Sadly on January 24 my Savannah monitor of 5 years passed away from errors in husbandry. It has taken me this long to find it in myself to discuss it, But I feel very strongly about getting this paramount information out so that others may benefit from it.

This particular monitor was raised on a diet of primarily invertebrate foods, so the mythological "fatty liver disease" was not the problem. He was given 40 acres of prime country real estate to roam upon, so he was incredibly well exercised, his cage was located in my reptile room that is environmentally controlled to never fall below 80 degrees (F) and his basking area was maintained at 125-135 at all times except at night.

We never even knew anything was wrong until one day in November he started coughing, We took him to a vet for a checkup, and unfortunately this vet was not qualified to diagnose yet alone treat reptiles, and he incorrectly assumed that a Baytril regimen would cure this, and I foolishly believed him.

After 14 days of steady Baytril treatments, my monitor was not improving one bit, so we decided to find a different vet and we found Dr. Sanford who has two masters degrees in zoological medicine, and is reptile certified.

She did the blood work and found that his uric acid levels were off the charts, she prescribed a treatment for gout but also advised us that his chances for recovery were slim to none, as his internal body chemistry had been so far out of balance for so long that she believed that permanent organ damage had already set in.

After only three doses of his gout medication he began vomiting blood, then diarrhea set in and it became very clear that he was suffering in ways I hope I never have to witness again as long as I live.

The decision was made that putting him down was the only humane option available.

The official post mortem diagnosis was long term low level dehydration, a condition that is brought on by insufficient humidity in the enclosure, a fate that all too many Savannah Monitors suffer when kept in anything but ideal conditions.

In conclusion, If you have a Savannah Monitor (Or any other monitor lizard) you simply must have at least one accurate digital hygrometer installed in your cage, you must maintain the ideal humidity levels for the species you keep, or the Monitor will eventually die a very ugly death.

There must be substrate deep enough to support burrowing, if you do not follow this advice, I don't care how "healthy" your lizard may look, they are dying slowly inside. By the time symptoms manifest and become visible it's too late.

The laws of survival in the wild mandate that they remain vigorous and functional until their final moments or risk falling prey to the next predator up the food chain. Therefore even if you ASSUME your animal is doing fine, the hard cold truth is it may not be so.

Proper caging and proper humidity levels are the ONLY way to ensure a long and healthy life...

The attached photograph is hard to look at, so I will not embed it in this post, you may click the link and view it at your own discression.

http://www.chompersite.com/gout/neardeath.jpg

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and best wishes to all of you and your captive monitors!

Thank you so much for posting this!

That picture is really sad. I'm really sorry you had to go through that, but hopefully what happened to Chomper will help many other monitor owners from having the same unfortunate thing happen to there animals.

Wayne, I've read and heard for many years that PROPER humidity, and most other husbandry issues, is PARAMOUNT to keeping any monitor, indeed any reptile, healthy enough to live a long healthy life. Reptiles are chronic for being difficult to 'read' as far as health concerns go, unfortunately, for most of us, and this difficulty is probably the leading cause for their early demise. As you said, you don't see it until it's already too late.

It's obvious you're taking all this as, sadly, a lesson learned and are going forward with the knowledge and begining again. Kudos to you for doing this and not letting the loss keep you from what you love.

All that being said, I expect to see pictures of a HEALTHY littlefoot all over in here in about 15 years :yes: :wamma:

Good luck Wayne.

Littlefoot will be a celebrity on the web.

Littlefoot will be a celebrity on the web.

:yes: :yes: :yes:

I have also been looking into other monitor species. I have a 25 foot by 50 foot basement to work with.. And Northern tool sells casters for factory machines with multi ton ratings, so imagine enclosures like mine on big heavy dolly wheels, with that cement floor, I could arrange the cages however I wanted.

Have become extremely interested in Black Tree monitors, Argus, Lace and Spencer Monitors too.

I'm working with a 2' x 5' closet...Wish I had even half that space...Tegus have always intrigued me, but I just don't have the space for them, Some day...

Would be cool to have a basement full of monitors for sure.:yes:

I'm working with a 2' x 5' closet...Wish I had even half that space...Tegus have always intrigued me, but I just don't have the space for them, Some day...

Would be cool to have a basement full of monitors for sure.:yes:

I have one of those in my reptile room, Some day i would like to empty it out and put up a glass door like they use at gas stations/jiffy mart type places, then put me an arboreal critter inside it.

I have one of those in my reptile room, Some day i would like to empty it out and put up a glass door like they use at gas stations/jiffy mart type places, then put me an arboreal critter inside it.

That would be cool. Mabey something like a blue tree monitor?

Hmm, I just thought of something. I had a leopard gecko that I bought from a pet store vending at a reptile show, stupid me I know, and it appeared completely healthy, and gained tons of weight, then all of a sudden he hit rock bottom. I brought him to a vet who didn't quite know what he was doing... then I brought him to another vet who was supposed to be the best, and note this was before Shane explained the effects of baytril, and they prescribed baytril. That created problems in itself, and I believe it quickened his death, which sad to say, was probably better for him. He was regurging, and had odd looking, very wet, stool. They worried it might be an RI, but I must say I doubt that. Mabey it was a case of gout? This can come from a previous owner, and lay dorment if I'm understanding correctly? They kept him on sand, and I strongly suspect with a heat lamp.

Have become extremely interested in Black Tree monitors, Argus, Lace and Spencer Monitors too.

Rut Ro!!!!! :D. There are several people in here that keep, or have kept Probably all of these at one point in their hobby. Maybe someone will help you decide in which direction to venture :yes:

I am so sorry for your loss. Thank you for posting this.

Thank you for sharing for the benefit of other, I'm sorry for your loss!

Thank you for sharing. Im sure it was very hard, but a lot of good will come out of this posting im sure.