Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a young ornate monitor and he eats a diet of rat pups, ground turkey, hard-boiled eggs and canned monitor food.

I was wondering if anyone knows if raw chicken liver is good for monitors? I use it occasionally for my alligator, but I didnt know if it is safe for a six month old monitor.

thank you.

Hi, I had an Ornate monitor for almost 14 years, you don`t say how young the animal is, but if a baby/juvenile you should be feeding a variety of insects as well as the other foods, if you`re using hen eggs, I suggest swapping to (fertilised), quail eggs, they`re the ideal size for the younger monitors, but offer them sparingly (maybe once per week). I don`t feed chicken liver specifically, but again, if you do, just as a "treat" rather than regularly, the canned monitor food isn`t much good, much better to feed whole prey items.
You should also offer freshwater fish (goldfish are o.k), I used trout, salmon, shrimps/prawns etc, you can cut pieces off the larger fish, but dust with a multi vitamin/mineral supplement, if you`re using UVB emmiting lamps, do NOT offer D3 supps.
Can you tell me the enclosure size and type, also, temps and humidity etc? Thanks!

he's about a foot long nose to tip of tail, probably less than about six months. I got him from a reptile show right before thanksgiving.

He is in a cage right now that's about 4x3x4. I had him in a bigger cage for about two weeks, but he stopped eating so I made this one.
He has a basking temp of 120-125 and 75-85 the rest of the tank. He's on a soil/sand mixture with a water area that has goldfish and a filter.
He refuses to eat fish, he will watch them for hours and swim around with them, but even if i take them out and try to feed him them from the tongs he kills them and spits them out.
He also ignores bugs unless he is starving, and I dont have the heart to refuse food until he eats the crickets.

He does love wet Merrick Turducken cat food, I always have to hide the cat's food when I let him out or he goes after it like it's crack. Would that be safe as a treat?

Hi again, the reason he stopped eating wasn`t because the tank was too big; how big is the wild!? Seriously, if you can build an enclosure large enough to house the full grown animal; they are beleived to get over 2.5 meters (8 feet), they are the largest Varanid in Africa (heavier than the Nile monitor, so that means "larger", in fact, probably the third or fourth largest species in the world.
Please do NOT feed cat food, cat/dog food is for those animals, just because the monitor eats it doesn`t mean it`s good for him/her!
The fish should be either f/t or fresh killed, though it`s possible they CAN catch them live, much easier the other way!
Can you please show a few pics of the animal and set-up? (Thanks)!
By the way, you can see a very short video of my Ornate monitor on "youtube", just see; "Ornate monitor opening the door" (or "Stefan`s ornate monitor" Let me know what you think, he was 225cm in total length, and approx 21kilos. (He died of a tumour in his windpuipe a few months ago, he was almost 14 yrs old, I`d had him since he was a 32 cm baby.

unfortunetely i cant post pictures because i do all my internet on my phone because i dont have a computer.

I know that youtube video very well lol, I show it to people when they ask how big he will get.

He is very healthy and loves to eat, he is just very picky doesnt like insects or fish. I tried mealworms today (deheaded) and he just ignored them like he does the roaches and crickets. I need something to vary his diet that he will actually eat.

As I said, they love snails, also try mussels, whelks etc, you can cut small pieces off them.
Why are you taking the heads off mealworms? If it`s because someone told you they eat their way out of the stomach, that`s complete garbage!!
Although you say the temps and humidity are good, are you using a digital hygrometer to check those, because if he/she is 6 months old and only 12 inches total length, something`s wrong; they usually measure between 9 to 12 inches at hatching. Do you take regular measurements (length and weight), if so, can you give those details?

Sorry, I forgot to mention: You give ambient temps of between 75 to 85f, they`re too low, they should range between approx 80f cool side, up to 95f warm end; nights no lower than 72f (I prefer 75f).

i just took him out and measured him and he is 16 inches long and his stomach is 4 inches around. he doesnt really like to be held (obviously cause he's a monitor) so when I had said a foot I was kinda eyeballing it.

When I got him, I had gotten two and they were both really tiny and skinny. The guy told me to only give them crickets, and that they love to be in groups of two or more... dumb me thought the guy selling all the monitors would know something about them, so i believed him.
Needless to say, after two months I still had two tiny monitors that were more interested in fighting each other than eating. I went crazy researching them at that point and had them both dewormed, then I found a good home for one of them. I gave my remaining one repti-aid until he would eat on his own.
He has almost doubled in size since then, he eats like a pig, but only things that he likes lol.
I dont have a digital humidity gauge, just a standard little one. His enclosure usually reads at about 70-80%

Hi again, thanks for the info! There are quite a number od so-called "experienced" keepers who insist these animals can be kept together, obviously, there ARE excceptions, but in the overwhelming majority of cases, unless you`re trying to breed a know m/f, do NOT house them together!! (Now there are at least two of us who know)....
You really do need a digital hygrometer, the analogue type can be quite innacurate. If your monitor`s eating well, not much you can do, except keep offering as much variety as possible, one of my previous V.salvators wouldn`t touch a rodent for the first 8 months, although he would take almost any other prey! (They have minds of their own), who are we to think we can convince them to do something they don`t want to do??

Sorry, I forgot to mention; they LOVE snails, but make sure no pesticides etc have been used in the area.