Rescue case . . any advice?
 

My boyfriend and I are both animal freaks and are very well known at one particular pet store in the area (the only one we trust). We went in one day to grab food for our snakes and saw possibly one of the worst cases of obesity I have ever personally seen in any monitor. It was a year and a half old Savannah monitor that looked like it had swallowed a football. She was barely able to walk and was docile, simply because she couldn't move otherwise.

Naturally, we took her in. The previous owner had fed her nothing but dog food in one of the automatically dispensing containers (like the Bistro). We took her home, set her up in the closet (as we did not currently have the money to build her a proper terrarium), got her hiding places, water bowls, etc. and left her be. Every attempt to feed her in the last month and a half has failed. At first, I figured that she simply had enough fat on her to be taking care of her, but I am now growing concerned. Her defecations are 100% liquid; the urates are not solid as they commonly are in other lizards. I am not sure if this is normal in monitors, as we are somewhat new with them.

We have been taking her outdoors (no pesticides or fertilizers are used in the lawn) and letting her bask in the sunlight. She still does not move much on her own, but, if chased (which we hate to do), she will move about. That is the only way that, so far, we have been able to get much action out of her. She is still extremely weak. I purchased a book on Savannah monitors yesterday, along with a new 5.5" baby (kept in a separate cage, of course) and we have more ideas of what to tempt her palate with, but does anyone else have any ideas, or, better yet, experience with slimming down an obese Savannah? We're most worried about how long she can go without eating. She does drink regularly, and that is obviously passing through her system, but we're a little in the dark here. I'll post pictures as I take them. She does have extensive scarring on her back, possibly from trying to squeeze into locations that she's too big to fit in. Any help will be appreciated.

If you would prefer to contact us via phone and be able to talk to us, you can reach my boyfriend (Anthony) at 757-503-3135 (United States).

Sorry to bring back an old thread, but i was wondering if you still have the savannah? Im interested because i just got a 3ft savannah a couple weeks ago thats very obese with alot of scarring on her back and missing toes from a guy in lancaster during a trade. If its not the same one did you ever find any news on slimming them down?

I just read that...

blows my mind that the word "rescue" was used, immediately followed by "closet" and no "money"

frying pan to the fire...

that's not a rescue, it's a death sentence.