Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i was thinking of getting a monitor.But my little brother keeps rats and i would feel uncomfortable feeding rodents to a lizard. I was wondering if i could feed a monitor on mainly crickets and large insects(hissing roaches)?I was thinking of getting a savannah thanks!

Hhhmmmmm....
Difficult question. "Should I get a Savannah?"
Let me think about that one a while

YOU SHOULD NOT.

Heres your new monitor...
http://market.kingsnake.com/detail.php?cat=53&de=155834

Im not being a smart a$$ for no good reason. I have good cause for what I say. Just take you time, and do your research.

All the best!
Michelle

Hello.
I also keep rats as pets, and mice as food (and pets). Most of the mice have names, and I pet them on cleaning day. I do not have a problem seeing Smokey or Panda being eaten when I know they had as nice a life I could provide, and a quick death. I use the CO2 method. You have to decide what you are comfortable with. No one can tell you how to feel about it. Be kind to them and you will feel better about helping along the food chain.

Feeding (what and how much) a monitor is just one of the decisons you will have to make, along with housing, handling, and pairing. There is no perfect established way to keep them, and everyone argues their points.
That said, rodents may not be a natural diet, but it is a proven to be good one.
Wild ones have thrived eating human garbage, and captive ones have survived eating wieners (hey, human garbage!) How healthy do you want your lizard to be?
Iguanas are very nice, too. They eat vegetation.
D.

I have an ackie though that doesnt eat rodents, only crickets and roaches. Save your money and get a small species to learn what monitors really are about, besides ackies are all CBB.

A savannah is probably not a good monitor to get if you are going to avoid a rodent based diet. Savannahs do not get huge but they do get medium sized. They will do well on an insect based diet, HOWEVER, as they get bigger it will cost you a fortune in crickets to feed it and keep it healthy. Larger insects like roaches might be an option but probably only if you are willing to raise your own roaches in your house. Attempting to purchase them as you need them will also cost you a fortune. You will be faced with either switching to a rodent based diet or having a not so healthy/well-kept savannah.

You may want to consider one of the dwarf monitors instead. Ackies can be kept on crickets much easier than a savannah. Do not let the initial cost of an ackie scare you. You will make that up later when your ackie is still eating crickets whereas a savannah would either be eating lots of crickets or eating rodents.

HOW OLD ARE YOU?
ian

im only 13 but i have kept many other herps from my backyard, or inexpensive ones(house geckoes)...

make sure you remember that you will possibly be going off to college in about 5 yrs. that seems like a long time, but it isnt, and dorms dont let you keep 5 ft. lizards. tegus generally live a long time...
ian

i will be staying at home for undergrad and then going to become a D.V.M., so i think it will be ok...?

well in that case, make sure you do all your research, and enjoy!
ian