So I have a visitor for a few days. Savannah monitor.

She is on loan from a friend who specializes in monitors. Going to show him off at a reptile show I have coming up next weekend. She is a little flighty and hisses when you pick her up but then she relaxes and starts to explore. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6558c39094.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...2de349e61a.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...c4d4033378.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...bb0f8b370f.jpg

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Love these guys, one of my first reptiles was a Savannah, hoping to get another some day. :D

Looks like she will be with me a little longer than expected. Her owners dad passed away and he is on the way to California to help his mom out. She is doing great for me. Eating nicely. Pooped in her water bowl. I have wanted a savannah for years and just heard bad things about them not being calm pets. She hisses when you pick her up but then mellows once in your hands. She tries to get as high up as she can when on your shoulder/ head. She loves roaches. Rats no so much. Might fix her some eggs tonight. Took her a day to figure out she can roam around her enclosure. She is energetic for a lizard. I put a lot of roaches in there and they all hid in the substrate. She spends her day hunting and digging for them. Those claws of hers are no joke. Will get more photos tonight.

Savannahs can be good pets as long as they are handled often and have a large enclosure and things to do. They are intelligent and need enrichment, most of their bad rap comes from people who keep them in small tanks and feed them live rats for entertainment, then expect them to be as sweet as a bearded dragon. I found that that for mine, an 8ft by 4ft by 4ft custom plexi cage seemed to be enough with frequent roaming time. Also, feeding a diet of mostly large insects with the occasional rodent kept mine from becoming obese as many do, and chasing dubias and hissers around the cage and finding the hidden ones gave him something to do.

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Originally Posted by Alter-Echo

Savannahs can be good pets as long as they are handled often and have a large enclosure and things to do. They are intelligent and need enrichment, most of their bad rap comes from people who keep them in small tanks and feed them live rats for entertainment, then expect them to be as sweet as a bearded dragon. I found that that for mine, an 8ft by 4ft by 4ft custom plexi cage seemed to be enough with frequent roaming time. Also, feeding a diet of mostly large insects with the occasional rodent kept mine from becoming obese as many do, and chasing dubias and hissers around the cage and finding the hidden ones gave him something to do.

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If she is with me longer than a month, I will upgrade her enclosure to something larger. As adults they still eat insects primarily? That has to be a lot of insects. LOL. She is in a 50 gallon right now. She uses every inch of it to. I wonder if there is something I can put in there for her to play with? She enjoys chasing the Dubias I put in there for sure. Also her water dish is large enough she can get in it.

I know from watching his YouTube channel Nerds gives his older monitors chicken parts and hard boiled eggs:D super cute babe, hope her owner is well sorry for his loss..

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Originally Posted by Skyrivers

If she is with me longer than a month, I will upgrade her enclosure to something larger. As adults they still eat insects primarily? That has to be a lot of insects. LOL. She is in a 50 gallon right now. She uses every inch of it to. I wonder if there is something I can put in there for her to play with? She enjoys chasing the Dubias I put in there for sure. Also her water dish is large enough she can get in it.

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Mine used to like pulling apart dried gourds to get at dubias hiding inside, and I used baskets and plastic balls with holes to hide food in as well. In the wild, Savannahs eat large numbers of insects, and have developed powerful jaws and crushing teeth they use to eat even hard shelled things like beetles. These guys get obese extremely easily, so lower fat protein that they need to catch themselves helps keep them healthy. Lean supplemental protein like fish and chicken are good choices too.

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Originally Posted by Alter-Echo

Mine used to like pulling apart dried gourds to get at dubias hiding inside, and I used baskets and plastic balls with holes to hide food in as well. In the wild, Savannahs eat large numbers of insects, and have developed powerful jaws and crushing teeth they use to eat even hard shelled things like beetles. These guys get obese extremely easily, so lower fat protein that they need to catch themselves helps keep them healthy. Lean supplemental protein like fish and chicken are good choices too.

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Ok. I see. Take an egg and empty out the shell and make a hole large enough for the roaches to crawl in would be a good game of hide and seek for her? Great idea!

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Originally Posted by Skyrivers

Ok. I see. Take an egg and empty out the shell and make a hole large enough for the roaches to crawl in would be a good game of hide and seek for her? Great idea!

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Not to mention the egg shell will provide calcium, which is never a bad thing.

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Originally Posted by Alter-Echo

Not to mention the egg shell will provide calcium, which is never a bad thing.

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Yeah. That was my thinking there.

So far all she has eaten for me has been roaches. I saw this morning that she resurged the mouse her owner fed her before he left. He is busy with funeral today so asking here on thought? I have stopped handling her till I figure it out. Might be stress?

Could be, could be over eating as well, what are the cage temps?

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Originally Posted by Alter-Echo

Could be, could be over eating as well, what are the cage temps?

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110F hot spot 85 cool. She is always in the hot side. Has 2 hides one on each side. Humidity 54% With the rain, a little higher today.

Temps are spot on, somewhat surprised the mouse was still recognizable after a few days of being in the lizard. I'd go easy of the food and minimize handling for a few days.

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Originally Posted by Alter-Echo

Temps are spot on, somewhat surprised the mouse was still recognizable after a few days of being in the lizard. I'd go easy of the food and minimize handling for a few days.

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Ok. Will do. She has pooped in her water dish two days in a row now.

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Originally Posted by Alter-Echo

Mine used to like pulling apart dried gourds to get at dubias hiding inside, and I used baskets and plastic balls with holes to hide food in as well. In the wild, Savannahs eat large numbers of insects, and have developed powerful jaws and crushing teeth they use to eat even hard shelled things like beetles. These guys get obese extremely easily, so lower fat protein that they need to catch themselves helps keep them healthy. Lean supplemental protein like fish and chicken are good choices too.

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Gee, that sounds just like those toys they make for dogs where they have to work to get the treats out of...what a great idea! I'm all for enrichment for reptiles kept
in captivity...they need activity & stimulation to stay healthy, IMO. :gj:

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Gee, that sounds just like those toys they make for dogs where they have to work to get the treats out of...what a great idea! I'm all for enrichment for reptiles kept
in captivity...they need activity & stimulation to stay healthy, IMO. :gj:

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It's where I got the idea from, they use that kinda stuff for many of the animals at the local zoo. I have kept a few monitor species over the years and honestly think they are probably as smart as most dogs, and benefit from mental stimulation, it keeps them a great deal calmer In my experience.

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Originally Posted by Alter-Echo

It's where I got the idea from, they use that kinda stuff for many of the animals at the local zoo. I have kept a few monitor species over the years and honestly think they are probably as smart as most dogs, and benefit from mental stimulation, it keeps them a great deal calmer In my experience.

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She moves things around her enclosure for sure. I did some reading. One article said they love to dig tunnels and burrow as adults. Also she moves things around her enclosure almost daily. Searching for food I guess.