#111839

 Savannah monitor feeding???

Hi, I was wondering what should I feed my savannah monitor. Yeserday he ate for the first time since I bought him about a week ago. I had feed him a hopper and he is about 12in. long. every since I bought him on the first day I put 20 crickets in his cage but they are still in his cage. Sould I be worried that he mite be addicted to mice only or sould I stick with a mouse only diet. Any sugestions on what sould I feed him and how often too.

 #111851

 Savannah monitor feeding???

One week seems like a long time before starting feeding to me. First, we have to look at the health of your sav. Did you have a fecal test done by a vet? Your sav is most probably wild-caught, and virtually all wild-caughts are infested with parasites. The stress of transportation and moving to a new enclosure is debilitating to a sav, which allows the parasites to multiply dangerously. Mine was infected with coccidia when I bought him and he started feeding like a little pig once treated. This is your first step. The second step is having a good look at its enclosure. A sav’s housing needs must be satisfied before it starts feeding. Can you describe or better still post pics of its enclosure? What are your temps? Savs like it hot: I provide my sav with a heat gradient of 84F-102F with a hot spot over 115F. A piece of wood that takes your sav closer to the heating lamp should do the trick. Your sav also needs a high level of humidity. The substrate should be one that he can dig in (dirt, cypress mulch) but I’d recommend you keep it on newspaper until its fecals are negative, i.e. free of parasites. Your sav must be healthy (free of parasite) and its housing needs must be met before it starts feeding. The third step is feeding. Smaller prey is better (safer), a hopper sounds a wee big for a 12in., go with pinkies, then fuzzies, and so on. The prey should be no longer than the length of the sav’s head and its width no wider than the width between your sav’s eyes. Try to feed him calcium-dusted gut-loaded crickets as its staple. Give it a few at a time, as much as it will eat in about 10 minutes (mine eats 25-30 crickets a day). DO NOT LEAVE TWENTY CRICKETS IN THE ENCLOSURE: 1 - crickets will prey on your sav; 2 - unless you keep feeding them they will lose their nutritional values; 3 - they might stress your sav. But first, let’s make sure your sav is healthy and that its housing needs are satisfied. You should also get a digital balance and monitor the weight of your sav. If it starts losing weight, that’s not a good sign. I hope this helps. Keep me posted, Mark

 #111879

 Savannah monitor feeding???

Hi, I didn’t have a fecal test by my vet but I plain to. For the substrate in his cage I have bed a beast and he has a hide rock, a basking rock and a water dish sunk into the 1/2 in. of substrate. He has a basking temperture of 115 and the cool end, and 75 at night. Yeserday was the first day he accepted the mouse since I got him from the petshop. I think he was starving because when I put the hopper in the cage he went right after it, but I have never seen him go after the crickets. Is there any else I sould try to feed him and also should I feed him another pinky or hopper today. Need help with feeding dirrections.

 #111882

 Savannah monitor feeding???

Try to get the fecal done asap. If bed a beast is what I think it is, I would get rid of it in favour of dirt or cypress mulch. Is the basking rock a heat rock? If so, that one should also get out of your enclosure as it could overheat and badly scald your sav. Your temps seem fine, though I would keep it at 80F-84F at night for a young sav. Try to feed more smaller prey, if he doesn’t eat the crickets, try offering him two to four pinkies. You can also try mealworms, but my sav won’t touch them. For the rest, I’ll leave that to someone more experienced, I’ve just got mine two months ago. I hope this helps. Mark

 #111883

 Savannah monitor feeding???

Oh, and don’t give up the crickets yet, he may eventually eat them.

 #111900

 Savannah monitor feeding???

What your doing is okay but you might not want to feed him lab mice alot the can lead to obesity and lethargy. Also make sure to get a calcium powder (try to find a D-3 calcium powder). Also try crayfish my monitor loves them, maybe try super worms they seem to like those also. The biggest thing right know is to feed him a varity of insectsand a lab mouse here and there as a treat.oh ya for right now on how often since you just got him I would feed him every other day than when he’s about grown which is about 2-21/2 feet feed him maybe 3 times a week but make sure it’s a goood amount of varity and plenty of it. Hope this helps!

 #111928

 Savannah monitor feeding???

One sugestion i can make is to get as big of crickets as you can, our sav is slightly smaller than yours and totally ignores any cricket he feels is too small (the minimum size he will eat is aprox 2/3inch) so bigger is better. Savannahs in the wild are allmost completely insect eaters (adults feeding on things like HUGE millipedes and giant scorpions yuck) and rarely eat any vertibrates other than amphibians. So the more bugs you can get him to eat and the longer he will eat them the better.

 #111945

 Savannah monitor feeding???

Thanks for all your information. So you said if he doesnt accept the crickets try to give him 2-4 pinkys day or did I read it wrong. Will a diet like this be okay until I can find insects that he will eat, like maybe baby hissing cockroaches, fish, crayfish, mealworms, or maybe giant millipedes. Do you think all of these food items I sould try and maybe some other suggestions on other prey. And another question,I always hear savannahs live low-humidity and then high-humidity. Which one is it and should I spray the cage.

 #111961

 Savannah monitor feeding???

Scrappy, I would love to know where you get your information so that I can tell the people that in some respects that they are being total morons. So, 2 to 2 & 1/2 feet is full grown. Wow, could you possibly tell that to my three footer that is a year and half old? I think maybe he should shrink. Savs can (although very rarely) grow to five feet. I have found that "normal" size for them is 3 to 3&1/2 feet. Let me just clear that up...the above size is an average size not an exact estimate. The sav needs to be fed mice. The foods that will lead to problems and obesity are processed foods (cat and dog food)and red meats. Whole food items (mice/rats) provide monitors with what they need to thrive. The sav needs to be feed as many appropriately sized mice as it will eat, plus be offered the variety of insects. Obesity is not only a result of food intake, but by the exercise your monitor will get. As a sav becomes an adult you can cut their diets back a bit if need be to avoid obesity. You can also try quail and chicken peeps. The fecal exam at the vet is really not need unless you are having major problems. Vets are quick to worm monitors and other lizards and this can lead to major problems later on. Trust me, I have seen it first hand and am going through it now with some of the monitors we were just given.

 #111967

 Savannah monitor feeding???

So will it be okay to give him 2-4 pinkys a day till I find something else besides crickets???

 #112369

 Savannah monitor feeding???

It will keep him alive, yes. Keep trying crickets, as big as you can get them. He should really be eating them untill he is at least a year old. As far as humidity goes the top of the soil/substrate (bed a beast (coconut fiber) in your case) can be dry but the undernieth should be slightly damp so he can burrow when he feels like moisture. Provide a fairly large dish, if he is soaking in his water alot during the day then hes too dry. We are trying bed a beast with our sav right now but he doesnt really like it much so you might try changing substrates. Dirt is usually reccomended but hard to get in some places (our last batch we tried was full of ants yuck) Cypress mulch won’t really hold a burrow if he wants to dig but alot of people use it and like it(more with tegus than monitors though). Our savs a little silly but his very favorite substrate so far is a big fluffy pink bath towel (granted hes too small yet to really dig at it and catch his claws and such), and hes much more active and looks better on it than the coconut go figure. Good luck.

 #112376

 Savannah monitor feeding???

Big Mitch, did you not read my post? Pack him with the pinkies. They are good for him. Don’t stop the pinkies coming. He can not live on insects alone. At a year old, he should be too large to consider crickets for food. At that time you should try hissing roaches or superworms for a treat.

 #112387

 Savannah monitor feeding???

Jade2u, I mean no offence, but all my sources (ProExotics, Bennet’s "The Savannah Monitor Lizard" etc.) stress the need to offer invertebrate prey (e.g. crickets) for as long as they will accept them, with mice once or twice a week. What you say is completely different. What are your sources? I know that knowledge on successful captive care is quickly expanding and/or changing, and I just cannot read enough. I’d be glad if you could share your sources with us. Thanks. Mark

 #112595

 Savannah monitor feeding???

I agree. Have you read the book "The Savannah Monitor, The Truth About Varanus exanthematicus" by Bennett & Thakoordyal ? Dr. Bennett has been taking stomache content samples from savannahs in the wild for 10 years. Only 1 in every 1000 samples contains matter from vertibrates other than amphibians. Only 6% of all contents is vertibrate at all. The broken down feeding habbit of the adult savannah monitor in the wild of Senegal is roughly: 49.4% millipedes, 21.2% Beetles, 15.1%larvae, 9.1% crickets and locusts, 3% reptile eggs, 2% snales, .1% scorpions. It also lists uncured internal parasite infestation the #1 non husbandry killer of savannahs under 1 year of age. Rodents ARE the captive staple of adult savannahs but only because there are few other choices available, NOT because they are the best food for the animal. Overfeeding is also the main cause of obesity, There are more savannahs out there that are fat because thier owners like to watch them eat, than because they are being fed the wrong diet (ie: your example of cat food) Mainly because an adult sav on the wrong diet would not really live overly long in the first place.

 #112714

 Savannah monitor feeding???

Even frozen pinkies/rodents can carry diseases. And with live rodents, the threat is ttriple. Is he eating live or frozen pinkies? Invertebrates are a VERY important part of the diet. And like Scrappy said, obestity and lethargy can be a ’side-effect’ in the long run from a diet containing most or only rodents, they are are very high in fat. Try superworms if they continue to reject the crikets. If that doesn’t work, try regualr (not from a bait shop) earthworms. Go out and find some, wash them, feed them, repeat. I have some books that are worth reading for general monitor/tegu care. I have a helpful book called "Monitors, Tegus, and Related Lizards" By R.D & Patricia P. Bartlett. The other book I have is called "MONIOTRS: The Biology of Varanid Lizards" By Dennis King & Brian Green. I have read both of these books, they are very helpful. I hope I have helped. -collin

 #113651

 Savannah monitor feeding???

I mean no offense back, but how many savs have you actually owned and/or nursed back to health? How many have you actualy had hands on experience with dietary matters? And out of those experiences how many have been healthy, how many sick/miskept/mistreated? Hatchling, juvenile, subadult, adult? I disagree with the insect theory, sorry. What sources do I have? I’ll tell you what sources.....the monitors that come through my door everyday ie experience. I find it interesting that these people that are feeding only insect prey and processed foods are the ones with monitors ending up here because they are sick and/or dying. Yeah, a lot of times it is the way they are kept also, but sometimes it is just their diets. I hate to tell you, but crickets ain’t hamster brain for a two foot long monitor. Roaches, superworms... yes, but not crickets. And the insects provided need to be dusted. So, what sources......mine. I would be happy to share any of my feeding charts or rescues’ progresses with any of you. My personal savs receive a main diet of rodents with roaches for treats. They are 100% healthy (vet checked-Companion Animal Hospital/PA/Dr. Lynn Libby, and not over weight at all. I would be glad to post updated pics also. I am in no way trying to be cocky, just trying to back up my point.

 #113657

 Savannah monitor feeding???

Jade2u, I am new to monitors myself, having owned a juvenile for two months. This is exactly why I’m asking, I want to learn. I can easily conceive that the idea of a three foot monitor feeding on crickets only is ludicrous. From what I’ve read, mice are offered because of the impracticality of feeding giant crickets, giant millipedes and scorpions. I meant no offence asking your sources, but I’m sure you understand that I would most probably end up with a very sick (or dead) monitor if I just blindly followed anyone who gives me advice first. I’m sure you understand what I mean (just look at some posts LOL). Actually, I’d love to see your feeding charts! Many thanks for writing back, Mark

 #113664

 Savannah monitor feeding???

Jade, you have more experience with herps than all of these people but aparently it means nothing to these ignorant fools who think they can teach you something. Yet you still try to help them out. I don’t understand...

 #113713

 Savannah monitor feeding???

Devin, I know that Jade2u has more experience than me on monitors, this is why I’m asking her for sources, clarifications, worth through contradictions between the literature and vets, monitor keepers, rescuers etc. Capitve care of some species like monitors is still in its infancy and knowledge is expanding fast, and some books soon become outdated. At the moment, it is still more about what has worked than it is about what we know, because frankly, we don’t know much. You call it ignorance, well I call it active learning. I’m not just here sitting in front of my PC to absorb whatever info may come up, I want to take an active participation in my own learning process. Read my posts above: I have written what I know and mentionned and my limited experience and my hope to have someone more learned about monitors to drop in and help. I myself am a trained dog breeder and trainer (granted, dogs are not herps), I have over 20 years experience with snakes and I read college level texts of herpetology as much as I can find time to do so. If you guys think I don’t deserve help, just like I strive to help on the species I am more familiar with, then I’m out of here. Rantingly, Mark

 #113716

 Savannah monitor feeding???

Ok Jade, my turn. lol Pack it with pinkies? Why? At a year old it should be at least eating hoppers, ruffage ya know. My only argument with you so far. lol As far as mice for food, it gets all the vitamins and calcium from the bones and such. As for crickets, get the largest ones you can get and either dust them guload or both before feeding. Those big hissing raoches seem awful yummy though. As your lizard gets bigger, it will need bigger food. If you think savs eat alot, I’ll be glad to let you pay the bill for my albig. lol Scott

 #113983

 Savannah monitor feeding???

Kap, when I said pack him with pinkies, I meant mice in general, whatever size he is eating at the time. And actually, if it is a year old then it should be sizable enough to consume small rats or jumbo mice at least. I didn’t mean to start a war here. I was only stating what has worked best for me. And yes, I have found a lot of things that go completely against what this book or that book has said, but it seems to be better for the sav. I honestly do not feel that you can maintain a savannah or any monitor on insects alone. Especially not crickets. Yes, savs have obesity problems, but what some people don’t realize is that some of this problem comes from improper husbandry. The savs are not able to burrow, bask at correct temperatures, or get any exercise because of a small environment. The last is easily remedied by taking your sav outside for some exercise. It is not always possible to provide the correct enclosure size for a sav especially with more and more kids keeping reptiles now days. And most of the time it is not the kids’ faults, it is the parents that refuse to allow the kids to provide what their reptile needs. In this case, it’s the parents’ faults for not saying no in the first place if they didn’t care for their child’s endeavor. Insects come in handy here because they provide the sav with more of a chance to exercise. However, the truth is that they are living in captivity and not in the wild. I feel that without the proper implication of rodents in their diets, they come up lacking in nutrients they need to thrive. I know that my opinion is just that, my opinion. I didn’t mean to come off that anyone was wrong, per say. I just have a difference in opinion, have results to back up that opinion (or the reason I feel the way I do), and am stating what has worked best for the captives that I have possessed. As someone else said, I am always willing to listen to new suggestions also. I care about what is going to make the critters the happiest and healthiest, not me.

 #113984

 Savannah monitor feeding???

Jade2u, you can rest assured that you didn’t come off wrong to me, I actually appreciated your reply, as much as I appreciate your last post. Keep it coming! Mark