Reptile & Amphibian Forums

HI Guys,

I hoping that you can help me yet again!

I mainly feed my Monitor on Rodents of varying sizes, I also give him some adult Locust a couple of times a week for variety(see the pic!) and some Quail eggs as a treat
I want to give him more variety in his diet, Can I give him any other types of meat? I was thinking along the lines of Beef Heart, liver etc.

Does any one have any facts on whether these are safe or not? or recommend what meats are safe?

Thanks In Advance

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1 Chameleo Calyptratus, 1 Varanus Exanthematicus, 1 Iguana Iguana

regarding meat, the best suggestion I can give you is to stick to mice/rats and whatever insects you give him. I've heard of some parasites being found in beef heart (and it stinks and is a b!tch to cut up), and the purpose of the liver is to process toxins in the body. do you really want your monitor eating that? besides, mice provide a balanced diet, while giving him a chunk of beef does not. if you are just looking to fill him up better everyday, i recommend going to reptilefood.com and ordering 1000 zophobas worms. my savannah loves them and that way i dont have to feed him more than a couple pinkies every other day. good luck!
Ian White

"I want to give him more variety in his diet"

Why?

Hey Creeps,

WHY NOT?
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1 Chameleo Calyptratus, 1 Varanus Exanthematicus, 1 Iguana Iguana

When you first get a monitor you have a tendency to sort of see what itll eat. I believe that this is the reason people ask questions like "can I feed me savannah gold fish?" or "is lettuce ok to feed to my monitor?" Its cool to see this lizard eagerly devour practically anything you put in front of it.
Now we gotta ask ourselves questions like, why do I want to feed my monitor a "varried diet", when its already been established that specific diets are proven to be successful?
As a begginner, we as montior keepers face an array of "helpful suggestions". From the place that you bought the animal, from friends, and rescources like these forums, where many people have many opinions. Being a newbie is HARD!!! I completely understand this frustration. You think you doing good, and them WHAM, you find out that youve been doing it all wrong. I cant tell you how long I fed my Nile dog food and kept it on newspaper because that what the leading monitor book said to do at the time.
Ill get to the point. Varriety is not needed for your monitor. If you really want to have some fun, buy some cockroaches, or other ugly bugs and watch him go to town! Just stick to whole prey items, whatever you do.

Good luck!
All the best,
Michelle

Beefheart is safe. When I did rescue I used it as a filler in between rodent meals. Heres a secret, its gonna sound gross, so try not to ralph. I have marinated beef heart, and thrown it on the grill. Its the BOMB! I kid you not! I was just curious one day, as said "what the hell"! Turned out to be good stuff!

Thanks Bengalensis for your reply!

Having read a Van full of Monitor books I am still of the opinion that a varied diet is essential to the proper upkeep of ANY animal.

We are always looking for ways to improve our husbandry, that`s why we are all here reading these posts! aint it?
Presumably in the wild, monitors will eat rodents, insects, eggs, lizards, snakes, anything that is already dead, ANYTHING!

Can it be of any harm to re-create this? As long as all the food is properly prepared?
I am still new to Monitors and I love them! But it has to be said that most Books/Websites/Experts/Vets all bloody contradict one another with any aspect of Monitor Husbandry!
I love this place as well because everyone seems to disagree in here as well and in almost every other forum!

Its the best thing about Herpetology "THE GREAT DEBATES"

Any One AGREE?
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1 Chameleo Calyptratus, 1 Varanus Exanthematicus, 1 Iguana Iguana

The more commonly kept an animal, the more contradictary information is found on it. It really drives you crazy sometimes. But my thinking is that a whole rodent IS a varied diet, you've got heart, liver, brain and all other sorts of goodies all in one package.
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?