Reptile & Amphibian Forums

6 years ago this past May I purchased a 9 inch Savannah Monitor hatchling from lllreptile. She came in healthy, no parasites.. external or internal... Perfect, fiesty monitor temperment and she retained that through her entire life. In all reality, she could have been any age at 9 inches total length...since she was definately no hatchling. But she became my baby for the next 6 years. She fascinated me entirely as I knew she would. It was an amazing experience to be able to share space with her and learn from her what a monitor is supposed to be... Sadly, she passed away about a month ago from renal failure. The root cause is unknown as the vet found nothing out of order at her yearly checkup this past June... I had taken her in because she had been refusing food on a steady basis... her blood values were "normal" or so the vet said as I have no idea what the normal blood values for a Sav are supposed to be. I've looked but can't find the information. She had no sign of any malformation and she was not overweight in the least. Before her death, she had begun to eat again and was returning to her normal self...but one night I went in to the cage to feed her and she was dead in her hide area...

I will miss her far more than she ever would have missed me and for now I have decided to remain out of monitors. My boas next year are going to take up a lot of my time as will my leopard geckos with 15 breeding females...

In the future I do hope to begin getting trios of the dwarf monitors.. particularly V. timorensis, V. macraei, V. beccarri, V. pilbarensis and V. caudolineatus. But that will not be for at least 5 years or more... depending on where I find myself...

For now I will remember the lessons she taught me about not just the keeping of monitors, but the keeping of all reptiles in general. I will carry her memory always and I can only hope that in the future I will have the priveledge to share space with these beautiful, unique and entirely unpredictable animals. There was never a dull moment with her around....

Rest in Peace Kiros. May your spirit return to the land of your birth and may you become a part of the earth's ever-lasting circle of life once more.

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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
3.5.3 Leopard geckos (2.0 Blizzards (Caine and Goliath), 0.1 Tangerine Albino (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short), 1.0 Rainwater Albino (Mycah), 0.4 Poss. Het. Albino (Annika, Lace, Rain and Aris) and 2.1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice, Malfeas, and Mystic))
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros)
13 rats
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
3 cats (Ashe, Sahara and Hercules)
6 Fish (4 Red Danios, 1 Cardinal Fish, and 1 Tiger Barb)
8 Ramshorn snails
"And a Partridge in a Pear Tree!"

Hope you come back to monitors soon.

I am sorry to hear of her passing. It was a wonderful tribute you wrote to her and obviously her life, though short, had great meaning and made an impact on you. She will always be with you in spirit. Good luck with your snakes and geckos. I'm sure that one day you will be back into monitors.

Pam
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2.3 varanus acanthurus brachyurus (Dorado, Oro, Dora, Freckles & Amarillo)
1.1 varanus acanthurus acanthurus (Tabasco & Sprite)
1.1 u. macfadyeni (Amani & Abeba) RIP Ayana
1.2 u. ornata (Husani, Zari, & Bintu)
1.1 u. ocellata (Zuhri & Ashai)
0.1.2 u. a. aegypticus (Zahra Urbi, Halima & Sagira)
1.1 hyla chrysoscelis (Pudge & Squirt)

Hi Lucian,
My condolences to you....
markb

Thank you to those who posted. I'm grateful for it. I keep looking back and knowing the things I did wrong but also knowing the things I did right with her but, as with any exotic animal being kept in captivity, sometimes their fate is not entirely in our hands but in their biology and nature's hands. So many in the wild fail to thrive or are predated upon that you never know when its an honest, natural problem cropping up from genetics.. or something you actually did wrong to cause the animal's death. Whatever the cause... I know I at least surpassed 90% of the population in keeping her as well as I have for the past 6 years... when so many die wthin the first 6 months of purchase.

They are indeed great teachers and great animals to keep as long as you respect them and their space and needs. I will return to monitors when my issues with space and money clear finally as they are demanding captives when kept properly. For now though I will continue my researching of the smaller species I mentioned in my first post... and work out the logistics of their care from a practical standpoint in my own approach... In a few years I'll return to keeping them, when I'm better equipped for the adventure... because thats what keeping any monitor is.. an adventure of the mind. It tests everything you've ever learned, read, applied and theorized. Sometimes you win and pass that all important test.. other times...you don't and you have to figure out what in your theory went wrong. An ever evolving process just like monitors themselves.
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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
3.5.3 Leopard geckos (2.0 Blizzards (Caine and Goliath), 0.1 Tangerine Albino (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short), 1.0 Rainwater Albino (Mycah), 0.4 Poss. Het. Albino (Annika, Lace, Rain and Aris) and 2.1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice, Malfeas, and Mystic))
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros)
13 rats
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
3 cats (Ashe, Sahara and Hercules)
6 Fish (4 Red Danios, 1 Cardinal Fish, and 1 Tiger Barb)
8 Ramshorn snails
"And a Partridge in a Pear Tree!"

...sorry to hear that, but missing her is a good thing!
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0.1.0 BCI, 3 yr old
0.0.1 Ridge Tail Monitor
0.0.1 ArgusXflavi Cross monitor
0.0.1 Leoperd Gecko, Juvi (My girlfriends)