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My Savannah moniteris about 7" and its wieght is .5 ounces. He eats about 4-5 crickets every other day. If I tryto feed him two days in a row he just ignores them. Or if I try to feed him more thatn 4-5 crickets he also ignores the the rest in his cage.
My questions are how old do you think it is at that leghth and weigth and is feeding every other day normal.
Thanks keith

You should be concerned if that all its eating. Theres something wrong with the situation. Give details of husbandry. Why havent you introduced rodents to it yet?

Thanks for the reply. Husbandry-It is in a 30 gallon tank. Temps are 95-105 in basking area and 85-90 on the cooler side. There is a good water dish, A hide cave, and I use aspen bedding for a substrate. I have only had him for 2 weeks and today when I went to the store I bought him from for crickets (after I sent this)they told me the batch he came from hatched about 3 weeks before I purchased him. every thing about him is normal Its just I hear people talk about them eating so much. Mine will eat but its like I said only every other day and its only about 4-5 med crickets. as soon as I put them in the cage he runs right after them and scarfs them down so I he appears to be healthy because he is filled out and not skinny. Also In the last 2 weeks I did feed him one pinky wich he took right out of the tongs. Oh and he is definatly alert and active. I just thought it was strange he doesnt eat every day.
Now that I let you Know this do you still think there is a problem. Please respond soon because Im concearned.
Thanks Keith

You might want to up the basking temp to around 120-130. This is difficult in such a small space, so you may want to get him in something larger. With the higher temp, his willingness to feed should also be greater.

I thoughtthat would be to hot. I put in a 100 watt buld and the basking spot is 110 degrees and the cool end is 90 degrees. probobly even cooler under the substrate. I have a 150 watt bulb but I think It is to hot and may do more harm than good.

Nobody knows how old they are. They hatch at 4-5 inches but they can be kept small for years by petstores and importers to sell them as hatchlings. Nobody breeds bosc monitors so they could be almost any age.

Anyboday can get a gravid Bosc, dump some eggs, hatch them, and have an accurate age. Captive hatched is common.

bengalensis you asked in aprevious message why I havent introduced mice. Ive been reading that Savs that small should eat more insects.

And yes unfortunately keeping them small to sell as hatchlings is done alot more than you think in this hobby. Ive only seen a few gravid boscs ever when they were imported, so Id like that one proved. I cant find one person from the classifieds who can prove eggs, ages, etc in 2 years as well as in person anywhere, they buy them from a few importers knowing very little about them. He asked about feeding mice and crickets, well Id try small mice whenever they can eat them.

Sahvar I understand that they keep them small nobody is questioning that. Mine only weights .5 ounces and is 4 inches snout to vent however he does not look starved he is round and apears healthy looking.
The problem with eating every other day that I asked about, I feel like an idiot But keep in mind ive only had him for two weeks since feb 9. Two days ago I fed it five crickets. He ran after and ate three right away. Yesterday I tried to feed him and he just ignored them. However today I fed it another five and the same thing he ate three and ignored the rest. the reason i feel like an idiot is because while watching him eat I could see that he was having a hard time putting them down because of their size(They were med crickets the size of his head or the size of a small pinkey). The thing is is that it does what ive read to be normal. Half the day he is out under his basking light and the other half he is burrowed in his hide cave. So to the best of my knowledge he appears healthy. Now my question is could that be that I am feeding crickets that are two large, or is that not possible. P.S this is the first time Ive had a lizard that ate any thing aside from vegtables thatis why im so unsure.

Im not sure what care sheets youve read, but just so you know 90% of whats out there is outdated cr*polla. Pro-exotics has super caresheets. Daniel Bennet wrote the most superior Exanthematicus book on the market. Beware of what you read. You are in no danger of making youre basking spot too hot provided your monitor has options. Meaning, porvide a temp gradient. Like I said before, youll need a larger enclosure to maintain proper temps. 130ish on the hot side, 80ish on the cool.
I still cant get over that pic Mr. Retes posted of one of his monitors basking at 159! They like it HOT! Just give them options, so they can thermoregulate.

As far as mice. He can eat a rodent exclusive diet. Plenty of very experienced keepers feed only rodents. Theres everything they need, all package convieniently in one rodent.

Michelle

And they would eat 20 crickets a day or a pinky mouse and plenty of crickets. Id look at your husbandry like basking temps, they dont seem high enough if trouble eating small enough food occurs. Babys have such a large area of exposed thin skin that they only need to bask for a few minutes at a time to keep from overheating.
One of mine ate 50 crickets on day 3 here at 6 inches long nose to tail.
Get Daniel Bennetts book its the best on captive care.

50 crickets how is that even possible where could they fit at that size? As for my temps ive been ajusting. Hot spot is now110 and cool spot is 88-90 with a hide spot that im sure is cooler because its lower than the substrate on the cool side. Are these temps ok? Its hard to get cooler because my house temp is 90. since I change this he has been eating better. Today he took a pinky mouse and I assume he ate the crickets I put in his cage because when I came back they were gone.

86 is a good ambient hot temp for a monitor (air temp). 72 is a good air temp for the low or cool end. But 130 is a basking temp or a surface temp at the site. Outdoors a board or rock in 86 degree air temps on a sunny day is about 125-130 on the surface, you need an infared temp gun to get an accurate reading. Its easily obtainable with 45 watt bulbs at a foot or so high above the basking board. I have a dimmer to keep my 45 watt bulbs from going beyond 160 and heating the cage beyond 95 thoughout. A proper cage holds heat like mad.

SHvar-After getting this message I am now aware of the differance in temps. My sav is always hanging out in between the middle of the tank were the temps are around 95 and the cool spot. I was using a 100watt in a 30 gallon and the temps were 116 in the hot spot 95 in the middle and room temp in the cool spott. Im now using a 75 watt bulb and it brought the temp down but I can only get the cool spot down to 80 in the morning and night and mid day it is around 90. Thats room temp most of the day and I cant help that. Do you think I should bring down the wattage? Were do you get a good Ifrared temp gun?Oh and about that eating problem people have been telling me that he is not eating as many crickets because I feed him pinky a week and they take longer to digest. Keep in mind he is still tiny .5 ounces.What do you think?

Monitors kept in good conditions (reword that, survivable) can digest crickets, mice etc, almost over night. With proper temp gradients, and a proper basking temp to digest they can crap out what they eat the next day or so. Yes 50 crickets and crapped a storm up the next day. Mice are a bit less messy when they come out the back end.

Ive been answering every single add for baby niles and boscs, inquiring if they are captive bred. So far out of 9, 7 have claimed to be "captive bred". So, Ive answered by asking for pictures of the so called "breeding facilities".
I was thinking that it wouldnt be hard for them to produce incubation times, considering that alot ARE infact captive hatched. Its not hard to collect gravid females. In the case of them claiming to be captive bred, you could ask for other proof. Like I said about pics of the breeding facility, copulating adults, etc.

Rgrds,
Michelle