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my big savannah ~ Bear
- Thread starter angelrose
- Start date
- Messages
- 489
whoa, that's one fat sav, dang, looks pretty calm
- Messages
- 569
That is the biggest one I have seen. We need more pics.
- Messages
- 372
I hate to say it angelrose, but your sav is severely obese. You need to stop feeding that ground beef. I would start feeding primarily insects such as hissing roaches and drop the feeding schedule down to 4 times per week. I know you love your pets, so take my advice. He will suffer liver damage if he stays at that weight. He also seems to be in a glass enclosure. A larger terrarium would help with exercise, but if he remains in their, you should cover the top with tin foil. This will hold in heat and humidity. My guess is that your basking area may also be too cool for him to properly thermoregulate.
-Chris
-Chris
shiftylarry, I would appreciate your help with Bear.
I love them all. Bear has been on the big side since I got him four years ago.
I just moved Bear into his own room. his enclosure is a 55 gallon tank with walnut shell bedding and I use a 160W solar glo. as well as a 100W red heating lamp. I mist in there often.
the main reason I placed him in his own room so I can let him out to roam alot to start getting alot of exercise (and not be in contact with my free roaming tegus as well).
presently, he will not eat anything but rats (frozen) and I do not give them to him everyday maybe once or twice a week.
I just can't handle roaches, bugs, I have a bug phobia I guess. can u suggest other things that will help Bear. I would appreciate it.
thank you
Coldthirst, I will post more pics :lol:
I love them all. Bear has been on the big side since I got him four years ago.
I just moved Bear into his own room. his enclosure is a 55 gallon tank with walnut shell bedding and I use a 160W solar glo. as well as a 100W red heating lamp. I mist in there often.
the main reason I placed him in his own room so I can let him out to roam alot to start getting alot of exercise (and not be in contact with my free roaming tegus as well).
presently, he will not eat anything but rats (frozen) and I do not give them to him everyday maybe once or twice a week.
I just can't handle roaches, bugs, I have a bug phobia I guess. can u suggest other things that will help Bear. I would appreciate it.
thank you
Coldthirst, I will post more pics :lol:
- Messages
- 372
If you don't like roaches, try nightcrawlers (worse?) or maybe shrimp/crawfish, which is higher in protein and lower in fat. A 55 gallon is too small for him. 160W is higher than I would go. Most people who use glass terrariums end up with bulbs that have wattages that are too high to compensate for the poor insulation in the enclosure. I never use anything hotter than a 65 watt, even for my bigger enclosures. It would help if you could describe how often the monitor is basking and how long he stays under the light.
I don't like walnut bedding. It has the potential to mold when moist, and doesn't retain moisture with the same effectiveness as dirt/sand mixtures.
Please read the post "for dorton and all new savannah monitor owners" in the monitor forum. It is by no means a perfect caresheet, but it will help you understand some basic things. Savannah monitors are a common sight in pet stores (compared to other monitors), so it's expected that misinformation will be passed around. After you've checked out the post, get back to me with any other questions you have and I'll do my best to help.
-Chris
I don't like walnut bedding. It has the potential to mold when moist, and doesn't retain moisture with the same effectiveness as dirt/sand mixtures.
Please read the post "for dorton and all new savannah monitor owners" in the monitor forum. It is by no means a perfect caresheet, but it will help you understand some basic things. Savannah monitors are a common sight in pet stores (compared to other monitors), so it's expected that misinformation will be passed around. After you've checked out the post, get back to me with any other questions you have and I'll do my best to help.
-Chris
Walnut shell bedding is the WORST THING YOU CAN POSSIBLY USE. It has no benefits over dirt\sand whatsoever, and is prone to killing your animal. With good temps, a monitor can easily pass dirt and sand, but walnut shell is a different story.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://mrskingsbioweb.com/beardeddragngrossanatomy.htm">http://mrskingsbioweb.com/beardeddragngrossanatomy.htm</a><!-- m -->
Here's what happens if you use walnut bedding. *WARNING-GRAPHIC*
Monitors are very tough, and impaction is almost never a problem with them. Walnut shell bedding, however, is horrible no matter how high your temps are.
How are your basking and ambient temps?
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://mrskingsbioweb.com/beardeddragngrossanatomy.htm">http://mrskingsbioweb.com/beardeddragngrossanatomy.htm</a><!-- m -->
Here's what happens if you use walnut bedding. *WARNING-GRAPHIC*
Monitors are very tough, and impaction is almost never a problem with them. Walnut shell bedding, however, is horrible no matter how high your temps are.
How are your basking and ambient temps?
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- 372
Another problem with walnut shell bedding is that, when wet, it can stick to the animal and get in their eyes.
I won't rant on about how bad walnut bedding is, as several people already made this point. I would, however, like you make sure you aren't upset by the somewhat harsh posts made in this thread. They were NOT intended to hurt your feelings. They were not meant to be an attack towards you. The idea behind the previous comments was simply to STRONGLY push the point that: "Walnut shell bedding is bad"....not "you are bad for using it." The same goes for the obesity matter. I know how deeply you care for your reptiles.
I hope that there aren't any hurt feelings.
Good luck with getting these things sorted out. If you need any help or advice, we are all here to help.
Oh, and Happy Easter! Go find some eggs!
I hope that there aren't any hurt feelings.
Good luck with getting these things sorted out. If you need any help or advice, we are all here to help.
Oh, and Happy Easter! Go find some eggs!
i whould go for a humidety keeping substrate and a high basking spot also switch to big crickets/locusts and other inverts but drop the rodents they dont need them most people tend to think crix r to small and rodents r better but for savs they r not they rather eat crix worms snails and other small stuff plus its healthyer for them to but ul fix him/her up
I thank you all and very much appreciate the help you are giving me with Bear. I have been concerned about his weight and this is why I put up his pic (shiftylarry) for all the help I can get.
Mike and everyone I looked at the link and right now I am going to get even the smallest piece of walnut shell out of here right away.
what kind of dirt/sand :?:
I want, need and thank you for all of your help.
Mike and everyone I looked at the link and right now I am going to get even the smallest piece of walnut shell out of here right away.
what kind of dirt/sand :?:
I want, need and thank you for all of your help.
- Messages
- 372
No problem at all angelrose.
The kind of dirt that is best for your monitor is a sandy loam. It's the kind of dirt you would find in a dry creek bed. In construction terms it's called type 3 dirt. If you don't have access to either of those options, you can go to home depot and make a mixture of 50% dirt, 30 % topsoil, and 20% peat moss. There is not exact science to the dirt. If you're making your own, you're going to have to play around with it. The dirt should be at least 2ft for an adult savannah. Obviously your cage is too small for that much, so provide what you can. Eventually you should make him a wooden enclosure that is larger than what you have now. It will be better for insulation and humidity and it will hold more dirt. Digging is a huge part of these animals lives. In the future, you can bury worms in the dirt, and your monitor can dig for them. This will provide a lot of exercise.
Savannahs are tough animals. If you change his husbandry up, he could easily make a full recovery.
The kind of dirt that is best for your monitor is a sandy loam. It's the kind of dirt you would find in a dry creek bed. In construction terms it's called type 3 dirt. If you don't have access to either of those options, you can go to home depot and make a mixture of 50% dirt, 30 % topsoil, and 20% peat moss. There is not exact science to the dirt. If you're making your own, you're going to have to play around with it. The dirt should be at least 2ft for an adult savannah. Obviously your cage is too small for that much, so provide what you can. Eventually you should make him a wooden enclosure that is larger than what you have now. It will be better for insulation and humidity and it will hold more dirt. Digging is a huge part of these animals lives. In the future, you can bury worms in the dirt, and your monitor can dig for them. This will provide a lot of exercise.
Savannahs are tough animals. If you change his husbandry up, he could easily make a full recovery.
