Sav stopped eating

[cjb_001]

For the first time since I've had him, Thursday night my savannah monitor turned down a mouse. I've had him for a little over 3 years now and this is the first time he hasn't eaten. Eaten a mouse at least. Yesterday I offered him a hard boiled egg and he ate that with little problem aside from a mess. Tonight he refused the mouse again.

I normally feed him f/t mice and also superworms when the local store has them.

Cage humidity is ~60%, ambient temp is mid 80's and a basking spot of about 115. I haven't changed a thing with the cage in nearly 2 years.

The only notable thing that has happened recently is that he managed to get out of the cage last Tuesday while I was cleaning his water tub out. He was sitting in front of a window and ate the mouse that I had thawing for him (It wasn't frozen or anything, probably room temp by then)

Could this be a stress related problem, or something I should be concerned about? Should I maybe try a live mouse or some superworms?

Any insight is appreciated, thanks

[RichsBallPythons]

I wouldn't worry about it at all. At times with all living things, there's times their just not hungry.

I would how ever bump up his hot side to about 120-125 and see if that increases appetite.

[cjb_001]

Ok, thanks I will do that and give it a couple days. I don't get concerned when my BPs go a month without eating but when my sav doesn't eat I immediately get concerned lol

Everywhere you look for monitor information someone will tell you they will readily eat anything and everything, which he has until recently which is why I thought I should ask ^^

[Skiploder]

For the first time since I've had him, Thursday night my savannah monitor turned down a mouse. I've had him for a little over 3 years now and this is the first time he hasn't eaten. Eaten a mouse at least. Yesterday I offered him a hard boiled egg and he ate that with little problem aside from a mess. Tonight he refused the mouse again.

I normally feed him f/t mice and also superworms when the local store has them.

Cage humidity is ~60%, ambient temp is mid 80's and a basking spot of about 115. I haven't changed a thing with the cage in nearly 2 years.

The only notable thing that has happened recently is that he managed to get out of the cage last Tuesday while I was cleaning his water tub out. He was sitting in front of a window and ate the mouse that I had thawing for him (It wasn't frozen or anything, probably room temp by then)

Could this be a stress related problem, or something I should be concerned about? Should I maybe try a live mouse or some superworms?

Any insight is appreciated, thanks

I'd bump it even higher that 125. I'd try for 140. What is the size of the cage he is in?

I'd also discontinue feeding him rodents. It's not really an appropriate diet and can lead to health problems down the road.

Instead I'd try offering him some crickets, roaches or better yet, some crayfish. See if some whole crayfish or whole shrimp will stimulate his diet.

[cjb_001]

The enclosure is 7'x5'. I tend to avoid feeding crickets though because of how the cage is setup most of the crickets are never eaten. The substrate is dirt on the bottom half, and the top half is that coconut husk stuff for cutting down on the total weight of the cage. My experience with crickets is that they tend to hide under the chips and many die before they are found to be eaten. With superworms he will eat them out of a bowl.

As for the crayfish/shrimp idea, this is my first time hearing that suggestion. What would I be looking for with something like that? Don't really even know what to ask.... Are there special frozen crayfish/shrimp I can buy somewhere online, or are you talking like grocery store shrimp? lol might be a dumb question...

[RichsBallPythons]

I believe you can buy steam cooked crayfish and be sure their properly thawed and offer it.

Theres videos on youtube of monitors eating them.

[dembonez]

a Sav NOT wanting to eat?!?! WOW i guess it is possible! lol my friend nicknamed his the "Garbage Disposal" because its a bottomless pit! lol

[Skiploder]

The enclosure is 7'x5'. I tend to avoid feeding crickets though because of how the cage is setup most of the crickets are never eaten. The substrate is dirt on the bottom half, and the top half is that coconut husk stuff for cutting down on the total weight of the cage. My experience with crickets is that they tend to hide under the chips and many die before they are found to be eaten. With superworms he will eat them out of a bowl.

As for the crayfish/shrimp idea, this is my first time hearing that suggestion. What would I be looking for with something like that? Don't really even know what to ask.... Are there special frozen crayfish/shrimp I can buy somewhere online, or are you talking like grocery store shrimp? lol might be a dumb question...

Asian markets have them and whole shrimp, as do bait shops. You can buy live whole prawns and crayfish - same with mussels. Or you can buy frozen.

The key is to get raw items and whole items.

Savs are not really rodent eaters in the wild. They are specialized invertebrate feeders.

[cjb_001]

Is it ok to feed him uncooked headless shrimp, or is the head the best part for him? I live in Michigan so there's not really a whole lot of options for getting live or even raw crayfish.

Also, has anyone used the ground turkey recipe listed here: http://savannahmonitor.org/feeding/sdz/ ?

If anyone has tried that and can comment on whether or not it works that would be great. That's obviously the most cost effective idea if the uncooked headless shrimp aren't a good idea. I guess I can always look into keeping my own superworms or roaches as well. Buying them a couple dozen at a time gets to be expensive and buying in bulk always leads to the worms turning into those little black beetles if they aren't used fast enough lol

[mumps]

I know the sdz diet has been used with great success with albigularis, a close relative of exanthematicus. I believe however that the mixture must be done perfectly to do any good.

And I'm with Skiploder, bump the basking temp up to 140 - 150. A lot of dietary/digestive problems occur from too low a basking temp.

As a side note, my ornatus preys a lot on baby crocs in the wild, and I am yet to offer him one. The point is, we will NEVER be able to replicate wild conditions, and if maintained properly, there is nothing wrong with a portion of your savs diet consisting of some rodents.

Chris