Alright here is my story so that all can get a little background info on me...

So I had a few reptiles growing up (under 13) didn't know what I was doing and they all died on me... I loved them just didn't have any guidance.... needless to say 14 yrs later I have a Savannah monitor, it was given to me.

Its about 24in long, it was given to me in a wire dog cage about 12" x 10" x 36" and a flood light that just sat on top and told me to feed it hot dogs and 2 rats every month... and he told me it was a Iguana. I was pretty sure when I saw it, it didnt look like an iguana.

so I searched for hours online to see what it could be. thought it looked like a savannah monitor, took a picture of it and went to my local PetCo, one of the workers there told me right away it was a sav and that he had one and told me what to feed it.

well what he thought I should feed it, i gave it two medium rats he actually wanted me to give him large rats but they looked too big for him. well the first one took him awhile to swallow and the second one he went after but then decided to not eat him any more, i think the rat bit him back.

well also have moved him from the cage and he is now in a custom built cage that I found online on craigslist its about 3.5' x 2.5' x 2' its ok for now im guessing but it has screens not glass and its made of wood. im trying to do whats right for the Sav, and thats why im here to see what I should do.

I think the setup that I have for hims is a vast improvement over what he had, but I know there is more I can do... not that money is an object but it is also limited for now. roughly about $200 I can spend on upgrades this month. any suggestions, im pretty handy with tools and such, I just wanna help him from just laying around all day...

Im feeding him crickets which at first I would have to place them in front of him before he would eat them, i thought he was just lazy but now when I feed him he chases them all over and I think he likes it. also super worms once in awhile but lately he hasn't been eating them

i feed him 1 large mouse every week.... is that good? I also have a soak tub and a water dish in there and have lined the bottom with ECO EARTH... once again good choice?

Please help with what you think I should get or do, i think I need to raise the temp for him...


thank you all in advance...

Welcome to HC! Although you are new, considering the more "help me with my monitor" and less "Hi, I'm new" nature of your post, I'll move it to the monitors section. It may get more attention there by the people that can best help you Personally I don't know a lot of off-hand husbandry info on monitors though, other than general stuff.

Eco Earth might be a bit too humid a substrate for savanna monitors I would think. I'd also feed him pre-killed mice and rats, not live ones. As you mentioned, they can bite back! Plus if he doesn't eat it then you have a live and possibly injured rodent to deal with. You will need a UVB light, I can tell you that much right now. This is critical. And with that you'll need to make sure your enclosure has a screen lid. I'd recommend a mercury vapor light over a fluorescent UVB, for something that gets as big as a monitor. Also, being handy with tools might come in....handy, lol. These guys need big cages, and if you can build it yourself that'll save you money for sure.

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+5 bonus points to whoever finds me a job!

"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield

thanks... yeah I do need help I guess I just go carried away while typing, half way through I guess I forgot where I was posting too...

Nah, it's no big deal. But not all the monitor keepers might check the introduction forum I figure you'll have a better shot getting the answers you need here.

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+5 bonus points to whoever finds me a job!

"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield

First of all welcome to Herp Center.
I highly suggest buying a book on Savannah monitors. Specifically one written by Daniel Bennett and Ravi Thakooryal. It will give you an immense amount of info.

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

Welcome to herpcenter and to life as a slave of a monitor. From the sound of it your Sav was mostlikely underfed or still really young to be only two feet. I have one that was under fed and is about the same size he eats about 2-4 medium mice a feeding being fed twice a week. Cricket are great to get them moving around but a watchful diet of mice and/or ground turkey is easiest. Good luck with you Sav and if his growth isn't stunted be on the look out for a bigger cage soon.

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I would think aspen bedding would be better for a savanna monitor. It will keep it less humid. I didn't really mention that. But I've also never kept monitors, and only cared for very young ones a long time ago.

__________________
+5 bonus points to whoever finds me a job!

"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield

Welcome to the neighborhood. Sorry I can't help with the monitor questions...

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Hey. Welcome to Herp Center! I can't help you with your moniter, just offer you support.

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<3 Tessa

0.0.2 painted turtles (Mo and Squirt)
1.0.0 yellow bellied slider (Jebidiah)
0.1.0 Amelanistic corn snake (Rose)
1.0.0 Hog Island/Colombian Boa (Kah)
0.2.1 Colombian Boa (Jasmine) and her babies
1.0.0 Suriname? Boa (Kayne)
0.2.0 Cats (Lilly and Reese)

Just thought of something else. You could browse the monitor forums here and see if you can find any useful information in there. I guess there aren't many monitor keepers, lol.

__________________
+5 bonus points to whoever finds me a job!

"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield