savannamonitorcaresheet

Savannas are quite smart..are you smarter?
Absolutely !
Maybe !
I Dont Care !
Depends !
Absolutely Not !

Life Span

They live up to 10 years or more, some savannah monitors have lived more than 15 years.

Difficulty Level

Moderate - keeper should have previous experience with larger Monitor species.

Enclosure

Baby Savannah Monitors require a minimum of a 10 gallon aquarium. This species grows fairly fast and will require larger enclosures to accommodate their increased size. Full-grown specimens may require custom-built enclosures. Provide a sturdy hiding place and branches for climbing and basking.

Substrate

There are a few good choices for a substrate. Newspaper is fine, but is boring and looks nothing like their natural environment. Although it is recommended that a few layers of newspaper be added to the bottom of the enclosure before adding the final substrate. This will help absorb and dissipate liquids making cage cleaning much easier. Over the newspaper use Soil/Sand mixture or newspaper plain out. We do not recommend corn cob bedding, carpet or reptibark because of its propensity to mold when wet and to swell when ingested, carpet will mean Savannas will have no toes. By no means should cedar ever be used, it's oils are toxic to reptiles.

Temperatures & Heating

Savannah Monitors naturally live in arid scrubland. Daytime temperatures should fall between 80°f to 85°f. Temperatures can reach as high as 95°f, but this should only be offered as a basking area. Nighttime lows can drop as much as 10 degrees for a temperature range of 70°f to 75°f.

Zoo Med BASKING SPOT BULBS, CERAMIC HEAT EMITTERS and REPTITHERM® UNDER TANK HEATER (U.T.H.) are all excellent choices. Do not turn the tank heater off, leave it on 24 hours a day and use it in conjunction with a Zoo Med RHEOSTAT™ for easy heat control. Do not use a white light for nighttime heating. A red or blue spot light work great, especially if you plan on observing your monitor at night. If heat is the only concern, the best choice would be a CERAMIC HEAT EMITTER. Savannah Monitors will also enjoy a Zoo Med REPTICARE® ROCK HEATER, but be sure you choose a rock large enough so that your lizard doesn't completely cover the rock. This will restrict airflow and possibly cause the rock to overheat, placing your lizard at risk for a burn.

Humidity

Providing proper humidity for Savanna Monitors is important to ensure a healthy environment and aid in shedding, but as stated previously too much humidity can be as problematic as too little. First off, let's establish "humidity" as the amount of moisture in the air. To provide your monitor with a humidity level of 15% - 20%, you have a couple of options.

1. Use cypress mulch or a similar substrate. Cypress is good for this as it turns a tan color when dry & a rich brown when wet, giving a visual cue as to when it needs to be changed.

2. Make a "humidity box" for your monitor. This consists of packing a plastic container with damp sphagnum moss (think well-wrung-out wash cloth to gauge moisture), cutting a hole in the top or side & placing it in your monitors enclosure so that it can access the box as it pleases.

Keep in mind that if you have a screen top on the enclosure you will probably want to keep it uncovered most or all of the way. This is also where having proper, reliable ambient temperatures (back to that thermometer!) is important, as warm air holds more moisture than cool air. You want the enclosure to be less humid, not WET. A soggy cage can eventually lead to bacterial & fungal infections and consequently, death.

Lighting

Full spectrum lighting is required for Savannah Monitors. The Zoo Med REPTISUN 5.0™ with its high UVB and the Zoo Med REPTISUN 2.0™ with it's high UVA output are excellent choices. The UVB is necessary for mineral absorption while UVA stimulates activity and psychological well being UVA also enhances the color of the animal. A UVA bulb is not a necessity, but holds great benefits. All reptiles and amphibians need a photo period. A plug in timer (for your lights only, do not use a timer for your heating devices) works well to develop a regular photo period (light cycle) of 8 - 10 hours of light, 14 - 16 hours of darkness.

Water

Savannah Monitors are poor swimmers and prefer not to go into the water. A small to medium sized water bowl for drinking will be sufficient.

Feeding

Savannah Monitors are strict carnivores. Bite sized offerings are best unless the food item can be easily torn by the lizard. Baby monitors do best with crickets, worms and snails. Oddly, enough, snails are their preferred diet. (If harvesting live food from your yard, be sure no insecticides have been used). Monitors will gradually progress to larger prey such as pinkie mice, adult mice and small rats. A high quality canned cat food, beef chunks and eggs are also good supplements. It is best to keep high fat/protein meals to a minimum due to long-term health problems and early death. Crickets, waxworms, night crawlers, ground turkey meat and snails should comprise the majority of their diet. Be sure to dust the food every-other feeding with a reptile vitamin such as REPTIVITE™. Small monitors should be fed every 2 - 3 days and medium to large sized monitors should be fed 2 - 3 times per week. Savannah Monitors are known for their appetites. While this should have no effect on immature lizards, adults can easily become overweight. Be sure your monitor gets plenty of exercise.

Maintenance

Spot-clean your monitors enclosure as necessary. When feces/urates/uneaten prey items are present, remove them as soon as possible. Clean & disinfect the water bowl on a weekly basis. Depending on cage conditions, remove all substrate & cage furniture and completely disinfect using a 5% bleach solution approximately every 30 days. Rinse the enclosure thoroughly and allow to dry before replacing cage furniture & your snake.

Basic Reproductive Info

Breeding activity is always the same. The male approaches the female and starts tongue flicking and begins with his jerky head movements. He tongue flicks her vent and tries to climb on top of her. Once he is on top his jerky head movements continue. Now he tries to pin her down in a sense.

She tries to escape and sometimes tail whips but never tries to bite. Every time she manages to escape he chases her down and starts the series of events over again.

Once he pins her down he starts to scratch the base of her tail with his back legs. My male uses his right hind leg to do this. He also mates on the left side of her tail so that would mean he uses his right hemipene. He tries to get his tail under hers and copulation occurs. Sometimes this seems more like rape than consensual breeding. I've never seen 'penetration' but their breeding activity does go on for days sometimes and I only get to observe them for a limited time.

Copulation takes place about 3-4 weeks before egg laying. About 2-3 days before egg laying her tail start to become very emaciated. This is how I know she is going to lay any day soon. I don't know if this is normal when compared to their wild counterparts or not.

I don't make the entire enclosure into a nesting site as some people do. This is not practical for my setup. What I do is separate them at this time (actually I separate them once she is noticeably gravid). I add a nest box filled with sand that holds a burrow well. The nest box is a Rubbermaid tub with a hole in the lid for her to get in and out of. Sometimes I mix a little cypress mulch in with it too. For about a week or two before laying she starts digging extensively in the nest box. She digs a few burrows until she is satisfied with one. She positions herself with the lower half of her body in the burrow, closes her eyes and proceeds to lay the eggs. I'm not sure how long it takes her to lay all her eggs but I would say that it is at least a few hours. Also, she has laid all three clutches at night.

She doesn't really cover the eggs afterwards but I think this is more a result of my setup than anything else.

I incubate the eggs in a Hovabator on vermiculite at 29 degrees Celsius. I mix the vermiculite with water to the point that when I squeeze it in my hand it clumps together and does not leak water. If the eggs start to dimple I add a bit more water to it and they usually bounce back within a day or two. You have to be very careful with adding water to the eggs. I lost my first clutch of Savannah eggs because of this. They were preparing to hatch and started to dimple. I didn't read them properly and thought the were drying out so I added water to the vermiculite. I few days later they started to mold. When I cut them open I found fully developed baby Savannah monitors that would have hatched if didn't add the extra water. A lesson learned for future clutches

Notes/Comments

Always wash your hands before and immediately after handling reptiles and amphibians. Never leave live food long term with reptiles & amphibians. They can inflict severe harm, even kill your pet. If your animals take some time to eat or you feed them at night, leave a slice of potato, carrot or dry dog food for the live food items to eat. Your local pet shop is an ideal source for reptile and amphibian related books and supplies. Please make sure you read and become familiar with any instructions provided with reptile support products you may purchase.

For further information on reptiles and amphibians we recommend you read REPTILES MAGAZINE and THE VIVARIUM. California Zoological Supply hopes you have enjoyed reading this reference sheet on Savannah Monitors. We hope that our guidelines will assist you with the care or possible purchase of your new pet.