Savannah Monitor

[emmels705]

Hey all

I just finished setting up my Savannah Monitor. Right now he is in his tank alone (no bedding or toys) with some crickets, water and a heat lamp trying to get him adjusted!! I have heard several different ideas for bedding and have narrowed it down to two.. the first being carpet, the second shredded news paper. Any opinions to these two, or for those who are more experienced, and other suggestions? I had a little skink, so this big guy is quite a change lol. Thanks for your help!!!
~Emma

[emmels705]

Here's a pic of him, I will post more as he becomes more comfortable in his new home!

[Reptile_Reptile]

lol those krickets are funny

[Grimleo]

If those crickets are just sitting there, they are more than likely chewing on him. :/ If he won't eat them, I'd at least get them away from him for the time being. I don't know much about savs but I do know very high heat and a deep substrate is very important. I know some people on here have savs so maybe they will be able to help you out soon enough.

Grats on your new addition =) good luck..

[emmels705]

Thanks!! The picture was right when we put him in his tank and dropped a few crickets in there... We were watching him to make sure they weren't picking at him. Needless to say, they didn't last too long, in the first 2 hours, he ate 16 crickets (we put about 5 or so in at a time). He was in a cage with another SAV at the pet store, and the other one seemed to be quite aggressive. My thoughts after seeing him eat as much as he did was that he was often beat out of his share of food. He's become pretty well acclimated in the few hours we've had him; I am already able to stick my hand in his cage and pet him.. He seems as though he has a great personality and I am so excited to see him grow!!!

[infernalis]

Oh my... where do I even start.

Unless you make some real serious changes, that poor animal will never see it's first birthday.

rather than compose a post 3 pages long, please read this..for some of the basics first.

Savannah Monitors (http://www.anapsid.org/savannah.html)http://www.laserpointerforums.info/pics/arrow.gif

even that care sheet has some inaccurate information in it.

Your new friend will need a MINIMUM cage of at least six feet wide, 4 feet deep and 4 feet tall. an ideal enclosure would be 8 feet or more wide.

they need good dirt soil to dig around in for substrate.

Trust me the pet store you bought it from must be run by imbeciles.

I can also say from first hand experience that they are very expensive to maintain properly, the basking spot should be around 120 degrees or your new friend will wind up with a respiratory infection.

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/varanid/82886-meet-chomper-our-savannah.htmlhttp://www.laserpointerforums.info/pics/arrow.gif

[emmels705]

Thanks, I have already read all of that... the picture was taken as soon as we got him home; we were advised to put him in the tank solo with some crickets for an hour or so just to be able to keep track of his eating and bathroom habits. The tank is very temporary, we have already begun to to build his permanent tank which will be 9x5x4. I am very hesitant about using soil due to the fact that he is very likely to get a mouth full of it when going after a cricket... I have read on several pages that plain brown butcher paper is ideal for him. As far as the temperature, we have a 100 watt heat lamp going 24/7 as well as a heating pad under the tank which has it around 118. Thank you for the links, I will def read them and make any necessary changes so that he will be with us for quite some time!!

[Freebody]

use soil, its the best for it, if you wont, at least put a few containers in the cage that have soil in it, that way you can feed it on butcher paper and it can still dig around burrow and do what savs like to do. ME << im setting up my new savs cage now get it in 7 days!! :), i have 8" of 50/50 playsand, potting soil mixed front to back of the cage.

[emmels705]

Are juvenile savs able to digest the potting soil or is there a chance for it to "back him up"?

[emmels705]

Congrats on your sav! I must say, this guy is pretty cool.. I have handled him a few times as well as pet him while in the tank and he is pretty even tempered. I think he is going to be easy to tame!! :)

[Freebody]

im sure the soil wont hurt them, it is well known soil is best substrate for them and if it was bad for them im sure it would not be well known to be the best substrate lol it should pass right through if it does take in a little while chasing the food around. i cant wait to get it. :)

[emmels705]

Ok- I'll def give it a shot... I was just nervous cause I had a skink who I had soil in his tank and it backed him up and by the time he showed it, it was too late and he died the next day. Thanks!!!

[Freebody]

some species are knows for problems with impaction, but i have not read or heard anthing saying savs are vulnerable to it yet, im going to do a search right now just to be sure.

[emmels705]

Ok cool- I'll look into it also, I just don't wanna screw anything up hah

[Freebody]

lol sweet, well you came to the right place to ask question thats for sure :) i dont want to mess anything up as well so i read read read them come here to ask just to be safe, im sure it will be fine :) would like to see more pics of your sav, we love pics here :)

[Jenn_06]

yeah use top soil and sand i have about 1 1/2 ft of it in my savs cage, you dont need that much yet because yours is still small..but need about 12in so it can dig and make a little cave, sand will help the soil stay together better...just remember make sure there is no fertilizer in the soil.

[infernalis]

I have found the very best soil is to just take a shovel and scoop up a hunk of lawn.

Chomper has been on dirt his whole life, never had an impaction problem.

He's almost 4 years old now and still as healthy as an ox.

What I chose to do is use two 75 watt basking lamps, that way if one burns out and no one notices right away, the temps won't drop an awful lot.

[bighog85]

There is nothing better than a 50/50 mix of sand and topsoil and as long as your temps are ok he will not get impacted. That link that infernalis gave you is the best resource I have found on savs and even though it isn't perfect, there isn't anything on there that will make much of a huge difference. Do not, I BEG you do not use butcher paper or shredded paper as a substrate. It makes no sense to put him in with nothing in it to get him adjusted because then you are going to put a bunch of stuff in there and make it a new place, therefore negating the "adjustment" that was supposed to have happened. I have yet to find a pet store that had any clue as to what they were doing, especially with reptiles. Also, handling is not a good thing so soon. The best thing you can do is to get him set up in his enclosure and then leave him alone other than feeding and cage maintenance. I just wrote all of this on another thread but I will say again that monitors are very smart and will remember bad experiences and react accordingly the next time you try to handle him. Absolutely do not ever grab him to pick him up. It has to be done on their terms. In the wild if they are grabbed it usually means that they are dead, so it is not a good experience. Chances are the reason it is being "calm" right now is because he is scared out of his mind. If you see him closing his eyes or just freezing it is because he feels scared and just wants the bad thing to go away. Eventually you can start building trust with food and whatnot but not now, just leave it alone.

[infernalis]

Kudos...applause....thank you!!!


There is nothing better than a 50/50 mix of sand and topsoil and as long as your temps are ok he will not get impacted. That link that infernalis gave you is the best resource I have found on savs and even though it isn't perfect, there isn't anything on there that will make much of a huge difference. Do not, I BEG you do not use butcher paper or shredded paper as a substrate. It makes no sense to put him in with nothing in it to get him adjusted because then you are going to put a bunch of stuff in there and make it a new place, therefore negating the "adjustment" that was supposed to have happened. I have yet to find a pet store that had any clue as to what they were doing, especially with reptiles. Also, handling is not a good thing so soon. The best thing you can do is to get him set up in his enclosure and then leave him alone other than feeding and cage maintenance. I just wrote all of this on another thread but I will say again that monitors are very smart and will remember bad experiences and react accordingly the next time you try to handle him. Absolutely do not ever grab him to pick him up. It has to be done on their terms. In the wild if they are grabbed it usually means that they are dead, so it is not a good experience. Chances are the reason it is being "calm" right now is because he is scared out of his mind. If you see him closing his eyes or just freezing it is because he feels scared and just wants the bad thing to go away. Eventually you can start building trust with food and whatnot but not now, just leave it alone.

[Freebody]

a great set of videos on taming monitor is on youtube dealing with a lace monitor, this i think would be best for taming your monitor but i takes alot of time with your monitor, but like bighog85 said, not direct handling until he is happy with it then you can spend lots of time with it, heres a link. YouTube - how to tame monitors the easy way (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWMZfgcx93o&feature=related) this guy seems to know what hes talking about when it comes to taming monitors.

[emmels705]

Thank you guys sooo much!!! I really appreciate all the advice! I'll be sure to watch the videos and make sure he has everything he needs to live a long time with us!!!

[Jenn_06]

about taming savs, each sav is going to be different some will tame some will not just keep in mind you might have one that you can look at but not touch, as of right now my sav is for looking only and im ok with that i just want him to live long and be happy.

[emmels705]

I haven't handled him yet, but I am able to touch him while changing his water and cleaning his cage. He seems as though he will be able to tame and will be pretty sociable :)

[emmels705]

Sorry, one more question! lol... Is it ok to feed them dog food? I read it somewhere, but wanted to ask you guys (who def know more than anyone else I have spoken to)!!!

[infernalis]

As a RARE treat, NOT as staple food.

We feed ours Cockroaches, small rats, occasionally mice (too much fat content to feed as main food) and lean raw venison.

When I do give him dog food, I get the packets of "ol Roy" turkey from Wal Mart.

[Jenn_06]

feed it lots and lots and lots of bugs, some times rats, it be a great idea to start breeding so you dont have to run to the pet store every other day.

[bighog85]

Sorry, one more question! lol... Is it ok to feed them dog food? I read it somewhere, but wanted to ask you guys (who def know more than anyone else I have spoken to)!!!

I hear this question a lot and the answer I always give is no. While technically it is ok every great once in a while I have found that keepers will start giving it once a month and then because it is easy gradually start giving it more and more often. I just had to put down a rescued sav that had been fed lunch meat its entire life because it was the simplest thing that the owner could think of to feed. It is a very slippery slope and I just choose not to go down it at all as well as advise others against it. Bugs, bugs and more bugs! The best thing you can do is to order some dubia roaches and start breeding them. These will make up 90% of the animals diet with a rodent once a month or so and eggs, fish and crustaceans filling in the rest. Roaches are super easy to breed so there really is no excuse to not have a good staple food source on hand at all times. You can also do crickets, super worms and a multitude of other inverts to mix it up a bit. The only time I would recommend any of the prepared monitor foods or dog food is for an extremely malnourished animal that needs a lot of nutrition fast. Beyond that, don't do it.

[emmels705]

I haven't fed him anything other than crickets. The first night we got him, he ate 20 crickets. I am not sure if that is too many for one feeding, but the only reason I continued to give him more is because at the pet shop, he was caged with another sav who appeared to be incredibly aggressive. While watching him eat the first 6 crickets we gave him, we made the assumption that our sav was often not able to eat as much as he needed because he was overpowered by the other sav at the pet shop with him. Also, will he eat veggies? Is it ok to feed them to him and if so what kind?

[infernalis]

The absolute best in my opinion is Dubia roaches.

You can purchase a group and in no time flat have a never ending food source.

Dubia are almost "goof proof" and easy to maintain.

I feed all my insectivores roaches.

Forgot about the crustaceans, We have a creek on our property and Chomper simply loves to dig up crayfish and chomp them.

I also tend to forget that not everyone has access to venison.

Everyone I know (but me) hunts deer, so I can get the super lean slabs of meat for free.

[emmels705]

Hard boiled eggs.. yay or nay?

[emmels705]

Just a few more pics!

[infernalis]

Hard boiled eggs.. yay or nay?

Nay.............

[bighog85]

Also, will he eat veggies? Is it ok to feed them to him and if so what kind?

No veggies at all. These animals are purely carnivorous and most likely will not even eat them, but if he does it could possibly mess with his digestive system. The things that I mentioned in my other post are all that he needs for his entire life. He really isn't underweight at all. You can feed him quite a bit right now but he will probably eat till he kills himself so you do have to regulate it. While he is young he most likely will not get overweight but his growth will slow down and then you have to be careful. Be careful leaving crickets in with him if he isn't eating them because they can and will chew on him. I have seen animals killed by crickets so you want to clean out whatever he does not eat. They will also stress him out just being in there if he isn't eating them.

[infernalis]

will he eat veggies? Is it ok to feed them to him and if so what kind?

No offense, but Monitors are not Iguanas and the husbandry is night and day different.

absolutely no part of Iguana care is the same as monitor care.

The only thing they have in common is they are both lizards.

Cross contamination of information ;)

[emmels705]

No offense taken, I am just new to this and have been doing a lot of reading and have read about a million different things. The website you left for me was actually the first I read to begin with and what I used to base his habitat on, so I appreciate all the help everyone has offered! I am only asking so that I am able to properly take care of him

[emmels705]

No veggies at all. These animals are purely carnivorous and most likely will not even eat them, but if he does it could possibly mess with his digestive system. The things that I mentioned in my other post are all that he needs for his entire life. He really isn't underweight at all. You can feed him quite a bit right now but he will probably eat till he kills himself so you do have to regulate it. While he is young he most likely will not get overweight but his growth will slow down and then you have to be careful. Be careful leaving crickets in with him if he isn't eating them because they can and will chew on him. I have seen animals killed by crickets so you want to clean out whatever he does not eat. They will also stress him out just being in there if he isn't eating them.

I did know that much about the crickets from my skink, which is why I only put a few in at a time to see how hungry he is and what he will eat. Thanks :)

[Lankyrob]

Just would like to say "fair play" to emmels to sticking around and taking on board the knowledge and experience of the people on here. Its not great to have ideas that are then turend out to be incorrect but to keep coming back and learning without and defensive comments etc (which has happened a lot recently with other newcomers) is commendable.

Hope we can see lots of pics of your sav as it grows and regular updates regarding it settlcing in. I would LOVE a sav but have to own one vicariously through you and other sav owners on here so keep the updates coming!!

[Reptile_Reptile]

No offense taken, I am just new to this and have been doing a lot of reading and have read about a million different things. The website you left for me was actually the first I read to begin with and what I used to base his habitat on, so I appreciate all the help everyone has offered! I am only asking so that I am able to properly take care of him

i would like to say congratulations well done that was a lot of hard information to take and a lot of being wrong to endure but you did what was Right kudos to you and i sincerely hope you stick around to infect every single person that comes through here with you extremely sincere and selfless care of you animal(s)

[emmels705]

Thanks everyone!! And please, if anyone has anymore tough love or suggestions for me, I'm more than open for it!!! lo :)

[emmels705]

I'm just curious.... as far as feeding, I have been giving him 5-6 large crickets at a time until he's eaten 30 or stops eating. I feed him every other night. Is this too much, not enough, should I be feeding him soemthing more filling? I have read that pinkies are good for a sav his age and size and have a feeling that I'm going to have to move him over to them soon. He doesn't seem to be hungry after he eats and keeps everything down, but I am just wondering what someone else thinks or suggests I do. Thanks again!!!!!

[emmels705]

Also, as far as him settling in, I feel as though he is settled and loving it. I know some of you advised against handling him this soon, but after rubbing my fingers down his back, I couldn't help but handle him. I wore a glove just in case and he didn't fight it nor did he close his eyes or tense up as he would if he felt dangered. We also have been putting him in the bathtub at night and letting him swim a bit, he seems to really enjoy it and is usually pretty tuckered out after. We also use this time to clean his tank; while one of us sits in the bathroom with him, the other cleans his tank. Like I said, he seems pretty content and has been eating and pooping regularly, I'm taking this as a good sign!!!!

[infernalis]

Lose the glove ;)

You want your sav to know you, not the glove.

Only put just a wee bit of water in the tub, all 4 feet need to touch the bottom or you will spook the little guy and he will always fear water.

We only put Chomp in the tub to get hard shed pieces to loosen.

I'd move up to roaches if the crickets are not enough, Pinkies are loaded with fat.

[Freebody]

if he closes his eyes while your holding him that doesnt mean hes tense, it means he content. he would never close his eye on a potential threat to him :) get yourself a dubia roach colony, easy to breed, prolific breeders, and they are healthier than crickets as well. GL

[infernalis]

:) get yourself a dubia roach colony, easy to breed, prolific breeders, and they are healthier than crickets as well. GL

and they make a delightful crunching sound when chomped.:eek:

http://www.reptard.info/photo/roach.jpg

http://www.reptard.info/photo/roach1.jpg

[Freebody]

My sav comes home sat morning :) then i can hear that crunching sound :) the roaches are pets at the moment, i almost dont want to hurt them now LOL

[emmels705]

Thanks! Can the roaches handle the cold? Like, could I keep them outside or in a shed? Lol. also, should I feed him every day, or every other? I think that every three days isn't enough for him. He seems to like the warm bathes, he tends to fall asleep while he's in there... glove is gone! Thanks for the advice, again!!! I think I'm just about there as far as handling him and making him feel at home :)

[infernalis]

I think I know why you want to keep the roaches out in the shed.

They cannot infest your home, This is a tropical roach that needs to be kept warm and cared for just like reptiles do.

so any escapes will die rather than infest your house, only 1% of the entire roach species in the world are pests.

Dubia roaches require some care to perpetuate. I have kept mine in the house for years and NEVER had a roach infestation.

Dubia are terrible at escaping, as long as you keep them in a smooth poly tub they cannot even climb the walls to get out like most other insects can. Do not use an aquarium, the baby roaches can get enough grip on the silicone to climb out, it's not so much a problem with infestation, it's more about losing good lizard food.

These roaches like really warm enviroments, and a small heat pad under the tote will promote rapid breeding, if you want to slow down the production, just lower the temps and they stop having babies.

The males have wings, useless wings, they cannot fly.

http://www.danceswithreptiles.com/PG1/images/2aroach.jpg

[emmels705]

Haha, Wayne, you hit the nail on the head lol!!!! I hear roaches and I'm like oh hell no! lol... I will absolutely look into it and discuss it with the others I live with cause they were hesitant as well when I mentioned it. Thanks!

[infernalis]

I have a far bigger problem when a rat or mouse escapes!!

we had a rat running free in the house for months before I could catch him in a live trap. (and yes I sat bowls of food and water out on the floor, it kept him out of our pantry.)

http://www.reptard.info/critters/freedom.jpg

http://www.reptard.info/critters/captured.jpg

[Grimleo]

The males have wings, useless wings, they cannot fly.

:Wow: They CAN fly. Even though it's in short little bursts of flight. It's just very unlikely that they will. And depending on how fat they are, they can hardly ever even lift themselves off the ground. The lighter ones get some air, though. It's better to be prepared lol

[bighog85]

if he closes his eyes while your holding him that doesnt mean hes tense, it means he content. he would never close his eye on a potential threat to him

No it really does mean he is scared. It is them either playing dead or just making the threat go away in their minds. My beardies do it, my savs do it, and my salvator does it.

At this age he is growing rapidly but I don't believe in power feeding, which is what you are doing when you give him his fill every time you feed. Most people think that hugely rapid growth is a sign of good health. While obviously you do want him to grow, making him go to fast can be more detrimental than underfeeding. His bones and organs cannot keep up with the rest of his body and that can lead to organ failure or MBD if it is really bad. I regulate how much all of my animals eat because in the wild they do not have abundant food supplies available whenever they want it. They have to roam sometimes many miles each day just to get enough to stay alive and I will always be a firm believer that they were designed to live in the wild, not captivity and we should do our best to match that as closely as possible. So to sum what you should be doing; don't feed him till he stops, get some roaches going and make them your primary food source, do NOT give him rodents more than once a month and go very slowly with the handling. As I mentioned before, these guys are smart and one bad handling experience to set you back many months or even permanently.

[Freebody]

hmm thats weird you said they close their eyes while scared, my nile monitor would only close his eyes, when he was in a good mood, when he was sore at me, or just in his regular fowl mood he would eye ball me like you would not believe. puff his neck out and hiss, but never close his eyes unless he was all relaxed and layed back and i was most likley pulling off his dead skin off to get him happy, which he loved.

[bighog85]

Relaxed and laid back is called playing dead. Monitors are not dogs, they do not need or desire human attention. How do you know he was happy and loved having you pull off skin? I have a nile as well and he will do exactly what you are describing and when he goes "calm" it is not him settling down to be handled. He is trying another technique to make you go away. As monitor keepers, we really need to get away from the mentality that these animals are meant to be normal family pets. They can become like infernalis' animal but that takes time and he will tell you that his animal still cannot be trusted at any point. This is all hard to explain without showing you what I mean but you just have to take my word for it that your animal is not loving you. If he shows interest in you it is because he associates you with food and that is mostly likely it. Monitors do not have good and bad moods and everything in between. They are hungry and they are not hungry. That is about it.

[infernalis]

Folks, Brian (Bighog85) knows his stuff, We are lucky to have his knowledge here. ;)

[Freebody]

not to be rude, as im just opposed to what you said is all, conversation wise as i embrace your info as i do everyone and anyones, but i would be lying if i said my nile didnt love his skin being taken off for him, because if i did anything other than that or walking him around my back yard of actually giving him food, any other time he was a terror. as far as his mood only being hungry and not hungry, well i have fed him and gone to walk out of his cage and hes turned and attacked me many times, and i have also gone in after hes not eatten in a day or so and hes pretty calm, he will be asleep under his heat light open his eyes and puff up a little and then unpuff himself and fall back asleep when he notices im just cleaning his water and spot cleaning his cage. I would really need to work with thousands of monitor to get a better idea of what they really are like as this is my only experience with one, so im not saying your wrong by all means, im just saying in the sake of good conversation i dont think thats the case :) ps i just got home from the reptile expo were i was going to get my new sav monitor, i got him looked good and i was showing him to this girl when she noticed the tips of all his fingers were gone :( saddly i returned him for a full refund, but i was so looking forward to getting one, i got roaches breeding, a temporary 4'x4'x3' cage set up with soil 2 heat spots 1 at 120d the bottom one sitting at 95d ambient temp is 84d tunnel, hide box and the hotspot has the lower level which is alos a hide, and his large water tub.... perfect setup till hes a couple years old and now im sav,less :( now i need to find one else where :(

[bighog85]

not to be rude, as im just opposed to what you said is all, conversation wise as i embrace your info as i do everyone and anyones, but i would be lying if i said my nile didnt love his skin being taken off for him, because if i did anything other than that or walking him around my back yard of actually giving him food, any other time he was a terror. as far as his mood only being hungry and not hungry, well i have fed him and gone to walk out of his cage and hes turned and attacked me many times, and i have also gone in after hes not eatten in a day or so and hes pretty calm, he will be asleep under his heat light open his eyes and puff up a little and then unpuff himself and fall back asleep when he notices im just cleaning his water and spot cleaning his cage. I would really need to work with thousands of monitor to get a better idea of what they really are like as this is my only experience with one, so im not saying your wrong by all means, im just saying in the sake of good conversation i dont think thats the case :) ps i just got home from the reptile expo were i was going to get my new sav monitor, i got him looked good and i was showing him to this girl when she noticed the tips of all his fingers were gone :( saddly i returned him for a full refund, but i was so looking forward to getting one, i got roaches breeding, a temporary 4'x4'x3' cage set up with soil 2 heat spots 1 at 120d the bottom one sitting at 95d ambient temp is 84d tunnel, hide box and the hotspot has the lower level which is alos a hide, and his large water tub.... perfect setup till hes a couple years old and now im sav,less :( now i need to find one else where :(

What you need to realize though is that these animals can change in an instant. You are describing different scenarios and how your animal reacts in them but you are giving your animal attributes that it does not possess. You said yourself that an animal like that would not just close its eyes when a threat was present but you think that your nile will just go to sleep when you(a threat in his eyes) barge into his environment. He is not going to sleep. If he puffs up and then closes his eyes he is stressed. I promise you that he is not enjoying your skin picking sessions. Especially since he is young. Your animal is either stressed out or he is the only young nile monitor in the world who enjoys a predator picking at his body. I'm betting it is the former option. My nile acts the same way yours does so I can say from personal experience that I know exactly what you are describing.

[Freebody]

ah you could be right, it does make sence that i could be attributing emotions in which it does not have, the nile was 4 1/2 feet give or take a few inches, so it was not that young. i figure he likes me cleaning him because when i would let him out to wonder around he would be go go go no matter what i did, but when he was in shed and i would slowly pull of the dead skin he would be so calm during and after, he would even walk up to me somtime when i would stop pulling them off and walk away. almost all the time while cleaning him he would put him arms and legs straight back behind him close his eyes and sleep for awhile just like he did when he was under his heat lamp soaking up the heat. after i would watch tv or somthing and pet him.even after i would get up to get a drink or somthing he would not flee either, like he did any other time i tried to realy do anything, it was about the only time that he would behave in this manner, any other time he would fight tooth and nail if i needed to move him to clean his cage, it was just such a difference that i could only attribute it as he enjoyed it, you could be right and he hated it but for what ever reason chose this was him way of handling that particular instance, everytime i did it, and just agressively attacked me everytime i did anything else he didnt like, but this does not sound right does it? you think maybe this nile i had did actually not mind the cleaning and most dont like it? :)

[bighog85]

Well he is bigger than I thought he was. I was under the impression that it was quite a young animal. I have seen tractable niles but it is very, very rare and usually they are extremely overweight and unhealthy. It still sounds to me like you are interpreting his behavior in some of these instances as enjoying your company, when 98% of the time their interest is purely food related. There love of food is why it is so essential to use it when trying to acclimate an animal to your presence. I have seen people that think they have an extremely friendly animal when in fact you look at their routine and find out that it directly relates to how the animal is fed or is close enough to make the monitor think that food is involved. Food is what drives these animals in the wild so if they think we have something they are going to investigate. It sounds like you do have a pretty awesome nile, as far as niles go, but you need to be careful in how you read his behavior. These animals can cause MAJOR and permanent damage in a split second so never ever drop your guard.

[Freebody]

they banned them this year and i gave him to a guy that was given a permit :( but oh yeah ! your absolutly right on that note, one day i walked in his cage hes all pissy, he sees i have a big plate a various meat treats i had for him, :) hes all nice and calm now, i put the plate down and handing him food and hes eatting, the very second he took the last peice of meat off the plate i was holding, he tail whiped me 2 times so hard and it caught me right on the ridge of the top of his tail where its pointy, split my skin like a cat scratch and left 2 big welps which bruised later from my elbow to almost my wrist in the blink of and eye.... ya he didnt show any sign of nothing till i got hit, then before i could even reflex away he tagged me for round 2, "Oscar" the grouch i called him. i had him from about 1.5 feet. on his good days i could clean him give him a bath, harnes him and walk him around the back yard in the sun, clip the very tips of his nails after he had fallen asleep on the couch with me for 30-40 minutes, them he didnt flich when i grabed at his feet. otherwise those tallons would cut through my skin like a hot knife through butter. sometimes he would see me standing their and he wanted to climb up me like a post.... you cant remove a 4.5 foot nile that wants up...he just grabs on more and after i got 20 holes in my leg, 1 from every claw hes got. and thats on a good day LOL but i realy miss him. mine was in great shape and super healthy as well. i really loved him and made sure he got top notch care like all my animals, i really take everything anyone has to tell me to heart, its trully the only way anyone can help their scaly friends better.

[infernalis]

Oh yes, I can get Chomper to stand up and do tripods for a snack.

He will often tear his cage apart because he associates that behaviour with getting fed, because we get tired of all the banging noise and simply give in and dump a handful of roaches in there just to make him stop banging and clawing at his cage.

they are so damn smart, it's amazing.

[Freebody]

lol that is so sweet lol , i cant wait to find one around here :)

[infernalis]

This is an older photo, but he was begging for food here...

http://www.danceswithreptiles.com/chomp_files/chomp.jpg

I also think he likes it outside so much because of the abundance of things to eat, and it is just natural for him to dig around looking for beetles and other bugs.

Every time we let him roam the property, he gobbles up everything that moves.

He's very fond of the crayfish in our creek, he's learned that the creek and the banks are great feeding stations, lots of insects and those tasty crayfish.

He even eats the claws if they get knocked off while he is eating the rest.

Too bad he has to wait until summer returns to do it again.

[bighog85]

Too bad he has to wait until summer returns to do it again.

I know, I am so depressed that winter is coming already! The tortoises were LOVING the yard all summer and now they are inside. They are fairly restless, lol.

[infernalis]

What sucks most is that no matter how big of an enclosure I use, That lizard knows the difference between outside and locked down.

His whole mood changes.

[bighog85]

What sucks most is that no matter how big of an enclosure I use, That lizard knows the difference between outside and locked down.

His whole mood changes.

Oh ya, no matter how good of lighting and equipment we use it will never replace good ol' outdoor time. Our goal is to move to Arizona within the next couple years and when that happens, year round outdoor enclosures! I have spent my entire life in Alaska, Montana, and Idaho so I am fairly sick of winters, lol.

[emmels705]

Here's Carlos' new (bigger, not permanent) enclosure

[emmels705]

The right side of the tank has his "swimming pool"/water bowl and the top of the tank is covered with a sheet of Plexiglas to hold the heat from the left side in... I am going to get more top soil for him tomorrow, unless someone suggests that I mix it with sand. Does the sand help break down the soil? Should I get more soil as well as add sand to it?

[presspirate]

Oh ya, no matter how good of lighting and equipment we use it will never replace good ol' outdoor time. Our goal is to move to Arizona within the next couple years and when that happens, year round outdoor enclosures! I have spent my entire life in Alaska, Montana, and Idaho so I am fairly sick of winters, lol.

My whole life in MN and SD. I hear ya loud and clear! Best of luck to you!

[emmels705]

Also, how often should we change the dirt??

[infernalis]

If you diligently pick out the feces, Don't disturb it.

They tend to get things the way the like it and seem to get upset when it gets changed around.

[emmels705]

I still have the smaller tank, should I take him out of the dirt to feed him to lower the risk of him becoming impacted?

[bighog85]

Also, how often should we change the dirt??

Also, you can begin to grow beneficial bacteria and things in the soil much like you would in a fishtank. It helps to keep the environment clean and basically replicates wild soil. Pick out as much of the feces as possible but never change it out completely. I have worms and stuff in my enclosures as well to help with that.

[bighog85]

I still have the smaller tank, should I take him out of the dirt to feed him to lower the risk of him becoming impacted?

No, he wont get impacted unless he starts to just eat the dirt for fun. As long as he is well hydrated and hot enough he will not have a problem. They live on dirt in the wild so no worries.

[emmels705]

Thank you all so much!!! I have learned so so so much from you all and feel very comfortable with my sav!!!! I will still be on frequently as I love reading about your experiences with your pets as well as the cool pictures!! I'll also keep you updated on Carlos :)