Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have two savannah monitors that are about 8 inchs long. They are very active and seem healthy. I was wondering if it was ok to only feed them pinky rats. I feed them 2 pinkies every 2 to 3 days. Is that enough for them? They would eat more if I fed them, but I think two is fine for their size. Thank you

They would be eating insects in the wild and should be given crickets, or roaches daily in addition to pinkies, two or three times a week. Or were you just asking if the size of rat pinkies is okay to feed?

It's probably fine to feed them those. I'm not sure if you are questioning whether or not they are too big for your Savannah's, but if you are, your monitors will shred them into a usable size if they are too large.

If you ration their food, your monitors will grow slowly. I would suggest feeding them as much as they will eat while young since they have a lot of growing to do(but I don't think feeding them less is going to harm them unless they are starving). If they become obese, there is probably something wrong with your setup.

I would try to vary the diet as much as possible with crickets and roaches, provided your monitors will eat them.

Thanks for the advice. Could I just feed them pinky rats every day instead of crickets? I know that they don't do that in the wild, but in captivity reptiles don't always eat what they do in thw wild. Like hognoses eat frogs and lizard in the wild and in captivity they do fine on mice and rats. I would think that rats would have same or more nutrition then insects. Is there a reason behind why they need to have insects in their diet?

I think its good to offer a varied diet if possible, some people don't.
Insects are less fatty than rodents and obviously don't have hair. Just try some stuff out and see what works best for you.

[Is there a reason behind why they need to have insects in their diet?]

I think it's been made clear, they don't actually 'need' to have insects to survive. The main reason I suggested them, was for mental and physical stimulation for a young monitor. If you've ever watched a hatchling scratching through the leaf litter going after bugs, you'll know what I mean. They seem so proud of themselves and all the running around 'has' to be a good thing.
Beats chucking in dead rodents a couple of times a week, doesn't it? These are 'thinking' animals.

If they can swallow it they can eat it. Mice, quail, rat pups (if small enough for them), and roaches if you want to. Crickets are fine, but they can do just fine on rodents.
When I kept them I used rodents as fast as they were capable of eating them, then chicken peeps later on (when they are big enough to eat them).
Widely varied diets, and wild diets are more for the unsure keepers peace of mind than the lizards health.
Good luck.

Thanks everyone for all the advice. It will come in handy.