Reptile & Amphibian Forums

About a month ago I received a rescued monitor that is 19 inches, and looks to be a boy; there is a noticeable bulge at the tail base. His cage is 5ft long, 30” wide and 4ft tall with plenty of climbing and digging room. When we received him he was in a small cage (20 gallon long). He was doing well with holding; he did not like it but would tolerate. He always huffed and puffed but did not try to bite. After being in his new cage for about 10 days he is acting very aggressively. Every time I place my hand in the cage he tries to get to it, he is biting anything that he can get his mouth on that is on or attached to me, and he has started tail whipping (I know that this is normal behavior but he had yet to do it.) I do not know what is wrong. He eats 4 mice through out the week and plenty of crickets and super worms, the lady who neglected him before I received him said that he is a year and a half old, but you never know. The only conclusion that I can come to is that my other “guy” whose cage is attached with a wire screen between may be a girl and that “she” is in “heat” (I’m not sure what it is called for lizards) and that is what caused the sudden change. Neither of the lizards shows any aggression toward each other, they only lay face to face through the screen. If anyone has any advice please let me know. Or suggestions as to what I should do. I do not want to give up on him.

Well...
Honestly it just sounds like now that you have the monitor in the proper (or at least better...) conditions.... he's not sick and stressed and depressed, and is now just acting like a monitor is supposed to act.

Is the measurement of nineteen inches you mentioned from snout to tail or snout to vent? I'm assuming you meant snout to tail. I'm going to speculate that if the previous owners had him in a twenty gallon aquarium, there may be other issues with their husbandry, specifically heating requirements. They may have kept his temperature too low and he may have been easier to handle becuase of his lower body temperature. If you have correct basking site and ambient air temperatures, he may just be acting like a monitor now that he has someone who is looking to his needs. I also do not think he is eating enough. You should feed him more whole prey items, mice in this case, during the week, either daily or every other day, and move him away from the crickets and superworms.

The 20 gallon aquarium is what he was in at the pet store where the lady is phenomenal with her herps. She is very knowledgeable and cares for them as if they are her children. She received the monitor from some one who was not feeding, handling, or caring for “him.” When he was brought in, he was only in a 15 gallon tank and was not cared for properly. I saw him a couple of days after he arrived Right now I have the temps set at 95 on hot with a basking spot(not sure what temp I need to get a heat gun) and about 85 on the cool side. Our apartment stays at 85 so I can not get the temp below that but that is where I am told they like it. I have moved him completely off of crickets and he is on whole live mice. I breed them for my two guys. Yes the measurements were from tip to tail. I feed the little guy one mouse on Monday and Wednesday and two mice on Friday. Last night I gave him three to see if possibly he is just hungry, I left him for the night and will be home in a couple of hours, so hopefully all goes well. I have my big one that is 29 inches, I must have been spoiled with him because he is very calm and “loveable” he sits with me for hours and watches TV after he runs around on the floor for a while. Is this unusual for a savannah’s temperament?

Thank you,
Christina

Savannahs, esp. those that are in a new environment, are rather defensive. Based upon what you said in your post, your savannah seems to be healthy. He may come to tolerate you over time, but for now, just concentrate on keeping him healthy.

You should also consider the fact that he may never tolerate you, no matter how much time you spend with him (such as handling, which will stress him). I've seen lots of savannahs, and only 3 have been "tame". It is really up to the lizard whether it will accept you or not. I hope I didn't let you down, as he could still be an interesting lizard, watching it chase its food and exploring its enclosure.

PS, you should look into getting a temp gun; those thing come in real handly. Hope this helps

The little guy now seems to chase my hand when I put it is the cage. He is not trying to bite at it but he chases it around like it is food. I was wondering what everyone says about feeding these guys. We were told when we got our big one that you should not feed them alot because they will get over weight and not live as productive lves. SO we feed them four mice throughout the week. 1 Monday, 1 Wednesday, and 2 on Friday. I was just wondering how other people feed their savs and if it has been sucessful.