Care Sheet for MonitorsAverage Rating Given To This Care Sheet Is 4.67 (1=lowest, 5=highest) Last Updated: 01/13/2007 |
Main Category: | Lizards |
Sub Category: | Monitors |
Care Sheet Submitted By: | Zabuzaa |
Years Experience: | 5 to 10 Years |
Species: | Savanna monitor (varanus exanthematicus) |
Other Species or Phases this Care Sheet May Cover: | ionides and whitethroat have very similar care, but they get larger than the typical savanna. All monitors have similar care needs. |
Sexing and Characteristics: | Males will have 2 bulges at the base of the tail that look like two batteries under the skin. Males will also be bigger than the females, and may evert their hemipenes while defecating. (they look like 2 pinkish broccoli’s) |
Mostly Active During: | Day |
Substrate and Water Needs: | Most people use a dry substrate for savs because they assume they are from the desert. Wrong. These need more humidity than say, a bearded dragon. Don’t use sand! That is too dry. Use a mix that provides humidity and holds a burrow well. Or just use topsoil, which works well. Use a large water dish that the lizard can fit its entire body into. Please DO NOT USE NEWSPAPER. The lizards can’t dig in it, and they really dislike it. |
Lighting and UVB: | No UVB is necessary, though it can’t hurt. No bad will come from it if you use supplements properly. For a basking spot of 130-140, you can use good old halogen 40 watt floodlights, "pet" bulbs, such as exo terra, placed close to the basking spot, mounted in the cage, or waste your money on a 250 watt bulb. (i recommend the halogen lights, the 250 watt bulb is NOT A GOOD IDEA, but use whatever you can.) |
Temperatures and Humidity: | 130-140 for the basking area, 80-95 in the middle, and 75 in the cool end is good. Remember to give your monitor lots of temperature choices and see what he prefers. (ex, always being in the warm end, you might want to raise the temps, always in cool end, lower temps). Humidity is needed, if not maintained with proper humidity, shedding problems might occur. 40-60 percent is good. You can use a hide stuffed with sphagnum moss if the rest of your cage is not humid enough. (Again, do not use sand) |
Heating and Equipment: | 40 watt halogen floodlights, UTH if needed, but a nighttime bulb is better. |
Caging Provided: | A 20 gallon is great for a hatchling-juv. As they get bigger, use your judgment to provide bigger cages when need be. A fully grown male sav will need a 8 by 2 by 3 cage, though 10 by 4 by 4 is good for a pair. Always provide as much space as you can, these are very active lizards and need to thermoregulate. |
Diet: | Carnivorous |
Description of Diet: | You don’t need a "schedule" for monitors, but care must be taken to feed whole food items (eg, mice, insects, birds, etc) and little unbalanced food (eg turkey, eggs etc). Supplement all insects and, if you must use turkey, that too. Babies should not have meat often, mostly insects. You don’t need a huge variety, as long as you do not feed mice|turkey more than 3 times a week. DO NOT FEED CAT OR DOG FOOD!!!!!!!!! that stuff is horrible for them and is 10 times worse than turkey. I wouldn’t feed egg often either, raw or hard boiled. If feeding raw egg, the shell is good for calcium, but too many eggs will induce a biotin deficiency. The feces are also smellier and harder to clean up after eating egg anyway. Chicken may be used if you have NO OTHER WHOLE ANIMAL, but it is not recommended. Also, NEVER COOK THE MEAT. That removes lots of nutrients and makes it completely worthless in the ways of nutrition. |
Supplements, Nutrition and Usage: | I use miner-all indoor, but rep-cal is good too. Supplement all insect matter and turkey with it, with or without UVB. |
Maintenance: | Fairly easy since they will often defecate in their water dish. Watch how much food they eat depending on how much you offer. They will sometimes get food lost in the substrate, and it will stink horribly until you remove it. |
Some Words on this Species: | A mediocre "first monitor", considering many novice reptile keepers will not be able to accommodate a 4-foot carnivorous lizard. And, 99 percent are wild caught. When you buy it, check for ticks and get a fecal by a local reptile vet. Setting that aside, most of these calm down well too, but the key word is "individual". For the people who want a first monitor lizard, go with an ackie. (Varanus Acanthuras). All of these are CB, since it is illegal to export from Australia. They only get 2 feet also. But, overall, savanna monitors are very common and a lot of fun to keep. I would get one as a next step up from the Ackie.
Books to read:
The Savanna Monitor Lizard (Bennet and THakordakyl)
Nile monitors (Robert Faust)
Books to not read:
General Care and Maintenance of Popular Monitors and Tegus
Savanna and Grassland Monitors
The last two are out of date, and the first two are the most recent. |
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