Monitor Lizard Information

Savannah Monitor Care

To keep your monitor lizard in good health, a vet is important! Check it early for parasites, these are common, but can be easily treated. If left to long they can severly damage your pet, prevent proper growth and nutrition.

Keep a log or journal. Record your pets weight at least once a month, note the feeding dates and amounts eaten, and keep track of any changes to the environment. This will make it easy to identify the source of problems, and warn you early of any health issues.

If your lizard starts loosing weight, or stops eating, see if there are any environmental conditions that could have caused it. Too high or too low a temperature, stress due to lack or privacy, insufficient space or lack of water can cause these. If none of these have changed, bring the monitor to a vet.

During the first months, examine your pet and it's cage regularly for parasites. I like to use a white water dish at first, and a simple substrate so that I can easily spot any ticks or mites. A visit to the vet can be quite stressful, so you may wish instead to bring a sool sample to the vet for analysis. Until your pet has been examined and treated for parasites, keep it isolated from any other reptiles. Don't share terrarium accessories between enclosures, and wash your hands thouroughly after handling any reptile.

When cleaning the cage, disinfect it with a mild bleach solution. This should be done before putting your pet into it's cage for the first time. Do the same for any branches, rocks or dishes that you use, especially if they have ever been in another reptiles habitat. I generally soak wook in a 1:50 solution of bleach for thirthy minues, rinse it thoughrouly in fresh water and then dry it in the oven at 250F for two hours.

A common source of injury in monitors is abrasion to the nose from trying to escape. This is usually due to having too much of the cage exposed. Covering three sides so that only the front is transparent will often help this. If the problem persists, make sure the cage is large enough, warm enough and offers a temperature gradient. Additional hiding places may also help.

Metabolic bone disease is not very common in the monitors, but can result if they are not getting a proper dose of UVB radiation. Ideally, direct sunlight once or twice a week will satisfy their needs. If you live in a cooler location, use a reptile specific fluorescent light source.