Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My friend works at the zoo, Philadelphia Zoo to be exact, and through work with savhanas, she has descided to get one. All is well, until she said that they keep theirs on newspaper. I tried to tell her they are burrowers, and dirt is the best of the best of substrates. She said they told her that they do not burrow, because they are from the savhana!?!?

What i need from you guys is that if you have experience with sav's, please post here your thoughts on substrate type and debth. Also, if they like to burrow. I want to give her a link to this thread when i get enough info for her, since she seems sckeptical of me. I guess I would too if my friend was going agaist the zoo.

If you can post pics of burrows, digging burrows, sav's in burrows, or just set-ups, that will be very helpful for her too.

Thank you for all your help.

Truth

it just comes in tree form LOL Haha why would newspaper be good for them? If the zoo can explain why then lets see if nothing is given other then they don't burrow cause they live in the savannah which is a wide open grassland type local. Well there you have it the zoo is full of dumbies LOL Sorry but for real why would they not burrow if they live in a wide open savannah? how else would they hide or get away from the heat? Ok so there might be a rock or a tree to sit under but they do also use burrows trust me.

but what do I know I don't keep my snakes in tubs with newspaper either so I must be doing something wrong.

I keep all my Savs (1.2) on dirt. Pure CA mountain dirt. The dirt should be about a foot or more deep.
Better yet have you friend buy Daniel Bennett's book "The Savannah Monitor , The Truth About Varanus Exanthamaticus". That book tells all that he knows about this species through study and a lot of field research!
But yes they burrow. Most monitors do. They even somewhat like to climb. Mine do. I have logs in my enclosures that make up not only part of their climbing but their burrowing and hide spots. The cages change because they dig different holes and hides for themselves all the time.
Hope this all helps.
-----
Christine :>~

n/p

They dont spend money on them unless they absolutely have to. Besides to a zoo they are cheap and expendable, every other day somebody probably wants to give them another one. Have her read Daniel Bennetts book (the savanna monitor book) its the best book on monitor husbandry and the only book with any info on them thats true. Tell her to give them the option of a foot of good riverbed dirt and see what they do, they will prove her wrong as well as survive longer when they can conserve moisture alot better.

...Too much politics involved for animals to get what they need sometimes. Like someone else said also, money is a big factor. So much for animal welfare.
Like my beloved Bengals in 10 gal aquariums, for over a year, with no heat. Its true the ambient temp of the building is in the 80's, or higher, but how can a two foot animal be kept in such cramped quarters!?

Sorry to vent. I can go on for days...So Ill spare you, and stop now with my troubles.

About your friend, I agree with the others. Get her a copy of Daniel Bennets book. Pronto. Also, direct her to his website so she can see thats hes not just some Joe, who wrote some book.

Good luck!

Michelle

I didn't even think there were savannas there. It may have changed (because I haven't been there in a bit), but all they had then were Bengal Monitors and a Croc Monitor. The Bengals were kept in an enclosure far too small for their sizes and for the number of them in the enclosure. The only other monitor I remember them having was a young Komodo Dragon on loan, which seemed to be housed well enough. Even though many of their animals are kept badly, some do have very nice exhibits. It's just a shame that with all of their resources and such that they can't do some research and house certain animals the way they should.

There are plenty of animals not on display, that are just housed there for one reason or another.

chances are, the savannahs are being kept in the education department or in the back of the reptile department, which is why they are being kept on newspapers. From the keepers' or educational staff's point of view, this teeps the animals clean and makes them easy to look after. No self respecting zoo would put them on display on newspaper

.