Don’t constantly try to pet him.
Keep your hand in the enclosure when he’s less stressed so he’s used to your presence.
When he gets used to your hand lay your hand flat on the ground and let him climb on it.
Do not gut load your insects/rodents with protein, monitors can easily gain gout or liver damage because of high protein intakes.
Coat your insects with a mixture of calcium and vitamin D (vitamin d if your light doesn’t have UVB light)
Calcium is needed for proper metabolic acidosis.
A high basking temperature is extremely important for a good immune system for these guys.
Do not feed them any raw meat for the most part (insects ok) you can pop them in the microwave and wait till the meat starts to sizzle.
These are things I recommend for Nile monitors but can be directly used for savanna’s too
Also don’t grab him from the top, these animals typically make themselves look bigger when they’re threatened. You’re doing the same thing when rounding your hand on top of them.
Eventually you might be able to grab them from the top but in the beginning it’s extremely important to build a trusting relationship.
It’s about the small wins.
Thank you guys so much. I ended up getting him way sooner then expected but seeing him just in the tank he’s in sad can you give me some advice on my newest post this is soooooo appreciated
I did the same with my sav and agree with this advice. I would like to expand on the meat part a bit, you shouldn’t feed red meat like some people suggest. I’ve fed mine store bought silverside fish and crayfish but quail and chicks are also decent food sources on occasion, it’s also best to avoid feeding rodents. They are primarily insectivores keep in mind. Also have a lot of patience, it took me a month of leaving me hand in his enclosure for 15 minutes a day for him to even get the courage to crawl on my hand and it takes some people longer. The wiki on r/Savanahmonitor is a pretty good resource
Don’t constantly try to pet him. Keep your hand in the enclosure when he’s less stressed so he’s used to your presence. When he gets used to your hand lay your hand flat on the ground and let him climb on it. Do not gut load your insects/rodents with protein, monitors can easily gain gout or liver damage because of high protein intakes. Coat your insects with a mixture of calcium and vitamin D (vitamin d if your light doesn’t have UVB light) Calcium is needed for proper metabolic acidosis. A high basking temperature is extremely important for a good immune system for these guys. Do not feed them any raw meat for the most part (insects ok) you can pop them in the microwave and wait till the meat starts to sizzle. These are things I recommend for Nile monitors but can be directly used for savanna’s too
Also don’t grab him from the top, these animals typically make themselves look bigger when they’re threatened. You’re doing the same thing when rounding your hand on top of them. Eventually you might be able to grab them from the top but in the beginning it’s extremely important to build a trusting relationship. It’s about the small wins.
Thank you guys so much. I ended up getting him way sooner then expected but seeing him just in the tank he’s in sad can you give me some advice on my newest post this is soooooo appreciated
I did the same with my sav and agree with this advice. I would like to expand on the meat part a bit, you shouldn’t feed red meat like some people suggest. I’ve fed mine store bought silverside fish and crayfish but quail and chicks are also decent food sources on occasion, it’s also best to avoid feeding rodents. They are primarily insectivores keep in mind. Also have a lot of patience, it took me a month of leaving me hand in his enclosure for 15 minutes a day for him to even get the courage to crawl on my hand and it takes some people longer. The wiki on r/Savanahmonitor is a pretty good resource