Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Better yet,balut? These are almost full term embryonated eggs - either chicken or duck. Do they make a better food for a staple as they are a whole food item?

as a staple diet, you are better off giving your monitor whole mice and insects. It's okay to give them eggs now and then, but not as a staple. .

HI,
You can eat Balut with your lizard...good with beer, but is an acquired taste. Found frequently in Japan-china-Filipina town... I would not use it as a staple diet, but the occassional one or two is good for both keeper and kept...

Bon Apite'
mbayless

Hahaha! Nice one. I'm Filipino so...I laughted my guts out when they used balut as a chalenge in fear factor. So Its ok once in a while?Like when its hard to get live prey? I give my monitor chicks,ground chicken,chicken head and sometimes hard boiled eggs.Mice and rats here cost alot and its hard to find them.Clean feeders that is.But I do feed him mice when I get the chance to. Is what I'm doing right? Please educate me.

Hi,

Glad you liked that post...I forget, what Varanus do you have? If the stools are runny, give it more whole body foods, and if too dry (all Urea, alot of white calcarious content), give it more chickens/fish/balut...its a matter of balance. Most importantly, vary the diet, keep it mixed up and not 100% 1 kind of food, as they like variety too...could you eat the same thing 365 days/year? It would get boring so mix it up, and enjoy!

cheers,
mbayless

Sometimes I wonder why people pick this and that, and ask if it would be a good staple diet. It often seems like its merely a way to create conversation.

I, in my tiny little brain, would think, if you really want to know is something works or not, try it.

The scary part about these questions are, they do not include a set of standards or goals, like what the food is suppose to achieve. Is it to keep a monitors alive(yours) or to allow a monitor to grow? grow fast? grow slow? allow reproduction? how much reproduction? longevity? how much longevity? U know, what is the intended result?

For instance, canned foods are often discussed here. If your goal is to have really stinky, nasty smelling cages, then some kinds of canned food are for you. If you want a large monitor to be constantly undernourished and underfed, then feeding it crickets its whole life is for you. Do you get the picture?

In reality, its not the conditions or type of food that kills monitors, its lack of attention and neglect thats the problem. Monitors can live a long time and most people only want a short experience. With that in mind, then yea, feed them whatever you want. Good luck F