Exotic Reptile Pets: Shocking Truth to Keeping a Savannah Monitor
Savannah Monitors are excellent escape artists. Many years ago when living in the Jacksonville, Florida area one of the road reports was about one crossing a major road in Jacksonville. Most likely, this Savannah Monitor had used its talents to escape from its owner. They have sharp claws and will tear through screen like its paper. Savannah's have been known to tear up plywood up to ¼".
If you are going to keep one as a pet lizard, make sure you have plans it place for the Savannah Monitor's cage when they are adults. For juveniles, a 55 gallon aquarium is the right size. For full grown adults, the cage should be 1.5 to 2 times the length. This means you may need a cage 6-8 feet long and probably about 3-4 feet wide.
They like to be secluded and will constantly be hiding in their cage. The best way to tame them is to get a juvenile and handle it regularly. Wrapping the aquarium with backing on the two sides and the back will put the Savannah Monitor more at ease. This decorative background can be found in almost any pet store. Having a background of a desert or grassland would be the best choice for these shy lizards.
Since they are from Africa, the habitat needs to be hot and dry. The temperature should be 85-90 in the day and 70-80 at night. They need the full spectrum light and should have an additional heat source under the tank. Using hot rocks could cause severe burns on their belly.
Dirt would be the best substrate for them. Putting plants in the Savannah Monitor's cage would be a waste of time. They will trample them in their journeys. Use a large cat litter pan to give them all the water they need.
As juveniles, they will eat lots of crickets. These crickets should be dusted with calcium. Generally, as they get older, they will stop eating crickets and need to be fed mice. Adults should eat mice twice a week. For an occasional treat, Savannah Monitors can be fed low fat dog food, well cooked lean meats or even hard boiled eggs.
This is not a flashy lizard, but enough lizard owners keep buying them for pets. They are not difficult to maintain, but should never be the first lizard as a pet.
Published by Jerry Robertson
I am a retail / small business consultant and author of three business books. View profile
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