I'm working on a caresheet for Savs for my website, and was wondering if I could get some feedback on what I have so far. I've been doing a fair bit of research over the last couple weeks cause I saw 2 cute little savys in the pet store...that may or may not come home with me one day soon

So this has only been like 20 minutes of typeing so far.

Species: Varanus exanthematicus

Adult Size: 3-4 feet

Ambient temperature: 85°F-90°F(29°C-32°C)

Hot spot: 125°F-150°F(32°C)

Humidity: 60%-80%

Introduction

Before going out and buying that cute little Savannah Monitor you saw in the pet store today, stop and think what it's going to grow into. That adorable little 8 inch baby will grow 2-4 inches a month, that means in a year it could be a 4 foot monster!

Housing

Obviously with a 4 foot lizard, your going to need a big cage! General rule of thumb for reptiles is twice as long from snout to tail, and half as wide. This means with a 4 foot Savannah the minimum cage size would be 8 feet by 4 feet.

If you can't accomodate this size of cage, DON'T GET A SAVANNAH MONITOR.

These Lizards like to dig and burrow, so a substarte that holds moisture to keep their humidty at the appropriate level, and holds it's shape is important. Commonly used materials are a 50/50 mix of playsand and dirt(pesticide, fertilizer and chemical free).

A large water dish big enough for the entire lizard to soak in is also a must.

UVB lighting or supplementing is also necessary. Monitors need UVB light to produce D3 which digests calcium. If you choose not to use UVB lighting though a calcium supplement with viamin D3 added is acceptable.

Feeding

Contrary to popular belief, Savannah monitors SHOULD NOT eat anything people seem fit to throw in for them.

Mice and rats are a common item to feed becuase they're big and, fill a belly faster(and cheaper) than say 50 crickets a day. Truth is that feeding this type of Monitor on a diet of rodents is like feeding someone fast food their entire life starting from a newborn. It's going to cause obesity, liver problems, organ failure, and early death. Savannah monitors are very specialised hunters, feeding exclusivly on insects and invertebrates in the wild.

Crickets, Mealworms, Superworms, Roaches, Snails, crayfish and crabs can all be fed to Savannah monitors whole and live. Live prey offers both mental and physical exercise, and should be given whenever possible in place of dead food.

How much to feed depends on the age, size and individual. In the case of Savannahs is seems to be better to offer small meals throughout the day if possible. The total amount being fed daily should be a little less than what will completely fill them up(a big killer of Savannahs is obesity). This will require experimentation since every animal is different.

Try offering X amount of crickets a day, if it eat's them all increase a couple at a time until there are still crickets left at the end of the day, then scale back a couple. As it grows you will have to re-adjust the amount though!!

If you don't think you can afford to properly feed, DON'T GET A SAVANNAH MONITOR.