Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have some experience with ackies and found them to be a lot of fun. I finally have the resources to get a little more involved with the reptile addiction and was thinking about putting ackies on the list. Feeding with my other critters is no problem being that they all eat f/t rodents. However, I HATE crickets. They smell. I don't care how well I care for them...they end up smelling. To be honest, I don't wanna have to deal with them at all anyway.

So, would raising ackies on a rodent only diet be acceptable.
I really don't see why not being that other monitors species are maintained almost completely on a rodent diet.

Just figured i'd get a few opinions, thanks for yer time.

As far as what to feed Ackies...well that's definately more FR's or others territory. But I can tellyou that the one Odatriad species I work with(timor) does really care for rodent prey that much. Being that I raise rodents and know how much more they smell compared to crickets I am a bit confused. Personally I think most monitors could use a lot more insects in their diet than people give them. Even some of the largest waters I have kept will occasionally chase down insects and they are on of the least insectivorus species I work with. Pinkies are also really high in fat compared to insects and I would think a steady diet of them might not be the greatest long-term but once again a question for FR or another considering he is in the bush right now. Ultimately though I think carnivorous lizard keeping might be the wrong part of the hobby for you if you don't like the smell of crickets (but they still smell better than rodents.)

yea, thats exactly my point for asking. If crickets are a must, then ackies aren't gonna happen. robyn mentioned roaches below...which may be a solution. Even still, it is so much easier to use f/t food so i wanted to see if i could get away with it.

try roaches instead of crickets. much easier to breed, no smell, and lizards love them.
-----
robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

Crickets don't smell if kept right and breed quite easily. They only smell when I have die offs and that just does not seem to happen anymore. F/t pinks are offered to all my ackies but nothing is more fun than watching them go nuts over a few dozen crickets thrown in the trough. Plus the metal troughs eliminate escapees.

Robyn, I tried roaches and yes they bred well and the ackies liked them but after 2-3 feedings they would seem to lose interest almost like they do if I try feeding pinkies consecutively. Might just be my weirdos though.

Nate