Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just curious cause I'm trying to understand my Sav. as much as possible and make his life as fun and enjoyable as it can be for a monitor.

Another question that I have is how often should you change their substrate? I have him on dirt right now about 8 inches deep. He hasn't shown any interests in digging so I haven't made it deeper. I'm about to get some better dirt and take out the old, and stick in the new.

Well adjusted monitors love their cage rearranged, But they like having the same hide areas and such. Its a boring live in the same old cage. Throw all sorts of new stuff in and watch your monitor investigate them. Also how they react to different smells.

On the other hand, some monitors mostly fresh WC, stress very quickly and should be left alone and unchanged until adjusted.

Again, there is no real set answer, or gauge as to what adjusted means, its up to you to recognize. Good Luck FR

Thats what I thought. I'll occasionally switch his hide spot, water dish, and basking area around and he seems to be more active during the first two weeks or so and then goes back to his regular routine of sleeping and basking.

Have you tried burying things in his dirt? I like to throw in night crawler in all my cages and watch the buggers get dug up.
I also bury mice and large dead roaches, I don't bury these deep.
They always seem to find them. Snake skin seems to get my blackthroat worked up. I don't move their hide spots. They need that little bit of security in my opinion.
Add large rocks, pieces of driftwood, and move them around every once in awhile.

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

LOL, that sounds fun. I'll try that tomorrow. Thanks guys and any more opinions or suggestions are welcome as always.