Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ma vet had one brought in by a ladie who caught it in a live rodent trap, it will come with a vet check up and treatment of any problems.

so is a savanah good for a first time monitor owner? how big is it going to get? how long is it going to live? how big of a cage will it need? and any other things i might need to know.

i'm not new to herps, just monitors. currently he is about 20 inches, so how fast will he grow?

Hi there,
I have this past year gotten to love the Monitor Family starting with my wifes White Throat. "Zima"
I know friends that have Savanas as there first monitor and they did great. I am glad you are doing your home work first before taking on an animal such as a monitor. First off they typically reach lengths of approx. 3 Feet and about 18 inches in girth. The cage size needs to be as big as possible not to be under 6 foot in length and 3 feet hight. This will allow your monitor to have enough room to move about and provide a gradual heat gradient. You must provide it with hiding and basking spots the more the better. Zima is a digger and loves to relax in her oversized water dish. If you have a "pool" area watch out for the depth as to not allow it to drown itself. Also they will use it to releve it self in quite regularily. This is a nice thing for cleaning since you do not have to scoop out lots of bedding.
Bedding can be anything from play sand "Like Zimas" to pellets to aspen shavings. You have to find out what works for you and your monitor.
Feeding: Well Zima loves chicken, Eggs, smelt, shrimp,3 day old chicks, mice, and even a veggie from the Iguanas once in a while. Most veggies get snubbed but we like to suprise her with things and she usually downs most everything. We give every prey item frozen thawed and food items get boiled.
Well I think that covers it so let me know about the specifics of your monitor like size and what it is eating and how tame is it.
I am interested in people that help rescue these wonderful creatures.
David...

i had a Sav and he quickly became one of my favorites.They tame very easily and have great personality's.With a little work they will become dog tame.I used to let mine wander around my bedroom for hours and he never got into any trouble.

so is that 3 ft. from nose to vent or nose to tip of tail? and you boil all your food, you mean the mice, chicks, fish, shrimp? is that to prevent sickness? we are thinking about roaches also , would they be ok to feed alive?

Well the 3 ft is typically nose to tail. And I only boil the smelt, shrimp, chicken brest, and eggs. the prey items like mice and 3-day old chicks can be fed either live or frozen thawed. Also roaches are great prey items and live is fine.
They love to dig and get great exercise from that. They are great climbers."Zima" has scaled my house on one of her outing.
Feed a variety and experiment with all of your housing options. All things you read are usually just opinions and you have to find what works for you.
David...

Herpluver,

Sounds like your heart is in the right place however... A Savannah monitor is a good choice for a beginner monitor there are many things to consider about the long term care of such a large lizard. Savs usually don't grow much longer than about 3 feet total length, however that still translates to having an enclosure for an adult of the minimum size 8' x 4', preferably larger if possible. They are largely insectivorous in the wild and should be fed a diet that matches that preference which means loads and loads of crickets, roaches, superworms, etc. This diet can be supplemented with whole rodents but rodents should not comprise the bulk of the diet. You can find pretty much the best, most up-to-date information the book, 'The Savannah Monitor Lizard: The Truth about Varanus exanthematicus' by Daniel Bennett and Ravi Thakoordyal. The other point to caution you about is the inevitable vet bills. Pretty much all Savs available are from wild-caught stock that has come straight from Africa and likely has never seen the inside of a vets office. I currently am treating a juvenile Sav I adopted from my local herp society. Over the 3 vet visits I've had already I've spent in the neighborhood of $180 and I still have another fecal check/analysis coming this Friday which will cost another $40 in addition to any further medication that may be necessary. Bear this in mind.

Best of luck,
Matt Campbell

the diet should not be much of a problem, we have many other herps(2 beardys, and 12 snakes). we have no kids so we have room.i ordered several books today. as for vet bills we planned on that, we have another "rescue" that has already cost over $500 and has another vet visit this friday, we are thinking he needs another surgery. but he has the will to live, so we will do what we need to to help that happen. thanks for all the advice, if you have anything more please let me know.

thanks
Samuel

he will come with a vet exam and all pre-existing problem will be treated, without cost to us

Herpluver,

Sounds like you've well-grounded in reality and have already had the pleasure of experiencing vet bills. Your obvious desire to see your animals given proper treatment is comendable. Other than getting your hands on the Bennett/Thakoordyal book I can't suggest much of anything else. A few feeder insects you'd do well to cultivate would be your own colony of superworms (Zoophobas spp.), and a colony of South American wood roaches (Blaberus discoidales). The wood roaches make a good, large insect prey item for the Savs and are very easy to grow in large quantities. They're also a bit less chitinous and less spiky than Madagascar hissing roaches, which some monitor keepers grow and feed out. Let me know if you have any questions on growing your own cultures of either type of feeder insect. A couple other things you might try are nightcrawlers, and the ZooMed Can-o-snails. I've found my juvie Sav will eat the nightcrawlers with relish and suprisingly will eat the snails too. I think a variety of feeder insects and the occasional rodent is the best way to go with these guys in terms of diet.

Best of luck,
Matt Campbell