Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just curious as to whether anybody else guts chicks before they are fed to there animals?. I don't gut them all but gut a few each time they are offered as (don't know if i'm right or wrong) i have always thought if you feed say five chicks to one animal thats like five eggs worth of yolk inside them which could bung them up a bit i know i would be a bit "egg bound" if i ate five eggs at once. Just something that has been bugging me for around six years but i only just thought to ask.
cheers mat mchugh

I do not gut anything I offer to my monitors. I don't find it needed. I feed food items sized appropriatly for each monitor.

Mine have no troubles digesting the yolk.

I do not feed overly large items to mine either and i do not dought that mine could digest the yolk i was just curious what other people did with theres as i previously said say i feed five chicks i will gut two and leave three whole
cheers mat

Actually all you're doing is taking the needed nutrients OUT of the chick. Your monitor gets its needed D3 from the liver(I believe its that organ) of a prey species...along with many other vitamins and minerals stored in the intestinal tract and other organs. Monitors are large egg eaters when they have a chance. The yolks inside a chicks body shouldn't be a problem at all...
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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
2.2.1 Leopard geckos (2 Blizzards (Caine and Goliath), 1 het Blizzard (Lilith), 1 Tangerine Albino (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short) and 1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice))
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros)
13 rats
1 Gerbil
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
2 cats (Sahara and Hercules)

Maybe i didn't phrase my query well enough i didn't mean remove the intestines and everything just the yolk anyway for how often i use chicks it was no biggie just something i was curious over, just never got around to asking
chers mat

defend what you do. Its really not necessary(to gut as you call it) any prey you feed your monitors. Whether its to just drain the yolk or not. My question to you is ,did you write you're post to learn something or to debate with others as to why you do what you do. I just dont understand your reasoning.

As i said it was just something i was curious about and just wondered whether anyone else bothered to gut/drain them now it is apparent tha most do not i shall not anymore either, the main reason behind the question was say a monitor was fed chicks only every mealtime would the egg in them cause problems after a while i realise a diet consisting of predominantely chicks alone would probably cause nutritinal deficiances but as i do rescues as well i have been told that i am getting yet another sav tomorrow that has been fed chicks only for as long as the owner can remember so i was just wondering whether any secondary problems could arise from the yolks in the egg as i am told it has been eating 10-20 chicks a week.
So to sum up this rescue i was told about jogged my mind about something i have been curious about for a while
cheers mat mchugh

They know how to eat them and will eat as many as they can with no problems. Why make feeding more difficult, thats why they are whole prey items.
Unless of course you find gutting them satisfying theres no reason at all to do so.
Good luck

Thaw them out and feed. perfect, perfect, perfect, there is no need for any further explianation.

You know how people always add stuff in their brains. Well, I pictured you giving that fella a small slap to the back of the head, while saying it. Great. FR