box beneath the substrate, 90% of the time. The humid hide rests on top of a heating pad and stays at about 95 degrees Fahrenheit. The surface basking spot reaches 135, while there is a hide that reaches about 86 and a spot that stays at about 74. Your animal needs to be able to select a range of temperatures to meet it's specific needs, else it becomes susceptible to stress - which invariably means illness, or worse.

Keep asking, keep learning, you and your monitor will be happier for it.

Regards,

Don M.

Thank you everyone youve been a big help and im sure my monitor appreciates it too. I will do everything I can to make her as happy as possible.

Those two shots explain a few of the things I was talking about.

Go to Walmart or Target or a similar store and buy a digital thermometer with a probe and a humidity read out. This way you can keep an eye on the hot side, cool side, and humidity all the time.
I also bought a small sav for my wife in early May. It was around 5 or 6 inches. It is now close to 20 inches. When it was small like yours, I gave it all the dusted crickets it would eat everyday. Once it grew to around 8 inches I started giving it a pinkie 3 times a week.

Scott
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Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

I have one more question for everyone that has been so helpful. How often do you handle your monitors? I want page to be very friendly when shes fully grown but I havent handled her as much as I probably should and shes starting to bite. The bite only feels like velcrow right now because shes so small so I want to fix things before she can take of an arm. Thanks

Firts off never pull it from it's hide spot. This is the safe place and it needs to feel safe going there. Everyone has their own approach to this, I will tell you mine.
When I get a new critter I handle it twice the first 3 weeks, one is the initial inspection (checking for sores, mites and ticks) and putting it in the enclosure, the second is for the first vet check. I do go into the cage everyday to feed and change water. I prety much try to leave it alone and keep stress to a minimum. After this time is over I will go in the cage and pick it up. I do this slowly, if you reach in real fast and grab it it will get scared and hiss , bite , and poo on you.
Once you have a firm grip just hold it for about 5 minutes. Let it poo on you but keep holding it. Do not let it think if it bites , hisses, tail whips or poos, you will leave it alone.
You have to get it to trust youAfter about 5 minutes put it back and offer it some food. Hopefully it will learn that you are not going to harm it and when it is picked up, it can expect some yummies soon. I use F/T pinkies for this. I can open the door to my sav cage and have a lizard crawl in my hand. So it works for me.

Scott
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Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

i handle my monitor almost daily and he has calmed quite a bit since i got him in early september maybe before september but not much

when i got him he was around 8 inches i fed him 100 crickets a week
he is not pushin 20 inches

All that I can share is anecdotal, but it is highly likely that you will experience similar circumstances.

Odds are, that overall your Sav is generally stressed out. Not feeling secure is a significant stressor, also keep in mind that your baby is pre-programmed to believe anything larger than itself is a potential predator.

Address some of the husbandry issues, primarily a secure hide - and you will be helping by reducing some of that stress. Continue to make adjustments to your husbandry, and you will continue to reduce the amount of stress on the animal. The safer and more secure your monitor feels, hopefully you also reduce it's perceived need for hostile behavior.

My primary method of interaction initially is simply visual. Let the animal see you. If it runs and hides (most likely for several weeks) let it be. Personally, I believe that the trick to handling, is to actually handle or hold the animal as little as possible. Simply stated - you don't want to be taking your monitor out, restrain it for ten minutes while it squirms and defecates all over you (which it will), and call that a handling session. Take the animal out and let it travel from one hand to the other. Use just enough pressure with your thumb on it's back to make a sudden bolt less likely. If the animal tolerates no handling, try placing your hand in the enclosure nearby. Use a towel. It can make managing movements a bit easier, and in the event that you Sav breaks free and makes a run for it, you can cover it with the towel and make an easy recovery.

Understand that it is a process, and invariably, the animal gets to dictate the terms of how friendly the relationship is going to be. Your monitor will never 'enjoy' being toted around while being restrained. What we hope for, is that you can pick up and move the animal without losing a thumb or getting a mean bruise on the forearm from a tail-whip.

Sounds like your animal is still very young. Odds are good that you should be able to reach equitable terms over the next decade.