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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Re: So I have a visitor for a few days. Savannah monitor.
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.
Re: So I have a visitor for a few days. Savannah monitor.
Quote:
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.
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.
Re: So I have a visitor for a few days. Savannah monitor.
Quote:
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.
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.
Re: So I have a visitor for a few days. Savannah monitor.
Quote:
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.
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!
Re: So I have a visitor for a few days. Savannah monitor.
Quote:
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!
Not to mention the egg shell will provide calcium, which is never a bad thing.
Re: So I have a visitor for a few days. Savannah monitor.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Alter-Echo
Not to mention the egg shell will provide calcium, which is never a bad thing.
Yeah. That was my thinking there.
