Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i was just wondering what u guys are feedind your savs....ive got mine on 1 mouse a week, crickets everyother day and cooked turkey...id like to change it up a bit to give more variety but he doesnt like meal/superworms

thanx

Monitors always seem to be fond of roaches, although not a lot of people like them in there house lol. The diet you have is just fine, Frank Retes (user name of FR) on here has bred monitors on a diet of purely mice. As he said, monitors are built to do well on very little, and if you give them a good amount of just a single prey item, they do great. But on the other side, Varanids are extremely intelligent animals and I believe that they would enjoy a varied diet. Insects are great for exercise and keeping them from being bored. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm guessing when you feed rodents, you feed with tongs. Might I suggest placing the mice in different spots in the cage to simulate a hunt?

Good luck!
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Jason

Hello there. I feed my two crickets, roaches, mealworms, earthworms, quail eggs, whole shrimp, snails, whole small fish, and the occasional mouse. I'm hoping to get grasshoppers at this upcoming show (illegal to sell across state lines in my area). They key, I think, is to go with whole prey items.

I'm certainly no expert, but I'd recommend ditching the cooked turkey. Since it's not a whole prey item, it doesn't have the correct nutritional properties to support your monitor and could potentially lead to obesity. I've seen many people with savs who claim to feed turkey and I don't know how this came to be the norm. Probably the same way as dog food. I guess as a very rare treat it'd be okay, but I don't know why anyone would bother.

To JoOaks: I think that`s a good diet, the studies that have been done on this species suggest it`s a specialised insect feeder(Daniel Bennettt), although they DO take vertebrate prey, even if rarely, and in captivity as they grow, I think it`s perfectly acceptable to offer those in moderation, VERY difficult to feed an adult on insects alone.
I firmly believe that a diet of strictly rodents DOES work with many species, Frank Retes has shown that beyond a shadow of a doubt, but I personally prefer to feed a variety of whole prey items; if there were a single meal that contained everything we needed would we want to consume that, and only that for the whole of our lives? Not me! Yes, I`m putting my thoughts onto the monitor, but it`s because I`m responsible for the animal/s, and I`m willing and able to offer variety, in an effort to ensure they receive all the nutrients they need to remain in good health over many, many years. I`ve found on numerous occasions that my animals seem to prefer some foods to others... (Just my opinion)!

i was just wondering what u guys are feedind your savs....ive got mine on 1 mouse a week, crickets everyother day and cooked turkey...id like to change it up a bit to give more variety but he doesnt like meal/superworms

thanx

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You don't really need to change his diet you can feed more mice if you want. I find that the adults prefer roaches over crickets. Because they are larger and more stimulating to their eyes.

The turkey won't hurt him either its just not a complete food item like rodents. But since you are feeding rodents and insects already it is perfectly fine.

"The turkey won't hurt him either its just not a complete food item like rodents. But since you are feeding rodents and insects already it is perfectly fine."

I wouldn't make that statement without first knowing which is the bulk of the diet. For example if the diet consisted of a turkey base versus an insect base. Cooked turkey, in addition to not being whole, also has its nutritional properties partially destroyed in the cooking process.

All that said, I don't know what the original poster is feeding. He could be giving turkey daily or every two months. I just wanted to point out that any amount of turkey in the diet is subpar to a list of whole prey items that are cheaper and overall healthier for the monitor.

I wouldn't make that statement without first knowing which is the bulk of the diet. For example if the diet consisted of a turkey base versus an insect base. Cooked turkey, in addition to not being whole, also has its nutritional properties partially destroyed in the cooking process.

All that said, I don't know what the original poster is feeding. He could be giving turkey daily or every two months. I just wanted to point out that any amount of turkey in the diet is subpar to a list of whole prey items that are cheaper and overall healthier for the monitor.

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I don't know which is cheaper turkey or mice but I read he is feeding mice weekly. That shoudl be sufficient to feed turkey also. I feed more bugs now that they are adults. Roaches, night crawlers, mealworms, crickets to some extent plus several mice a week.