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Large monitor and tegu

Savannah monitor

Varanus exanthematicus

Kept the same way as the ackie monitor and Argentine tegu, so they share one kit: the same heat, light, and humidity, sized to the animal.

Build a savannah monitor setup See the gear
Photograph of a Savannah monitor
Photograph by KKPCW, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Care sheet

What it needs

We have taken these figures from published sources and are still checking them against our own experience. Treat them as a guide, and ask us before you buy.

Basking surface
55 to 65°C Measured on the surface the animal lies on, not in the air.
Daytime air
26 to 29°C The cool end, away from the lamp.
Night air
23°C
UV index at the basking spot
2.9 to 9.5 Zones 3 to 4. Open or partial sun basker, thermoregulator
Humidity
45 to 60%
Daylight hours
13 h in summer, 11 h in winter
Winter
Cooling A cooler period: activity and feeding drop, but the animal stays awake.
Where it lives
Fossorial, Rocks, crevices, or burrows, Grassland or savanna, Riparian or wetland
Adult length
64 to 120 cm
When it is active
Diurnal
How it lives
Terrestrial
Typical captive life
10 years
Longest recorded life
20 years A record from the literature, not what to expect. Most animals live well short of it.

Our reading of the literature, not veterinary advice. Animals vary, and so do rooms, so take these figures, and any setup the builder puts together, as a starting point, and ask a reptile vet about your own animal. Where the figures come from.

From the catalogue

Gear that suits a savannah monitor

Chosen for large monitor and tegu. The setup builder puts the whole kit together, sized to the animal, with the reason for each piece.

Build the whole kit

Same care group

Kept the same way

Where it comes from

Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea (Conakry), Sierra Leone, Liberia, Mali, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Sudan (Jumhūriyyat), Republic of South Sudan (RSS), Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Uganda, N Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), Zimbabwe USA (introduced to Florida)

Breeding: oviparous

Where the figures come from