Please Help!

[Bev0825]

I have a 3 year old monitor (Monty) that I rescued about 2 years ago and for the past few weeks he has not been himself. He will not eat and he seems to be having some problem going potty...even though he has not ate much he still seems to be trying to push something out. I know that I need to do something soon and I called the vet but they didnt seem to be too worried about it. What should I do?

[Sponger05]

trying sticking him in a tub with some warm water for 30 minutes, that tends to assist bowel movements.

[Bev0825]

Thanks, I will try that right away.

[NicoleRussell]

has his behavior changed at all?

[Bev0825]

His behavior has changed a little he dosent seem to be interested in anything. He has never been aggresive but he had a little bit of an attitude which he seems to have lost lately.

[mo1416]

Just curious.........what type of monitor is he?

[Bev0825]

He is a Savannah Monitor and is about 3 years old.

[AJS]

What type of diet does Monty have? I have no experience with sav's myself, but I know a lot of people who had problems with bosc's fed on a high fat, exclusively rodent diet: lethargy, obesity and constipation. This presents us with two different pathway's: Firstly, the monitor in question is unable to digest rodent hair. The idea that they can't digest rodent's properly is absolute junk, however if basking temps are too low < 125 (at least) they may have problems digesting mammalian hair. Secondly, exclusively or high rodent diets can cause problems due to too much fat, have you tried switching to alternative food sources? I know a number of people who had issues and when they switched their sav's onto a diet of crayfish and shrimp the animal's became much more active and dispalyed beter colour's. I am not criticising mice as a food item per se, they represent a valuable source of nutrition for captive varanus, but they can cause problems under certain circumstances. Also crayfish and shrimp can be purchased very cheaply in bulk, at a cost far lower than frozen rodents. You might also try snails, here in the UK we have access to Giant African Land Snails, but I think they are illegal for you guy's, but you could try apple snails. Also, when Monty is better, if you don't already try throwing in a 100 or so crickets a couple of times a week, watching him chase them down is entertaining and good excercise for him too.
Hope he gets better soon.
Regards,
AJS

[Bev0825]

Thank you so much for the information. He does have a diet which pertains mostly of mice, occasionally I will throw in some crickets for him to chase around.

[Dachande]

i feed nothing but mice and chicks to my argus. never any problems. obviously it got bugs when small, but the main adult diet is whole prey. if obese, the base of the tail will be huge. should AJS have it right, get hissing roaches or discoids. they are large insect prey. however, if obesity is not the case, i ask is what substrate is it on?
my argus goes off-feed for a few days to a week before laying. she gets bloated and the tail thins down. i keep her on over 1ft of soil and she digs more constantly than usual. my point is your Monty could be a Mont-ette. and if not provided with a nesting medium, will hold the eggs. just a possibilty should the obesity or temperature theory be the wrong direction.
not to discredit AJS or anything, he knows just as much on proper varanid care as i. i am merely speaking on my personal experiences.

[NicoleRussell]

lighting? basking temps? substrate?

[Bev0825]

I just wanted to thank everyone for their advise and let you know that Monty is back to his old self again. Im not sure what happened to him but he is eating again and seems to be happy. Thanks again!

[Lucky Lep]

wel i have a ??? What kinda crayfish and shrimp???