Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have reviewed many sites that all say different things about what foods have worked for their monitors, but noone bothers to explain why these foods have worked for them. What I want to know is why a rodent based diet is preferable to an insect based diet, or visa versa. Also, how often would you feed the monitor on either diet? How much at a sitting? Until its full? Also, because monitors are different, if a point of reference is needed please use the black rough neck as an example.

I guess it is an issue of what works better. For instance I feed fuzzies to my odatria because it allows the females to ovulate faster and to gain weight. On just insects this would not only take longer but would also be more difficult for her to obtain as much calcium needed for processing ovum.

This is true of all monitors not just odatria or black rough necks.

andrew

It is confusing on what to feed, and the sources of information are not specific enough or consistent. These are suggestions made to me by a herp vet on husbandry of Monitors: First look at what prey items the specific lizard would encounter in its natural habitat. Second Monitors eat different prey items depending on what life stage they are at (ex. juvinile vs. adult) With this in mind look for available food items that best fit the food requiremnets of your monitor. To use your example of a Black Rough Neck, they are primarily insect eaters in the wild, keeping a small delicate snout their entire life designed for small prey. With this knowledge I would assume that a rodent based diet would not be the best for this species. The most important thing to keep in mind when feeding lizards is that diversity is the key, the more different food types you can offer the better, this can be costly and time consuming to do hence the reason for popularity of the so called "rodent based diets". Good luck, and keep reading, thats what I do!

what do you back this up with? people that really keep monitors or people that just study them?

i keep monitors and i can give you answers on that, you study them...hmmmm? i wonder who i would listen to more.

FR keeps and breeds monitors and has years of experience. I wonder if i would listen to him or your books more, hmmmm. again hard question.

by all means feed a variety but know why you are doing it. is there a purpose to feeding what you are recommending other than their snout shape? a baby rudi can eat pink mice just fine, so whats the problem? people feed rodent based diets because they work and allow them to progress through the life stages in optimum health.

please think about what you read but by all means read.

andrew

Feeding captive Monitors will always be a topic of debate, which is great for advancing the knowledge of these lizards. The Herpetologist I quote not only keeps these specific Monitors but have been to their country of origin, and more importantly work with reptile hobbyist to solve issues assoiciated with Monitors in captivity. Be the judge for yourself is all I can say, thats what I've done over the years, I can't ever remember following only one source of information. I truly believe that rodent based diets can be sufficent for feeding Monitors but the lasting effects of processing this food type can reduce the lifespan of the individual.

You said: Rodent based diets reduce lifespan.

Who said that? Where did they base this off of? Because anybody with any authority on monitors does not really believe that or atleast not have any basis for believing that.

andrew

Year old lacie George, and many many other examples. Rodents do not reduce their life span. If you drank a gallon of milk daily, and ate 5000 calories in food a day and sat around or didnt have the ability to digest fast enough or burn it off you wouldnt live as long either, fix the root of the problem not a symptom. Whole animals are the best food for them. By the way get bitten by that delicate snout once and find out its not so delicate. Heres an idea, Dragoon breeds rudis, ask her what she feeds her monitors, she should know alot more than some author who doesnt keep them or doesnt keep them alive for long.

I haven't seen Dragoon on this forum in a long time, did she leave? If so is she on another forum, have a website, or an email address that she gives out?

;

I have listed just about all the alternative foods that I could find for monitors on this post along with pics and the descriptions found with them. Has anyone tried these and are they any good?

Ectotherm Carnivore Yummies: Ectotherm Carnivore Yummies are specially formulated to provide essential nutrients, vitamins, and minerals in one convenient and tasty bite. Made from real poultry, fish, meat and eggs fortified with added vitamins, these bites make it easy to ensure proper nutrition.

Zoo Med canned Tegu and Monitor Food: Zoo Med diets are a great alternative to live food.

Zoo Med Can O' Crickets, Can O' Worms, Can O' Grasshoppers, and Can O' Snails: Can O' Crickets and Can O' Worms are retorted (cooked in the can). This unique cooking process locks in the flavor and freshness. The exoskeleton is softened for easier digestibility. You will be amazed how readily your animals will take to this food!

Zoo Med Can O' Pillars
Zoo Med Can O Pillars is a great food source for monitor lizards, bearded dragons, turtles, and other insect eating animals! About 100 per can, these are very similar to silk worms!

Flukers Freeze Dried Crickets: Fluker's 100% Freeze-dried Crickets are first gut-loaded with Fluker's Hi-Calcium Cricket Diet, and then freeze-dried to maintain the maximum nutritional value and taste your pet needs. Recommended for reptiles, birds and tropical fish (and small mammals!)

Nature Zone Monitor/Tegu Bites : A soft, moist food flavored with real Chicken & Chicken Liver. This ready to eat food is high in protein, calcium,and essential nutrients. It is has the aroma and flavor of real Chicken & Liver which Monitors, Tegus and other meat eating lizards find irressistable. It is also a favorite of Box Turtles

I would stick with whole food items with any monitor.
I don't trust the canned foods because the makers are not required to post all or any ingredients.
I use rodents as a basis for my monitor diets.
With a tree dwelling monitor like a rudi, I would probally stick with mice, crickets and roaches and quail and chicken peeps.

Scott
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Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

The others are man made diets that dont actually have to contain what the label says, theres no law that say so, its not for human consumption after all. I know whats going into my monitors diets, mice, rats, insects, miner-all, and occaisional meat. Ive tried the yummies, my monitors wouldnt touch it, Ive tried zupreem monitor diet and it doesnt work as good as whole animals, plus they sometimes wont eat the stuff either. the others are all the same type of stuff overpriced retail products that claim to be perfect diets.

Nutrients and roughage wrapped up into a convenient package, they dont need any supplementing and can be stored in your freezer for convenience. Insects need calciuym and vit D3 added to them and require many many thousands of constant insects to feed. If you have an ackie or another small monitor then by all means use supplemented insects, mine eats lobster roaches, crickets, and on a rare occaision a few pieces of supplemented cooked meat (once in a few weeks or less). Insects are not realistic to use only on medium to large size monitors as they may need to eat thousands every day to be healthy.Hissers are the only insects my albigs eat.