Hello everyone,

I have wanted a savannah monitor for a long time. I did all of my research beforehand and honestly thought I would need to order a little guy online, but I found one in a petshop instead. I probably shouldn't have gotten him because he just didn't seem... healthy. I have a juvenile black and white tegu that is thriving with proper temps and a huge enclosure. I expected him to act a bit more like my tegu when he was a baby. But he didn't. He seemed tired all the time. To compound the problem, while I was at the pet store picking him out, there was another monitor that kept flipping over onto his back. It's like he just couldn't right himself. I thought that look suspicious... but I also really wanted a monitor. I chose to overlook my concerns because I was confident I could rehab the little guy even if he was sick (I didn't think it would be anything he couldn't recover from).

Anyway, long story short: my little one died. I had only had him for two weeks. His basking spot was right at 120 degrees (I know care sheet recommend 130 but the pet store kept insisting that's too hot for a baby). The cool side was 80 degrees. It's a custom enclosure with the same measurements as a 40 gallon breeder. 8 inches of substrate misted every other day. Fed crickets (as many as he would eat in ten minutes). None of it seemed to matter and he just progressively got worse and worse. So I called the pet store because I didn't think it was my fault. They exchanged him for another and this guy is much more lively and DOES seem healthy. But my confidence is shot. I feel so bad for my earlier monitor. I want to make sure it wasn't fault. That it wasn't a preventable death. More importantly, I want to make sure my little dude survives because I'm getting very attached to this one.

Please help me! Any advice, criticism, anything!

Thank you!