One of the biggest misconceptions about Savannah Monitors is that they are desert dwelling animals; >This is false information Watch Video - Savanna Biome
Virtually all of the Savannah Monitors captured for the worldwide pet trade are "harvested" from Ghana Africa, a coastal grassland, that has rich grassy vegetation and relatively high humidity for much of the year. When we fail to provide the required humidity in captivity, these majestic animals perish from various states of dehydration. What many keepers fail to realize is that these animals spend much of their time down inside Burrows (or tunnels) under the ground to conserve moisture and avoid predators. These burrows are very important to the overall health of your lizard.
Savannah Monitors are very intelligent animals, they require stimulation, locked inside four walls with nothing to do is comparable to solitary confinement in prison, They NEED space, they NEED dirt to dig burrows in. Like a child in a sandbox, nothing else you can do for your animal is better than to give it plenty of sandy soil mix to tunnel in and providing enrichment to keep the animal's
mind keen. Monitors in captivity can become bored. (wouldn't you be in a box?)
If you wish to keep your Savannah Monitor healthy and alive for more than a year or two, you simply must provide a large sealed enclosure with a solid 24 inches of soil that will hold a burrow without collapsing on the animal while it spends most of it's time in there. The preferred substrate of many advanced keepers is a mixture of soil and sand. (See Bio Active soil page)