Savannah monitor hep!!!

Hey guys, my savannah monitor hasn't pooped in a while until yesterday. I used to use a paper towel as a substrate as i thought it was ok as the guy who sold it to me and one of my buddies who has a monitor used it. i now changed my subsrate to eco earth. I pour a cup of water into it twice a day as well a mist the tank a few times a day. The temperature of the tank is usually around 110-116 basking and 90ish on the cool side. Theres a few reasons why im concerned about my monitor though. he doesnt move around that much. He barely eats and doesnt go straight killer mode and run straight after the crickets when i put them in. he has an odd lump over his back legs on his spine. when i put him in the bath to swim sometimes his back legs look stiff and hill flip over when trying to swim, also hell make a weird sound from his stomach like theres an air pocket in there or hes having trouble digesting or something http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forum...s/icon_sad.gif Here are pics below and i understand the tank isnt as big as it should be nor should it be glass. I have a 6 foot long wood tank im eventually going to move him too. Please dont bash me for making mistakes or not doing everything right from the start because im activly trying to fix it, oh another thing he refuses to eat mealworms, wax worms or dead crickets i thought he was supposed to be less picky than my beardie lol and btw ive had him since april. https://www.flickr.com/photos/924438.../in/datetaken/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/924438.../in/datetaken/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/924438.../in/datetaken/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/924438.../in/datetaken/ thanks in advance guys i really appreciate the help

What are you doing for UV lighting?

I don't have a savvy yet, but have been doing extensive research in preparation for one. But I have had large lizards before. From what I have read you need to increase the basking temps. Most keepers have their savvy with a 130-150 degree basking spot

Paper towels won't work for a burrowing lizard like these. There is a chance that he is/was dehydrated and impacted. The lumps on the legs sound like gout to me

That doesnt look good.......

I was told i didnt need uv for them, i looked online and lot of people say uv is needed so idk if i it that or not with him, and i was thinking since the tank is small if i make the basking spot too hot his cold spot maybe too hot as well? what would you reccomend it do, he also does not burrow

How are you taking basking temps? You need an infrared gun to get accurate readings. Your temps might not even be as hot as you think.

UV isn't necessary. I know you said you are going to switch enclosures, but that exoterra tank is wrong for a savvy.

I would bet bet once you get his temps up he will begin eating better. Are you dusting food items with supps?

Try a warm bath for hydration and helping any possible impaction.

Almost every lizard I know of need some type of UV and yes that tank is WAY too small and wrong.

The UV debate for monitors is pretty extensive. But from what I have seen the opinion of experts is swaying towards it not being necessary. Provided the animal has a diet including whole prey items

Ok back to helping this sav out. What have you been feeding?

Even though most don't need UVB, this guy could be suffering from a poor diet from the previous owner and might benefit from some uvb to offset potential metabolic bone disease.

first I would get him into a larger tank, with a much hotter basking spot. A good soak in warm water for hydration and some dusted roaches and maybe a pinky mouse if he will take it.

There are so many things wrong with your setup that there could be a number of health issues with this guy....there is no way you are providing the right temp gradient, basking temps, humidity, etc...I could sit here and type everything out for you, but honestly I am to the point where I have noticed most people ignore the advice they are given. So do yourself a favor and go to varanustalk.com and do some reading.

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I have just been feeding him medium sized crickets. I tried giving him a dead pinkie but he wouldnt eat it. Did you check the pics? Idk if hes big enough to take it down lol. I know a glass enclosure isnt the proper tank but could i make one of them last for some time until ehs big enough for the wood one? I was thinking of buying a glass one off craigslist becuase i have a few big mbv bulbs that would deffinatly be hot enough there just too big for the top of the tank i have now.

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I have just been feeding him medium sized crickets. I tried giving him a dead pinkie but he wouldnt eat it. Did you check the pics? Idk if hes big enough to take it down lol. I know a glass enclosure isnt the proper tank but could i make one of them last for some time until ehs big enough for the wood one? I was thinking of buying a glass one off craigslist becuase i have a few big mbv bulbs that would deffinatly be hot enough there just too big for the top of the tank i have now.

And im not the type of guy to read your advice and do the opposite. Whatever you guys tell me i take into consideration because i obviously need to change something.

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Originally Posted by brandonjb10

And im not the type of guy to read your advice and do the opposite. Whatever you guys tell me i take into consideration because i obviously need to change something.

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Then I advise you to go to varanustalk.com and read...you will find very quick that a 6ft cage won't be big enough for a full grown Sav, you will also see you need a tank that can allow 2ft of compacted dirt substrate so that they can burrow down. It is better to have a bank of 3 lower wattage basking bulbs that create a hot basking spot that covers the entire length of the animal without heating up the rest of the cage and spiking your ambients...crickets aren't the best source of nutrition for any lizard...at that size he should be able to eat pinkies with no issues, him not eating and the lump on his back is cause for concern IMO and I would look at taking him to a vet and fixing your husbandry issues asap

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Ok, for the time being try to get something with a larger floor space. Try to get a 40 gallon breeder or more. I'm not sure if it's the same nationwide but in Denver Petco is having a 1$ per gallon sale. That will last you a matter of months, during which you can fashion an appropriately sized cage.

A series of basking bulbs is ideal, but the mvb you have will be fine temporarily. Adjust the height of your basking surface to get the temps up to par.

For bedding, a top soil, cypress mulch, sand mix seems to be what's recommended, in a 50%, 25%, 25% proportion.

jclaiborne knows his stuff

Hey, do yourself and your sav a favor and forget quite a bit that the person you bought it from said to you, its all misinformation. ("Oh, i have a buddy who does this or that" good sign they dont know what they're talking about)

Right off the bat, heres some stuff to work on. Heat, should have a minimum of 120°F basking (130 is better imo). Use flood lights for monitors. For substrate, they need deep sandy dirt, they burrow like crazy. For an enclosure, go as big as you possibly can, what he's in now is way too small (eventually he will need an 8x4x4 foot enclosure). For humidity, they need 60% aboveground, and 100% underground. (That will be a TON easier to maintain in a large enclosure.)

Please check out varanustalk.com and savannahmonitor.net they have the most up-to-date care and very experienced people with monitors.

I havent looked through all the stuffs, but i would guess that hes not eating cuz hes too cold. If you havent yet, start using feeding tongs. (Start feeding rodents, as large as he will take. The more developed the rodent is, the more nutrients it has.)

Also, all baths do is stress the lizard. To hydrate it, raise the humidity.

Thing is i dont think hes big enough to eat rodents yet, he only eats the medium sized crickets. The stores around me oonly have dead oinkies and he wouldnt take that. any other suggestions on food?

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Originally Posted by Daniel.michelle

I havent looked through all the stuffs, but i would guess that hes not eating cuz hes too cold. If you havent yet, start using feeding tongs. (Start feeding rodents, as large as he will take. The more developed the rodent is, the more nutrients it has.)

Also, all baths do is stress the lizard. To hydrate it, raise the humidity.

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You definitely know better than I do, but I saw some information from pro exotics that said you could soak in very shallow water to help with increasing hydration in a situation like this. What do you think?

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Originally Posted by brandonjb10

Thing is i dont think hes big enough to eat rodents yet, he only eats the medium sized crickets. The stores around me oonly have dead oinkies and he wouldnt take that. any other suggestions on food?

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This has already been said by myself and others, he is big enough to take down a pinky. The fact that he doesn't want to means he could be sick, temps aren't right, or again like we have all said they enclosure is completely wrong and he is stressed out, it most likely is a combination of all 3! are you just laying the pinky down and expecting him to eat it. Use tongs and dangle it try to stimulate his prey drive, work on fixing the issues that have been pointed out to you over and over. You have already said you have a 6ft cage available, get to work on that get him in there, that will buy you some time to build the correct size cage. I will say this one more time CRICKETS ARE NOT A NUTRITIOUS FORM OF FOOD, keep trying the pinkies, try silk worms, try horn worms, dubia roaches, butter worms, silk worms, at this point try ground turkey, try fish, try shrimp, this is not your bearded dragon it is a completely different animal. You said you are not one to ignore advice and so far you have gotten plenty of advice, links to sites that cover all of this...what more do you want people to tell you.

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Originally Posted by JoshSloane

You definitely know better than I do, but I saw some information from pro exotics that said you could soak in very shallow water to help with increasing hydration in a situation like this. What do you think?

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I am looking for the article right now (so don't quote me on this yet), but I believe I have read a few times that monitors and tegus can't hydrate themselves through their vents like other lizards can.



This explains dehydration in monitors pretty well and explains why soaking is not the best option: http://www.varanustalk.com/forum/iframer4.php?page=gout

too late to edit my above statement, I need to reword my first quote, I believe it should read "they can absorb some water through their vent, but not enough to be beneficial". Still looking for a source though.

Soaking does more harm than good for savs. They need humidity. (If you want, keep a water dish. I dont cuz my savs get the water muddy in a matter of minutes.)

Found one of the articles: http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Rept...y-in-Reptiles/

I was honestly more thinking of a soak to help a possible impaction. But it sounds like the lack of defecation is due to improper diet and digestion.

Just throwing this out there too, at least with monitors, if your heat and humidity are in check, your lizard can eat straight up dirt with little to no issue. The issue of impaction comes into play with too cold and dry setups on dusty sand gravel etc.

(Just trying to drill in the importance of proper heat/humidity, especially with a good dirt substrate.)