Interesting Observation

[Ravi]

Hi All

This past weekend I decided to throw a load of leaves in with my savannahs just for fun. I do this with others but never tried it with them. Can you guess what happened? Both of them ran like hell for their shelter. It was pretty funny. Then slowly....about 10-15 minutes later the female was bold enough to venture out and start poking around. Its a great stimulant thats for sure. Hiding mice in there and watching them find them is a must for all sav owners. I'd recommend this to anyone. Good luck.

Picture has nothing to do with my post, just wanted to share it:)
<img src="http://www.themonitorspot.com/pictures/sand/sand10.JPG">

[sSNAKESs.com]

LOL!!!!! so whats the update now?? are they enjoying the leaves or did you end up removing them? :D

[Ravi]

They love 'em. I wish I had gathered more.

[KaHane]

Yeah we use leaves for our indo-species, and they love it! Just wonder if different leaves are better than others?

[Dom]

Intersesting .. If i still had leaves instead of snow outside i would give it a shot lol DAMM winter!

[Linds]

Awesome pic!! LOL...too bad I didn't keep any varanus sp., went outside today and, expecting to brush snow off my car, ended up having to brush leaves off...I could barely see my car under all of em! :eek:

[V.aw]

dont outdoor leaves bring it mites??
iam paranoid about that sort of thing..

[Dilshad]

I use leaf litter in most of my enclosures. I use fallen oak leaves collected from a safe, non-polluted source. Oak leaves tend to be more durable.

I check the leaves I collect, but they usually add small spiders, springtails, baby snails and slugs to a vivarium. Not a big deal, especially where dart frogs are concerned.

Durability isn't much of an issue where varanids are concerned, they'll trash them pretty quickly, and their substrate usually gets changed out pretty quick.

I don't believe there's any risk of bringing in snake mites from Canadian oak leaves.

[V.aw]

I'am surrounded by maple leaves.. Thats about it.. Really heheh what a Canadian stereotype.


These should be safe huh? I guess i can give them a good rinse before adding them to tanks. I'd assume anything live on the eggs would be dead by now. Was -16 last night, -27 with windchill.

[Ravi]

I've found that maple leaves tend to dry up and break down pretty quick in comparison to oak. There are probably many other types of leaves that would be suitable. Do a search on what types of trees may be found in the areas that your monitors live in (if leaves apply) and search out the best match if you can.

As for the freezing thing. You'd be surprised how many of those bugs can freeze through and then thaw back to life :)

Good Luck.
--Ravi--

[Tim Winegard]

you guys think you know cold LOL
It was -37 with the windchill where I live