Drake, the Savannah Monitor, asleep on my hand.

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Originally Posted by midtx350z

what do you recommend we use as substrate and what kind of heat should we use to help him with digesting his food if not a rock?

we're planning on making him a bigger cage soon, that's why he's in this smaller cage for now.

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Dirt. Six inches to a foot deep.

Basking lights. Spotlights that get the basking spot to 135F+.

And cover 75% of the lid. Keeps humidity in.

I'm guessing you're very new to reptiles. Nothing wrong with that. I'm surprised they even sell hot rocks anymore...

There's a lot of garbage care sheets on the web. Do LOTS of research.

Google "varanus" and start looking. I'm not going to write you a 45 page care sheet on varanids, but I'm thinking maybe I should...

Chris

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Originally Posted by mumps

Dirt. Six inches to a foot deep.

Basking lights. Spotlights that get the basking spot to 135F+.

And cover 75% of the lid. Keeps humidity in.

I'm guessing you're very new to reptiles. Nothing wrong with that. I'm surprised they even sell hot rocks anymore...

There's a lot of garbage care sheets on the web. Do LOTS of research.

Google "varanus" and start looking. I'm not going to write you a 45 page care sheet on varanids, but I'm thinking maybe I should...

Chris

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What do you think of Topsoil from Home Depot?

ive mixed topsoil with sand before. But its cheaper to go in your backyard and dig a hole lol. Its always good to invest in a temp gun when you have monitors also. There pretty cheap about 20 bucks but they make the world of difference instead of guessing your temps

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Originally Posted by Denial

ive mixed topsoil with sand before. But its cheaper to go in your backyard and dig a hole lol. Its always good to invest in a temp gun when you have monitors also. There pretty cheap about 20 bucks but they make the world of difference instead of guessing your temps

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we;ve got grass in our backyard. :confused:

Topsoil is fine, just make sure it is 100% black earth, without all the fertilizer crap and other junk in there. You're not trying to grow anything, so all you need is the dirt. With autumn here, another great thing to do is collect fallen leaves and put a thick layer on top of the soil. This will keep the moisture in the soil which in turn helps with humidity levels. People hear "savannah" and think desert/dry conditions. Their preferred niches in those environments are humid burrows and termite mounds that have constant temperature and humidity levels.

The high basking temperatures will assist in digestion and the high humidity levels will assist in shedding, among other things.

Chris

Those are too funny! Thats hilarious that he sleeps like that!

Just FYI when monitors appear to "sleep" in your hand, it's their equivalent of playing dead. It's one of the mechanisms they use to deal with being terrified of what's going on when they feel threatened by large predators (in this case, you). Handling and swimming stress the heck out of these guys, you are going to end up with a sick monitor, as stress takes quite a toll on reptiles.

Had to add that you can add fall leafs to the tank, it does makes cricket catching fun:)

Geez, bunch of party poopers in here.

What an utter sweety.