#careguide

Savannah Monitors are notoriously the most frequently neglected reptile in the pet industry, most do not survive their first year of life in captivity.  There is a mountain sized pile of bad care advice available online, and most of the reptile industry has greatly misunderstood these animals for half a century.  Luckily, there are also many exceptional keepers out there who go the extra mile, reading into scientific journals, speaking to geography and science experts, and sometimes even getting on a plane to go fetch the data themselves.  Those dedicated people have been vital in obtaining a detailed re-understanding of these fantastic, but complicated lizards.  

Feeding:

Perhaps the biggest thing the reptile industry got wrong for so long-- treating all monitors alike, though they are the furthest thing from equal.  Most large monitors do fantastic, even thrive on a diet of frozen-thawed rodents.  For a long time, Savannah Monitors in captivity were being offered a rodent based diet, and no surprise, most of them died.  We later learned just how susceptible Sav’s are to Gout and Fatty Liver Disease—FLD for short.  When a Sav is fed a rodent exclusive diet, it receives far³ too much fat to reasonably process.  When reptiles get fat, they don’t accumulate it under the skin (the way we do), they form fat inside their vital organs, limiting organ function to the ultimate point of failure.  This means that an obese Savannah is in real distress and its life is at risk.  

All that being said, Savannah Monitors do best on a diet of invertebrates, a lot of them. They will eat an assortment of insects like snails, crickets, superworms, grasshoppers, silkworms, roaches, giant mealworms, etc.  Feel free to use packaged or canned feeders too for some variety that you might not be able to access live.  ProBugs sells things like packaged scorpions, these can make a nice treat meal for your Sav and are safer to feed in comparison to the live counterpart. A baby Savannah monitor will need to eat daily, high calcium, low fat.  An adult can be fed as little as twice a week, provided they are offered enough food per meal, use your judgement and watch how your animal carries their weight.  Treat feeders can include hornworms, butterworms, waxworms, quail eggs, shrimp, etc.  Feel free to read more into their dietary requirements to balance calcium and phosphorus levels. There are a lot of wonderful resources available including the Facebook group “Savannah Monitor Group” where they have compiled countless files analyzing and encouraging Sav care improvement, check out this dietary note for more clarification.

When feeding your Savannah Monitor, it is also extremely important to supplement their diet with vitamins and minerals.  Each feeding, dust your feeder insects with a Calcium powder +D3.  Once a week, you can swap out the calcium with a multivitamin powder. Proper supplementation protects your animal from life threatening diseases like MBD (Metabolic bone disease), Vitamin A deficiency (vision and skin issues), Gout and more.

Housing, Substrate, Humidity, Water:

Savannah Monitors are LARGE, and will require an accommodatingly LARGE enclosure.  You will either need to commission a company/person to build something, or build it yourself, as these enclosures are not commercially available.  The ideal space for a single adult Savannah, is roughly 8’x4’x4’, babies and juveniles can be kept in 40-gallons to 3’x2’x2’ enclosures while you are building their final home.  

Furnish the enclosure with a couple of hiding places, ideally one on each end of the enclosure so that the animal has options depending on the temperature it feels most comfortable in.  You may decorate with large, stable pieces of driftwood or cork bark, large pieces of slate and fake foliage.  Though you can safely use real plants, monitors are not delicate movers and will most likely trample anything you decide to plant.  They’ll destroy fake plants as well; it just takes longer. Remember to diligently secure any heavy décor items you choose to include, as a burrowing Savannah Monitor has the potential to knock things over, risking injury.

The substrate you choose, should be able to hold humidity, be easy to dig in, and capable of holding tunnel shape.  The most popular mixture used with this species is a sand/soil mixture. However, there are many types available that you can mix and match to achieve a similar result.  We use a mixture of cypress mulch, soil, sand, coco fiber, peat moss and sphagnum moss and find it suits the needs of the animal well, while keeping mess to a minimum.  In the wild, Savannah Monitors live in African Sub-Saharan grasslands.  They often dig burrows to hide out in, these burrows can reach 100% humidity, this helps them to shed their skin effectively.  Aim to keep the enclosure around 60 to 80% humidity, fluctuating throughout the day.  You should be able to achieve this by misting the cage daily and/or pouring some water into the substrate. Generally, there should be a period mid-day, where the enclosure dries out, this will maintain the animal’s respiratory health.  Too much or constant humidity can be just as bad as too little humidity, finding the right balance and fluctuation is important.  

**Note: Savannah Monitors shed their skin in patches, and not all at once.  They shed pretty much constantly due to the length of the process.  Do not peel any skin off the animal, as you can damage its scales by doing so.  If you notice “stuck shed” that has been lingering for longer than the shed cycle, give your monitor a shallow, luke warm soak for about 20 minutes and wipe the softened skin away with a soft cloth.  If it does not come off this way, add some wet moss or wet paper towels around the inside of the enclosure for added humidity.  

Savannah Monitors usually always defecate in their water dish, it will need to be replaced once or twice a day to ensure your animal has access to clean, fresh water at all times.  When choosing a water dish, pick one that your animal will be able to completely submerge their body in.  For adults, this often means a large storage tub, as commercial ‘reptile branded’ water dishes are not large enough.  Use a water de-chlorinator like Reptisafe in your animal’s water to remove any harmful impurities often found in tap water.

Heat and Light:

As is the case with most Monitors, Savannah’s need a lot of heat to properly digest meals and form bones the way they should.  They will require a hot spot of around 130/140 degrees F, 120 F for juveniles.  The hot spot should ideally have some sort of rock or slate beneath to maintain the temperature and provide access to belly heat.  The ambient air temperature should be around 85 degrees F, while the coldest areas may drop as low as 75 degrees F.  Having this range of temperatures available will assist your animal with thermoregulation.  A hatchling enclosure can be heated with a single heat bulb, whereas an adult should be offered two heat bulbs on the basking site to disperse the concentration of heat.  Adults kept with a single heat bulb will not be able to effectively warm themselves under one bulb.  They often end up with back burns from sitting in the same spot, trying to warm their large, long body with a single heat beam.  

Savannah Monitors will also do best when kept under a high level of UVB, 10.0 Desert or 14%.  Many monitor keepers believe it is not necessary to use UVB lighting, due to the way they synthesize D3 and process calcium.  We disagree with this and believe that UVB is absolutely vital to our diurnal monitor lizards, due to the way it stimulates appetite, energy and activity, and vibrant scale colour development.  T5 bulbs (we like Arcadia) are the most effective UV lighting option available on the market, we strongly advise using them.  It is best to choose a bulb that offers full coverage to the length of the enclosure, these bulbs need to be changed every six months to once a year as they run out of the chemical that makes them effective.  As a cost saving measure (to avoid replacing bulbs when unnecessary), if you have the money to invest in a Solarmeter, we would highly recommend it.  They run about $300 CAD, and have become a staple tool for maintaining our collection.  

Taming, Sexing, Extras:

Savannah Monitors are highly intelligent reptiles, this makes them harder to bond with because they instinctively see you as a predator and are more than capable of defending themselves.  Their defence mechanisms include a full set of sharp claws, teeth designed to lacerate flesh and a tail they know how to whip with accuracy.  To get your animal to trust you will be a lengthy process, that can easily be thrown off track if you make the wrong move, but you can always restart. Trust building should be done gradually.  Get your Sav used to your presence, let them know you’re safe by maintaining consistency.  Have them slowly get used to you routinely bringing them food, changing their water, cleaning their enclosure, and speaking to them in a low voice.

There are many routes you can take from there, some use food as a motivator for contact.  Others like to target train feedings and keep handing contact separate to avoid accidental food response bites.  Whichever route you choose, take it slow and be consistent.  Your monitor will calm down and begin to regard you as a safe person they can trust over time. Try not to handle your animal while it is cold, they’ll be calm because they’re too cold to move, but they’ll also be terrified. If you focus on keeping them warm while interacting (in-cage interactions, brief out-of-cage interactions), they will feel safer knowing they still have the energy to defend themselves if they need to.  

**Note: Try to work with the animal a lot while it is young, and regularly as it grows to maintain your bond.  An animal that trusts you can easily turn to one who doesn’t if it isn’t handled for two months.  Get your Savannah to a point where it’s unlikely to bite you while it is still too small to do significant damage, an adult monitor bite is no picnic and can be very serious.

Sexing monitors is not easy, often you won’t actually be able to tell for sure until you see an adult hemipenal eversion while it defecates (usually in water).  Sometimes you can tell by the appearance of the adult animal by looking at the head shape (males have bigger heads, more bulbous foreheads, and larger nostrils), the sheer body size, or looking for male signifying grease patches on the underside of the back feet.  If you have no luck with any of that, blood tests performed by a veterinarian are the most accurate way to know for sure.  

You’ll find a lot of people online claiming Savannah Monitors are horrible pets, they’re really not.  They can make absolutely wonderful, fulfilling, intelligent pets for the right person.  You have to fully commit yourself to providing ample time, energy, investment and patience if you want it to work.  Once you have the husbandry down, and the taming under control, you’ll probably end up with a very personable, entertaining, dog sized lizard.  It takes a lot of determination but it’s so worth it to end up with the animal you’ll get in the end. We love our boy, and he tolerates us but loves food. If it’s affection you’re after, you might consider getting a dog instead.

Housing & Substrate:

Leopard Geckos should always be housed by themselves. They do not get lonely; they are solitary animals that prefer their own space and territory.  Males will fight to the point of serious injury, if not death.  Some keepers have had success keeping females together, but this is very circumstantial, they are more likely to fight or stress each other out than they are to get along.  Male-female pairs should only be introduced for breeding purposes, and only once they have reached the acceptable age and size to breed safely. Breeding pairs should be separated immediately after pairing to give your female time to develop and lay her eggs in peace. Males have a habit of pestering their female partners, creating a stressful environment for both animals.  

These geckos can be housed in a lot of different styles of enclosures, whether that be glass terrariums, PVC cages, or bin cages.  With all of the style options available, the overall size of the enclosure should be a minimum of 20-gallons (long). Many keepers will recommend larger enclosures for a happier animal. The more space you’re able to provide, the more space you have for enriching décor as well.  Though, 20-gallons should be the absolute smallest for a single adult gecko.  These enclosures should ideally have more floor space than height, as the animal will spend a majority of its time on the ground, occasionally climbing around on the decorations at night. 

Regardless of the cage you choose, there should be at least three hiding places inside.  One hide at each end of the tank, so that the animal has coverage at both ends of the thermal gradient (*will discuss thermal gradients in heating & lighting section).  The third hide can be placed somewhere in the middle and lined with damp sphagnum moss or paper towel, this hide will function as a humid retreat for the gecko to utilize at shedding time.

Geckos are very curious animals. They don’t do much throughout the day, but at night they emerge from their slumber to party.  While primarily ground dwelling geckos, they would also appreciate large structures (like driftwood pieces, foliage and magnetic ledges) to climb and explore. They will use whatever you decide to include; they’re not picky, get creative. Leopard Geckos come from rocky, desert areas of Afghanistan (and similar regions) and are fully capable of climbing, despite their clumsy appearance. Try your best to mimic the native range of this inquisitive animal.  

There are many substrate options that are suitable to this species’ needs.  However, we would recommend completely avoiding Vita-sand, Calci-sand, or reptile carpet.  Despite how these products are marketed, they are highly unsuitable for Leopard Geckos, or any animal at all.  Vitamin and mineral enriched sands encourage your animal to ingest large amounts of substrate, inevitably leading to life threatening impaction issues.  Reptile carpet, although not ingestible, is very difficult to clean effectively.  Being so fibrous and hard to clean, they often harbor a lot of harmful bacteria.  Geckos also have a habit of getting their nails (and sometimes teeth) stuck in the fibers.  It can be a very frustrating product, and is best to be avoided entirely.

Some good, non-problematic substrate options include dry coco fiber, sand/soil mixtures, clay-based substrates (Exo Terra Stone Desert, Zoo Med Excavator Clay), or a custom mix of all of it.  You may also use non-adhesive shelf liner or paper towel (solid substrates) for very young or sick/recovering geckos. If you insist on using solid substrates long-term, make sure to include a “dig bin” of sand/soil in the enclosure.  

Impaction is a common topic (and non-issue); there are many people making claims that geckos ingesting any substrate at all will suffer health issues.  That’s far from the truth, and shouldn’t worry you at all if you have a healthy, well hydrated gecko kept at the correct temperature.  So long as the husbandry is correct, they will be able to pass just about anything (except aforementioned enriched sands).  Remember, these animals don’t live on paper towel in the wild, they live on dirt and rocky surfaces as they are designed to.

Diet & Supplementation:

Leopard Geckos are strict insectivores.  This means that they should consume a diet consisting entirely of insect prey.  They can eat any feeder insects available, staple diets often include crickets, superworms, mealworms or dubia roaches.  "Treat feeders" that are high in fat and should be offered sparingly include wax worms, butterworms, and hornworms.  Variety is important for any lizard species, try to mix it up when you can. Insects should be offered live, as the movement is what stimulates the animal to eat. Dried/canned insects are significantly inferior in nutritional content to their live counterparts.  Leopard gecko “pellets” are nutritionally bankrupt and are not an appropriate food source for this species.  

**Note: Do not feed your animal insects from outside, as they likely contain parasites or have been into herbicide/insecticides. Captive bred feeder insects are the safest thing to feed your gecko.

Hard shelled insects like crickets, superworms and dubia roaches should be of an appropriate size for your gecko to ensure they can digest it properly and reduce the risk of regurgitation. The way to tell if an insect is properly sized is to look at the space between the gecko’s eyes and choose a feeder that is approximately that long.  Soft bodied insects like hornworms can be about 2-3 times that length because they are easier to swallow and digest.  

Juvenile geckos should be fed daily, generally five or six appropriately sized insects each feeding.  Adults can be fed every three to six days, eight to ten prey items per feeding.  Monitor your animal’s weight to see how quickly they metabolize food; each individual is different and may require further adjustment to feeding schedule and amounts.  All feeder insects will need to be dusted with minerals and vitamins to ensure your gecko has access to everything it needs.  Incorrect or lack of supplementation can lead to health issues like metabolic bone disease (MBD), Vitamin A deficiency, gout and more.  Each feeding should be dusted with a reptile Calcium supplement containing vitamin D3.  Once a week you should switch the calcium powder with a Multivitamin supplement.  

**Note: Feel free to leave a small dish of Calcium without vitamin D3 in the enclosure for your gecko to access at will.  Doing so can allow them to manage their own calcium intake if they feel they aren’t getting enough, however, insects will still need to be dusted.  It is very important to make sure this dish does not have D3 in it as it can lead to overdose, only offer D3 at feeding time in regulated amounts.

Heat, Light & Humidity:

A Leopard Gecko will require one side of their enclosure to be heated and the other to be cool.  This gives them the opportunity to “thermoregulate” and move around based on their own comfort level.  Access to heat is very important for a Leopard Gecko; they use it to digest food and maintain proper bone density.  The basking spot on the hot side should be between 90 to 95-degrees F during the day.  This temperature can be achieved with a daytime heat bulb of an appropriate wattage for the size of enclosure.  A 20-gallon enclosure can usually be heated with 50 to 75 watts, though you will need to make your own adjustments based on the ambient temperature of your home. 

Under-tank heaters (UTH) or “heat mats” may be used supplementally. If using a UTH, be sure to install it in addition to a thermostat.  A thermostat (different from a thermometer), is designed to regulate the temperature of an under-tank heater, within 2 degrees of the temperature you set.  An unregulated heat mat can and will overheat, and has the potential to injure your animal while simultaneously increasing the risk of fire in your home.  UTH’s are commonly recommended for nocturnal species, but are entirely unnecessary in most cases. You can achieve more natural and safe heating with an overhead heat bulb.  

**Note: In any case, do not use a UTH as the only heat source unless the room temperature is above 78 degrees F.  A UTH will heat a surface, but will not be capable of heating the air inside the enclosure (as a heat bulb will).  A Leopard Gecko consistently breathing cold air is at risk of developing a respiratory infection.  

The cold side of the enclosure should stay between 75 to 80 degrees F during the day.  This will vary slightly with tank size, house temperature, wattage of heat source, etc. Lights should be shut it off at night so that your animal is able to understand when it is night time, this is often referred to as a Day/Night cycle.  At night, the temperature may drop as low as 65 degrees F.  If night time temperatures fall below 65, you may want to add a low wattage night time heat source that does not emit light, like a ceramic heat emitter (CHE).

Humidity should be relatively low in a Leopard Gecko enclosure. These are desert dwelling animals, and are built for dry environments.  If the humidity level is too high, this could lead to respiratory infections.  The only humid area within the cage should be the humid hide.  Aim to keep the ambient humidity around 30 to 40% to keep your gecko comfortable.  

UVB lighting is an option for Leopard Geckos. Being nocturnal animals, they don't require this type of lighting (simulated sunlight) to survive, though they can absolutely benefit from some exposure to low level UVB (5.0 Tropical bulb/6% Shade-dweller).  Should you choose to provide UVB, you will need to make a change to calcium/D3 supplementation.  UVB provides extra vitamin D3, too much D3 can lead to overdose.  This means you will need to use a calcium without D3 for regular feedings and a multivitamin with D3 once a week to ensure the gecko is getting the correct amount.

Handling & Interaction:

Leopard Geckos can be very personable and fun to interact with.  It is also important to know that they are capable of dropping their tails at will if they are stressed or if pressure is put on the tail.  This is most common with baby geckos, and much less common with adult specimens.  They are able to regrow their tails, although, it will look quite a bit different from the original (more bulbous, no ridges).  This adaptation is used as a defense mechanism in the wild.  If a predator catches their tail, they can let it go and keep running to escape.  The newly detached tail will even continue to wiggle around for a while to distract the predator to aid the gecko’s escape attempt.  Therefore, it is important not to grab the tail when handling your gecko or they may drop a valuable fat and nutrient storage vessel.  

Baby geckos can be flighty, they will calm with age and routine handling. Brand new animals should be left without handling for at least one week while they adjust to their new home.   After settling in initially, new geckos can be handled on a large bed, or very low to the ground to avoid fall injuries.  Don’t underestimate their speed, as they can be very fast when they want to be.  Over time, as your animal gets to know and tolerate you, they will move slower and be more relaxed in general.  Limit all handling sessions to a maximum of 15 minutes to ensure your cold-blooded friend stays comfortably warm and doesn’t stress out. Avoid grabbing your animal around the mid-section, they are small, fragile animals with delicate bone structure. Instead, scoop your fingers under the chin, this encourages the animal to step onto your hand.  

**Note: A good way to bond with new geckos is to introduce tong-feeding (or hand feeding if you’re comfortable doing so). This will allow your animal to get to know you, while still feeling secure in the safety of it’s enclosure.  

Overall, Leopard Geckos make sweet, quiet, interactive pets. As far as reptiles go, this is one of the easiest ones to care for, and take up the least amount of space.  They are, like most reptiles, long lived with an impressive 20-year lifespan. Due to how common these animals are, there are a lot of them available from rehoming situations and rescues. This is a long-term commitment, and not a disposable pet as many people seem to believe. If you’re a parent seeking a short-lived pocket pet for your child at Christmas, please consider a stuffed animal first. If you’re a parent who understands this animal has needs, like food, heat and vet care when necessary, a Leopard Gecko could be a good learning experience for a school aged child (with your assistance, of course).