Continue on Rex's savannah monitor thread!

[Monkey]

Since not much has happened with Rex besides him growing to about 14 inches in 7 months I haven't updated much.
To maintain the variations for him in feeders that he needs and his food and heat has been rather funny. Over winter with the extra dry air his humidity levels has been harder to maintain as well... I have faked more than one rain season...

he is not tame yet, but he will eat from my tweezers, he will try to bite me if I reach down too much, once in a while he will let me pet him but only so little, however he loves nailpolish and will try to eat that if I have it on my fingers.. However, his emotional responses are so good, so I know he's healthy and doing well....

I am moving in three weeks and after that I wll start building on his grown up enclosure, it will likely take up half a wall, Im aiming on doing 12-14 feet long to give him plenty of room.

Here's a video of him deciding that my fingers are NOM!!!

 

[Claudiusx]

Awesome! Loved the pictures.

-Brandon

 

[Kaiser]

Very, very cool. I absolutely love savannah monitors. Such incredible creatures. Loved the video and photos. :]

 

[Cee]

Are Savannah Monitors hard pets to keep?

 

[Monkey]

Hey there Cee, I havent been around for a while, didn't realize I had this update..

Savs yes and no.. I was kinda sloppy doing research and didn't realize exactly how much it takes.. but if you have the money its no worries..

As an adult they will need a big tank, two feet of dirt at least to dig and have fun in... My fullgrown tank for him will be 5 long, 4 deep, and 6 feet tall..They do recomend minimum of 8 long but I do two floors instead.. one digging/cave under level and one basking level with his bath tub in

A lot of people feed rodents to them, I don't agree on this.. They are insect eaters so I have been ordering various insects from various places and he has been getting:
Crickets, roaches, earth worms, snails, wax worms, supers, tomato worms and a couple of others, as well as fat free turkey meat with calcium and vitamins..

The reason I dont wanna feed rodents is cause they are high in fat content, which easier causes diseases in these savannahs.. most savs don't last a year, and very few go over the magic 3 year marker and even less the 5... Fat free turkey is the closest to the insects protein build up if I understood it right, oh and I also give him seafood sometimes, krill, fish and a shrimp here and there but not too much makes him STINKY!! *lol*

I also use UVB despite they say thats not neccessary if you dont use UVB you have to use D3 in his vitamins...

As far as handling, they are not the most easiest trained monitor, they are shy and you can force handle them which again I don't recomend or do what I do with positive reinforcement, they target train very well... Now when mine finally is becoming bigger hes also starting to trust me much more... He's more careful than defensive now..

Here's a video of how i train him...
Heads up to the cost of food for him is about every month 70 dollars with shipping and all....



more info savannahmonitor.org

If you want a snuggly monitor I would recomend ackie, peachtroat or something along those lines..

 

[Starforce2]

clearly not an animal for me then, but they are cool to watch. Several youtube vids on them and a reptile club meeting adopted out a pair of them and seeing them close up was fun.

 

[Monkey]

awww yeah savannahs are dime a dussin out there... There's easier ones to keep, but most of them are somewhat costly in food and tank costs.. Once you got the big cage done and set up its not that expensive, if you get a monitor who eats rodents it gets cheaper too

I could highly suggest tegus they need the big cage however but are very nice pets and easier to keep and basically you handle them from baby they turn puppy dog tame