Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My blackthroat seems to tire of hunting crickets, and ever since he ate the other lizard I suspected he is naturally-born binge eater. So today I boughty a post-hopper small white mouse. When the lizard finally got a death grip on the mouse's head, he spent the next 20 minutes swallowing it. I thought he would give up. Next week I'm feeding him a few fuzzies. I expect that soon I'll be stunning the mice prior to feeding.

BTW the only thing that prompted my guy to see the mouse as prey is when it scampered innocently around. When it incidentally skipped directly away from the big guy, it elicited feeding behavior. It took him about 15 tries to catch and hold the mouse. I'm sure a pre-killed would not have interested him at this point. I plan to train him to eat pre-killed once he can see a mouse body as food.

BTW his throat sure is black.

Roger

Roger

ONLY FEED PRE-KILLED!!!!!!

Jiggle a dead mouse with tongs, he will definitely go for it. Live food is cruel, stressful, and dangerous for the monitor.

my b.t. prefered mealworms over evrything when he was small but, never refused a pinkie! it sounds like your monitors feeding response is not good, possibly from poor husbandry. i would take a closer look at its home and make sure it is comfortable (big enough) and with a place to hide. lack of "HEAT" would be the #1 cause of eating troubles. the temp should be in the mid 80's at least, with a basking spot of 115-130. your lizard will not live without a basking spot. good luck!

check this link for a good care sheet!
proexotics.com/care_ionides.html