Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My water only eats pinkies... he shows no interest in crickets and when i put them in the tank they crawl all over him pickin at him and i know he doesn't like that.

This concerns me because every so often i read not to give a full meat based diet because of the weak digestive system. But he WILL NOT eat crickets. Im going to try hissing roaches but have to wait till the next reptile swap to get them.

How much do i need to feed him if each pinky is about the size of his head? Please don't say as much as he wants because the last time i gave him as much as he wanted it came down to nine... and the reason i couldn't get to ten is because nine was all i had left. He swelled up like a baloon... although it was quite humerous it concerned me a little bit.

I've also read that mice supply a good amount of calcium-should i still dust the pinkies with repcal? How often? Thanks

I'm new to monitor just like you, but from what I heard these guys have powerful stomach acid, and they can digest almost anything. I heard crickets are harder to digest because of their chitin. Pink mice are a little easier and nutrionally speaking are well rounded, and like you said high in calcium. If he doesn't it I wouldn't worry about it. They'll do just find on rodents. You can try some appropreatte size feeder fish also. It's a little easier to digest than rodents. Feed babies and juvy every day, or at least every other day. Try to give them smaller meal, but more often. For babies you dust the pinkies with calcium supplement.

I hope somebody with more expertise will add something more to this. Anyway, I hope this help you!

I HAVE HAD MY WATER ABOUT 6 MONTHS AND I FEED HIM GROUND TURKEY TWICE AS WEEK DUSTED WITH REPCAL MULTI VIT. AND CALCIUM.
HE ALSO GETS A SERVING OF ABOIIUT 30 SUPERWORMS EVERY OTHER DAY. HOPE THIS HELPS. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND GIVING IT FEEDER FISH.

Weak digestive systems. Who the heck told you that???? monitors are almost shark like in what they can digest. And digest it quickly too.

Larger species often get past the insect stage in a matter of days. They move right to larger prey items and consume as much as possible. So in my experience, listen to your monitor and feed it mice then larger, then larger, then feed it the people that told you that monitors have weak digestive systems.

In reality, when kept sub-normal. As in very poorly, they have weak everything. But its not the monitors fault, its egotistical people who cannot believe they are poor at something. Consider, monitors are extreme experts at being monitors. Listen to them. Cheers

Thats good because he wont eat nothing else... and i was a little skeptical because i once saw on tv two australian monitors (i believe perenties) tearing apart a dead baby dear. They must have good digestion. I just wanted an answer from you-i hope you dont think i could have answered that one myself otherwise believe me i wouldn't have asked. Oh and i got this from pro exotic's water monitor care sheet.Thats what concerned me... if pro exotics said that- then the only one that i know of that can give a better insight is you.
thanks frank

Newly importanted monitors without question have surpressed immune systems and weak about everything else. So in that context it could be correct.

As a healthy captive under decent husbandry, they can consume doorknobs without problem. A healthy monitor has extremely strong digestive systems. Almost unbelieveable.

I do not disagree with a approach of treating all imports as if they are weak. But you must consider why they are weak. The process of importing kills a high percentage of those imported. Its a stressful ordeal.

Stressed monitors can have weak digestive tracks, not monitors. I guess this is my fault, as when I think of monitors, I think of healthy ones, not stressed ones. Cheers

I think hes well adapted by now... when i got him he looked wild caught, gangly and wouldn't hold himself up if he didnt need to... but now i watch him through the mirror(hes still to shy for me to be walking around him) pacin up and down his cage, basking, jumping in his waterfall ect. ect. ...he seems pretty healthy... i just read the care sheet again and it states that babies have small digestive systems, my bad on the typo, but you said listen to the monitors and i've been listening and all he wants is more meat.
thanks

MY WATER EATS SUPERWORMS LIKE CRAZY I GIVE HIM ABOUT 30 OF THEM EVERY OTHER DAY DUSTED WITH REP CAL CALCIUM AND MULTI VITAMINS. ANOTHER GOOD THING IS GROUND TURKEY. IT GOES RIGHT THROUGH THEM. BUT SOMEONE ONCE TOLD ME THAT A PURE MEAT DIET IS LIKE MONITOR STEROIDS. HISSING ROACHES ARE GOOD TO. GOOD LUCK

I read from proexotics that meat is like monitor steroids and it will make him mean if hes chasing mice and killing them and what not... 1st- i feed him thawed mice so theres no chasing... 2nd- Frank Retes just cleared up that an all meat diet will not harm the digestive- 3rd All he wants is mice, so thats what he'll get... i dont really understand this steroid theory either, when i bought the thing my plans where to watch it eat through my meat (and my wallet) like a garbage disposal... though im going to try hissers that sounds like good exercise for him because if my monitors happy with pre-killed mice i have no problem with that.

I've been through the whole feeding live mice to lizards and snakes and the thrill is gone... now all thats left is pitty for the fuzzy little guys.

i need to update that caresheet.

not because of error (although there will be some updates on husbandry) but because folks can't read in context and get all confused : )

let me try to recapture the point...

our caresheets are targeted to the new keeper, or the one who has been led astray somewhere else. i think caresheets can be a great tool, as new keepers need some type of knowledge base and structure, they can't (as is often requested on this forum) just "search and read the forum threads, the answers are there".

many keepers don't keep their monitors well. mostly due to ignorance, they just aren't familiar with proper husbandry.

when starting with a hatchling or young monitor, many keepers keep a dehydrated monitor with poor basking temps and low overall temps. they then try the whole "varied diet" thing, including mice and crickets, but also bacon, chicken hearts, peanut butter, etc.

there are many problems from many angles there...

see part 2 : )
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

(i went over the word limit for one post : )

but regarding diet, a lot of new keepers love to see their new baby monitor attack, kill, and eat mice. so it is LOTS and LOTS of mice. for a baby monitor, one that would be eating a lot of insects in the wild, that daily giant pot roast of a meal is a LOT to digest.

compound that with dehydration (soaking and a moist substrate can help reset that) and poor temps, and you get a backed up, temperamental, miserable monitor. they don't have the other tools to properly digest all that heavy meat.

by feeding SO MUCH heavy meat, five, six days a week, you only make the problem worse. if you were to balance out that heavy meat with some insects, which provide some roughage, you can keep digestion moving along at a better pace.

the meat alone is not really the problem, but in many many cases, it is compounded by the other deficiencies, and really makes for a problem.

someone like Frank Retes can feed all the mice/meat he wants. that is because he has years of experience with monitors. he understands moisture and hydration, he understands temperatures and how a monitor uses them. he can also read and react to his animals. you can absolutely do it, but only once you have a better comprehension of the monitor and its needs. but you have to walk before you can run.

and the caresheet is not for him : )

the caresheet is for new keepers that make common mistakes, and have common misunderstandings, an attempt not just to gather husbandry info, but to put folks on the path to success for themselves and their monitors.

and no matter how i word it, it will be taken out of context on this forum at least 15 times a year : )
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

I really didnt take it out of context-small digestives... but it makes alot of sense that a monitor with low hydration, basking temps, humidity, could have poor digestion... i know exactly what your saying... when i first got my monitor he ate very little, infact i had to throw alot of pinkies away.... he was skinny, and slow.

But now he explores his cage constintaly, very agile and alert... and i really don't have a choice because he WILL NOT eat crickets or superworms... the only thing i havent tried are roaches, but my suspicians tell me hell like those alot. I have an 82- 85 ambient temperature... high humidity with a waterfall and a water bin, 130 Ferenheit basking point, cypress mulch that is misted by the waterfall (i found he likes the mulch misted in certain areas so he can burrow and shed easier) a few branches a few plants... i think he can have the all meat diet until i can get him soe hissers... im obviously not as experiences as frank retes, but i aquired all my husbandry info from FR on this forum. I also dont feed live mice... theres no reason for it.

that you don't take it offensive that i mentioned that part of your care sheet... I was reading it because i respect pro exotics very much and when i saw the digestive issue i freaked a little bit because thats all my monitor has eaten since i've had him, and i wanted another opinion. But he seems to know his digestive pretty well... in the begining he looked sick and ate little... and now its the opposite.
thanks

i was not really writing that post to you specifically about your husbandry, as i said, info gets taken out of context and posted up here all the time, so i was just doing a general clarification : )

you did say "weak digestive sytem" though, and that is not on the caresheet at all, so i thought, "that can't be a quote from us", but indeed it "was" : )

small digestive, yes, weak, no : )

best of luck with your animals.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles