Savannah Shed Problem?

Hey Everyone! I have had my Savannah monitor for a few months now. She looks to be only 4-6 months in age? We go her from a shop and they had no age on her/him (we aren't sure how to sex a monitor). My problem is not only do we not know what sex "she" is, but she hasn't had a good shed since we have had her. I'm not sure if it is a Savannah thing or not, but "she" has only flaked a little on her head and stomach. Currently she had a piece come off her stomach and a small ring section around her tail (which has never shed). I know some lizards eat their shed, are monitors like this? Also I have been trying to put her in a large plastic tub with a top to swim to get some moisture since we have her in a desert habitat. Here are some pictures:



Picture doesn't show it well, but the ring that shed on her tail:


The small patch on the stomach:


If there's a visual way to sex??


Her enclosure:


Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Nice monitor and welcome! My beardie seems to shed different body parts at a time.

Thank you! How long does it take your beardie to fully shed, and is it usually only flakes?

I'm not sure on exact times, but it seems like he only sheds about once every six months or so over the course of a couple weeks, maybe. He doesn't shed in flakes like dandruff or a sunburn, or even like a snake in one piece, but will shed his front legs and then maybe his head the next week, etcetera. It's pretty weird.

Huh, that's interesting... Like I said since I've got her she has flaked but doesn't seem like she has fully shed. I just worry that her environment is wrong or something. My husband told me alot of times you can keep a monitor in a desert or tropical habitat whichever that particular lizard likes. She doesn't dig at all which is odd, but then again she does have the little hide in there. What do you think about trying tropical with her, would that cause stress? Or is this just normal that they don't shed "normal"?

I'm not sure about Savannah's and have never owned one. I did a quick search and it seems like they need a broad spectrum of high to low humidity within their enclosure. Hopefully Andrew will see this post as he is our resident Savannah guru.

Thank you for trying to help like you said maybe your guru can tell me what's going on

Hello,
Thanks for the plug Nick lol, Jackie I got your msg and decided i'll just respond here since monitor season will be here in March and Savannahs will be a dime a dozen. So first off your Savannah is Fine and Looks really good. Are you using UVB? If so big thumbs up, alot of people don't use it because care sheets don't call for it...but I believe it helps them just like it does with a beardie. An it makes a Savannah monitors colors pop.

Her shedding....It's perfectly normal Most big lizards lose it in piece (Snow flakes) only one I can think of off the top of my head is a tegu they shed in large pieces.

You msg me about enclosure, Yes Sand Soil mix is best. you can buy organic top soil and play sand and mix it 70% soil 30% sand. This creates a substrate that holds moisture which helps with with shedding and Hydration. Most savannahs do not drink water....(if you can train them or they will pick it up it'll help you)..... they hydrate themselves threw their lungs from the moisture in the air. In the wild they do this from burrowing down into the earth and sitting there for hours (research has found that some burrows will reach 95% humidity). An as you know with snakes humidity helps with shed....Do not pull a piece off it can cause white scaring.

Yours is still small but it will with in a year or 2 reach about 3 foot....If it is a girl 3.5 is about max while males get 4-4.5 and some have even reached 5 foot. at 5 foot they are eating a rabbit a week. So you might wanna plan your next enclosure now, they say a adult needs a 8x4x4 enclosure with 2 foot soil sand mix so the Sav can burrow. I can tell you mine are not this large, burrowing only helps hydrate/shed but if your cage is holding high humidity or you spray enough you can get around it. Use stuff out side...branchs, leafs, rocks etc.... Normally you'd bake them but in a monitor cage you want those little bugs in their cage, Monitors poop alot and the insects willbreak down the poop....less cleaning for you . Basking area should be 120-135 degrees with a cool side at 90 during the day, 80 at night. (Side note if your savannah poops init's water it's a sign of dehydration and they are trying to suck water into their anus)

Sexing, there isn't a trick to looking at them, or even checking their vent. It's all in the Penises...yes Both male and Female savannahs have penises and it's about how they look. It will be a while before you see this but.... Males when reaching sexual maturity will drag their penises on the ground to mark territory this si the easiest to spot. Also both sexs when going to the restroom push sometimes they push their Hemipenis out. Males will be what they call "Flowered" basically the head of it looks like a octopus/flower, while a females looks like a penis....No other way to say that really.

I have tons of info and a good bit of time with these animals I could prob write a book, so instead of giving you a book, Ask me anything you wanna know, Training, enclosure, behaviors, diet, mating, breeding, history...etc...... Ask me anything, I'm more then happy to help Savannah enthusiast... They are smart and they will learn fast.

I also have tons of pictures if you need anything let me know

This is one of those scares i was talking about, as long as you don;t see this when skin falls off your fine

Wow, yeah a lot of great info! We are going to try to get her substrate changed out as soon as we can to help with the humidity. She has never tried to burrow in any form, does that just come with time? Also she does only goes to the bathroom in the water bowl, which I thought was nice easy clean up for me. However, I have seen her drink a few times out of the bowl since we've had her. We currently feed her crickets every week, but recently started her on some plain cooked chicken breast pieces and raw 97% beef as a snack. She wouldn't eat anything but crickets for the longest time so I've been working with her and also got her to eat those mealworms. Will switching to those meats help with the dehydration as well as the substrate swap?
And off topic (since you mentioned training) what age can you take them outside for walks or training them?

Burrowing normally starts right off the bat, what i do is buy 15 qt bin and cut a hole in the side of it (Big enough for her.him toget in)put some holes in the lid add some soil in it and put it in the tank first then add your soil mix. create a tunnel or a way in with your hand.

As for Diet beef is bad. This is not a nature food source to them, most young monitors should be one a large selection of Insects. crickets, roaches, meal worms, grass hoppers, earth worms(Add these to your tank ). you can give them chicken but whole pray, so go buy a frozen day old baby chick and cut it up, eating just breast they don't get all the vitamins. but Brest can be used from time to time to help on cost but not a all the time thing. Also you can get ground turkey and mixin insects and get a icecube tray and freeze what we call "Turkey balls" these can be thawed out and placed in the enclosure. Also Talipia, Samon, and Shrimp raw. As they get bigger stay with whole foods, Mice, rats, chicken, bunnies, eggs (raw or slight boil not 100% cooked), other reptiles/eggs, quail, and still over large insects, fish and shrimp. everything should be fed raw when cooked foods lose vitamins, annd again Whole, leave the shells on the eggs, and the shrimp this helps with calcium. they grow at such a rate that with out it their bones become weak

If your savannah is a male it will continue to grow non-stop the next year, Bosco (the one in my profile pic) i kept a growth chart on and he grew any where from 1/4 to 1/2 a inch a week. on his 1st birthday we was around 34 inches. Males grow to nearly 3 foot in the first year. Females will not grow as fast and will only reach about 15 inches but their 2nd year of life they will reach 3 foot. because of how they grow they need to be offered food everyday until they reach 3 foot, after that it needs cut back and controlled because they will become obese and cause their livers to shut down.

As for walking I started mine when they was about 9 inches long, I built a harness outta shoe string and started training them. as they got larger I bought a Rabbit harness not a lizard harness. the rabbit harness clips uner them as well not just around there back and neck.

Oh as for drinking and poo...It's great that she drinks water, if you can try and find a large tank online cheap cracks, don;t matter. and either take the lid and cover in Foil, or cut a piece of wood thatwill fit there and attach the light inside. add you bin for a burrow/hide, fill it in with soil, water bowl, basking rock or branch. Remember the basking temps 120-135, and you want to try and get your humidity up to 80% or more, you can buy a mister or spray it every day.

this is Bosco's orginal tank that i raised him in until i got his bigger cage. the top is covered in foil with a basking light and UVB. I built his hide into the cage you can do that or the bin.

This was a temp set-up for Cera when ibrought her home you can see how i placed the bin in there and placed the dirt around it. Put holes in top like i said so water can get in there and help humidity. this is the only pic i have that shows it

Thank you! We have a tub I improvised this morning for now and we are going to get the substrate this weekend. Will post pics when enclosure fixed. We are searching for a larger enclosure like the one you posted but are doing a quick fix for now in her enclosure.

Yeah just remember Organic top soil, avoid insecticides and federalizer

Fixed Izzy's enclosure today

looks good

She started digging yesterday and we found jer like this ... now all you can see is her tail ...any suugestions on how to retrieve her for feedong? She scurries bacl in as soon as she sees us

She started digging yesterday and we found her like this... now all you can see is the tip of her tail in the hole. any suggestions on retrieving her for feeding? she scurries back in everytime she sees us....?

Sorry posting from my phone didn't realize the text was messed up but still with the pic lol

UPDATE:
Izzy pretty much has fully shed now, only the top of her head and very tip of the tail hasn't come off yet. She is measuring at about 11 inches, and eating well. I have noticed she looks much healthier than when we got her...fuller throughout her body, tail looks thicker, and even her legs seem to have more muscle to them. We also had to redo her enclosure again. She started digging directly under her hide and having it set on top of her, so we buried it some.

The new enclosure:



Will post new pics of Izzy tomorrow when she comes out for feeding! Since we arranged the tank like this we have been getting her to come out of her hide and feed in the tank rather than trying to pull her out.

Our izzy fully shed thank you andrew for the great info

Looking good. I've always loved half buried, half logs. I think it would be very comfy if I were a lizard

She's a very pretty monitor! I think Sic covered it all, mine never sheds all at once, he sheds in pieces, but if I notice he's having issues, I run him a hot bath and let him swim for a while, he loves it, and the shed comes off almost immediately.