1st Savannah questions - FaunaClassifieds
FaunaClassifieds  
  Tired of those Google and InfoLink ads? Upgrade Your Membership!
  Inside FaunaClassifieds » Photo Gallery  
 

Go Back   FaunaClassifieds > Reptile & Amphibian - Lizard Discussion Forums > Iguanas & Monitors Discussion Forum

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 07-15-2019, 05:18 PM   #1
magrima
1st Savannah questions

Hi all. I have/had many kinds of smaller lizards over the years. Armadillo lizards, plated lizards, croc and berber skinks, and ackies. I'm looking to move up to a savannah monitor as I've wanted one forever. I have a T25 AP Plastic tank with dimensions 72"L x 30"D x 18"T currently vacant and ready to be occupied. My question is how long before the savannah would outgrow that size tank assuming I get a fairly young one to start? I will be moving into a house I currently rent out when their lease is up which will have a room I will dedicate to the Sav, but that won't be for about 1.5 years. For you experienced Sav owners, will this be adequate until that time or will he grow enough that it would be too cramped given substrate, hides and such. I try to give as much room to all my pets and the last thing i want is for him to be stuffed in something too small.

On a side note I have been doing tons of research on the care of these guys but if you feel there is any specific things worth mentioning or any off hand advice I'd love to hear it. Thanks!
 
Old 07-26-2019, 04:30 PM   #2
Varanexan
Quote:
Originally Posted by magrima View Post
assuming I get a fairly young one to start
V. exanthematicus is a highly seasonal species, and neonates are only hatched in the spring. The hatchlings are then caught from their nests and imported en masse annually from the coastal plain of West Africa. The problem is that you will not find fairly young (or healthy) V. exanthematicus this time of year. All there is left is either adults from the previous years, or the "left overs" from this last season that did not sell and are now lingering in barren, screen-topped aquaria for months; thus taking a heavy toll on them physiologically. A common by-product of poor "temporary" enclosures is that the animals face is chronic dehydration and underheating. This is stressful to internal organs and the animals suffer years later (if they survive that long.)

It is important to note that, despite what you'll hear often on the internet, the savannah monitor isn't a very good varanid for captivity. There are a lot of monitor lizards that perform very well in captivity, and multi-generational reproduction has been established for those species; but the savannah monitor isn't one of them. Its a species that is very common in the trade and easy to buy, but no one has had long-term success keeping or breeding the savannah monitor. It lives a short life and is temporary entertainment for the thousands of people that buy them every year. The specimens that do manage to survive a few years are usually massively obese, under-heated and non-reproductive males. Your enclosure sounds better than most. If I were you, I'd save for a species that is far less of a challenge to keep and is much more rewarding. Take it from a person that currently keeps seven of them....

http://savmon.org is the only website worth reading in my humble opinion. It is authored by a biologist that has studied the species in-situ since the early 90's.
 
Old 04-19-2020, 01:49 AM   #3
kwysocki
If you still get one. Please make sure you feed it mostly insects! IF you feed a lot of whole prey items it well be dead within 5 years. Mine is 8 years old and only feet whole prey items 1 time a month the rest is insects. most die of obesity and tumors from over saturation of fat from rats and mice.
 

Join now to reply to this thread or open new ones for your questions & comments! FaunaClassifieds.com is the largest online community about Reptile & Amphibians, Snakes, Lizards and number one classifieds service with thousands of ads to look for. Registration is open to everyone and FREE. Click Here to Register!

 
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
[For Sale] Poss trade Savannah and Savannah Peach gene males Zach Spyker Ball Pythons 1 07-18-2016 07:35 PM
My new savannah monitor and some questions Pinetop Iguanas & Monitors Discussion Forum 0 04-29-2012 10:10 PM
Savannah Monitor Questions-Enclosure AND Feeding Skeetzy Feed, Caging, Supplies & Services 6 01-29-2012 09:16 AM
Savannah Monitor---shedding/problem/questions??? phillyroc General Herp Talk 0 07-13-2004 12:45 AM
Savannah Monitor--shedding/questions/problem????? phillyroc Iguanas & Monitors Discussion Forum 0 07-13-2004 12:40 AM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 01:24 AM.







Fauna Top Sites


Powered by vBulletin® Version
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Page generated in 0.02912498 seconds with 10 queries
Content copyrighted ©2002-2022, FaunaClassifieds, LLC