Its Coming!

[Noggy93]

Hooray, my baby, CB, sav monitor is coming on tuesday. I have a couple days to make the setup. right now I have a list of things I want to get, please, feel free to add things in your posts and suggest specific brands when I run to the pet store tommorow and Monday.


- a tank, probably a 30 - 45 gallon, because this guy is a baby and probably not longer than my finger, I figure this will be plenty of space utnil he reaches large juvie size.

- A heat lamp

- Infrared/Uv light, something dim but helpful, mostly for nighttime

- Substrate, If not dirt, then cypress mulch

- Water bowl (duh)

- warmside cave hide, which will probably double as a basking spot ontop, and a rock surface to grind his claws down.

- A coolside log or fake tree-trunk hide

- A large dry climbing log

- Thermometer (again, duh)

- Some fun smaller climbing branches

- possible tank background, if i can find one that looks nice.

- maybe a few more small hides

- oh, and maybe a few rocks here and there, just for hangin out, grinding claws down, and to make things a bit more interesting.

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oh! and i need tips on keeping the tank humid and having him/her not being dehydrated. I think that also contributed to my other monitors death, disease and slight dehydration.

please, add more on the list if you can think of anything. If you have any tips on specific brand names, please give me the best name of something you know of, and also give the name of a different one that does the job well also, but maybe not as good and a little cheaper.

[Jeanne]

- Infrared/Uv light, something dim but helpful, mostly for nighttime

A sav needs full spectrum lighting during the day for 12-14 hours. At night...they only do one thing....SLEEP. So a light at night is not neccessary. Full spectrum lighting helps provide them with a bright day time. There is also alot of guessing on whether they need UVB/UVA lighting, however, when I had mine, I did provide it just in case.

[Noggy93]

i have a few questions. First one, how often should i feed this sav? From the breeder, they said that its only a few inches long. So i know i should feed it crickets and the occasional baby mouse. But how often?



oh, and here are a few pics of the setup that i've created so far. It still need afew minor additions (such as a coolside thermometer and maybe a UV light), but I think i've gotte the main thing covered

(yes, these are my pics but they are fairly large. may take a bit for them to load up)
http://armfork.com/rav/new%20setup%20005.jpg
http://armfork.com/rav/new%20setup%20004.jpg
http://armfork.com/rav/new%20setup%20003.jpg


I'll post pics of the monitors first reaction to his/her new enviroment once It comes on tues. Also, will update ya'll on how its doing

[gmmuscle91]

as many people will tell you here, the little stick on thermometers dont work worth a darn. go get an accu-rite digital thermo/hygrometer for like $10 at wal-mart.

[Noggy93]

Yay, its coing sometime in the morning or in the afternoon. I'll post pics of him/her ASAP. icluding the reaction to the new setup

[SatanicIntention]

Savannahs do not live on sand. Try paper towels until you can get a fecal sample to the vet to be checked for parasites and THEN, and only then, switch to a dirt/cypress mulch mixture. They need a bit higher humidity than the sand can provide and they live to dig.

Another thing, UV light is NOT a minor thing to just be thrown aside. Get a ZooMed Powersun UV light or one of the Mega Ray bulbs(http://reptileuv.tripod.com/SelfBallasted1.htm). They produce heat and UV all in one fixture, no need for anything else. Also, if you get tired of replacing the "reptile" heat bulbs, if you get a non heat-producing fluorescent UV bulb(10.0 Reptisun is best from what I've heard or any from the Arcadia series), you can go to Walmart and get a nice 45watt flood bulb that will heat anything to 120 degrees.

Also, a digital thermometer is a MUST HAVE. You cannot determine what your monitor is experiencing without one. Those stick-on dials "might" measure the glass temps or the air temps, but are they measuring the basking spot temps? Nope... You may be frying your lizard or he may be too cold, but you wouldn't know about it if you continue to use the stick-on cheapos.

Feeding consists of insects mainly, with some raw ground turkey every so often(once a week or less). Savannahs are very lazy and are prone to obesity, which leads to fatty liver disease and generally an unhealthy monitor with a very short life span. Stick to insects such as crickets, different kinds of feeder roaches, grasshoppers/locusts, and superworms and you will be golden. Feeding mice/rats can definitely lead to obesity if intake isn't monitored. Once or twice a month as a treat is good, but mainly stick to gutloaded, dusted insects.

Also, the water bowl/pan needs to be big enough for the monitor to soak as they like to defecate in their water. In my honest opinion, it would be best to keep the enclosure very simplistic(basking rock, water pan, paper towels only) until you determine whether or not your new pet has parasites(most likely will as the majority of Savs are WC and will have some type of parasite). The first fecal sample(small sample of poo placed in a plastic baggie and placed into the fridge until it can be taken to the veterinarian) needs to be checked for parasites so your animal can be as healthy as it can and can be treated as soon as possible.

Hope this helped a bit!