Savs don't need uvb, Their hides are too thick to absorb it.
I have mine in a large glass enclosure that is increasingly too small. He's about 2 feet now and I'm in the process of building a custom job.
You should have a water bowl that he can get his entire body in. (It's ok if his tail sticks out of the water a little bit)
He'll poop in it a lot. So it will have to be changed frequently.
I personally don't use any dirt at all. I tried a whole lot of soil and clay and peat moss substrates, but wasn't happy with any of them.
I use cage carpet with a Large 5"X30" tube for him to hide in. I also have natural rocks laying around.
It's a lot easier to keep clean, the water bowl stays clean way longer, and their's no risk of ingesting small rocks or other debris that may cause impaction.

i have owned alot of monitor's in the past...monitor's can be fed alot of things...aquatic moni's can eat tuna as a treat or cat food..i wouldnt give them it alot..cause its fatty..
sava's have shed problems alot...so make sure you have a big bowl of water *they like to soak*most moni's do..i use repi carpet...easy clean up..monitor's are messy...lol all of mine learn to poop in there water dish...never put sand...and also...if you have a dog or cat...plz dont let them get close to the cage...everytime my cat or husky came they would sniff the glass and the monitors would go nuts..i still have 2 with mental problems cause of this..they dont bite but the tail flicks are annoying...make sure you secure your cage top...monitors nails can get long..which can fit in the screen holes which they like to push they're weight on the sliding top
*you can clip them with cat nail clippers i wrap my moni's in a towel and do it that way make sure you dont cut to close you can hurt them..just cut the very tips*! lol plenty of times I have had a monitor laying in my bed welcoming me in my room ...they have personalties and can be just as calm as Bearded Dragons if worked with..my fat sav *don vito* is sooo relaxed...i could leave him on the couch he wouldnt move if a nuclear bomb went off hes about 7 yrs...lol,UV can help..alot...i have rescued alot that have had joint roblems..i had to leave the heat on them alot cause of there joitns were so bad..winter was a tough time ..:/ but they are in jacksonville zoo i donated them *mangrove monitor bindi* *nile monitor homer*

thanks you guys have helped a lot , so if I use carpet how do I clean up after then so there is not stains and bacteria all in the carpet. I thought they like to dig im not sure but he may not be happy just laying there on carpet.

Natural substrate is always the best way to go in my opinion and it's all I use for my reptiles. However it is more time consuming as the substrate requires special maintenance of it's own. That's why the majority don't go this route.
Substrate is much more vital to reptiles than people having to choose whether they want carpet or vinyl.
Enough said.

__________________
Mike
"Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you." - Mother Teresa

hand wash the carpet...monitor's looooove to dig but.they are messy if you put the wood stuff..you will have to clean the water like 4 times a day and wake up to him slinging mulch all over the cage lol monitor's do very well with carpet...if you have a bigger encloser then use the wood chip's...you can feed your moni dead mice to so he wont eat the wood when hes raptor chasing his prey all over the cage!lol

ok right now I have a 100 gallon tank it should give the little guy some room till I build a much nicer one maybe when it gets warmer here in chicago. just worried about the humidity maybe ill put a large bowl in there for him to keep it some what humid for him

I don't know if this is quite corret. Though there been no proff yet that monitors benifet from UV lighting, the affects of UV lighting and D3 levels has been studied (though I'm not finding the paper I read this from).

This study involved three groups of monitors, one without UV, one with UV and one free land in Costa Rica exposed to sunlight conditions. With out saying the free living montiors had the highest amount of D3 in their blood. Though the monitors kept under UV lights blood D3 blood levels were not too far behind. So as far as this study shows monitors can process UV lighting, though it's not proven if this has any benifet to the animal.

__________________
http://www.ig-phelsuma.de/
http://dght.de

well does anyone use uv lighting with there monitor

I use a low amount of UV lighting for my Sav. it may not help but it can't hurt.

__________________
http://www.ig-phelsuma.de/
http://dght.de

i use UV with my lizards who are not shy...UV is good for older monitors..cause there joints get bad...it helped my older males alot with the UV and alot of heat