Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey i have a question. This question is directed more toward albigs but lemme know prices for feeding other guys. Basically i want to know how much on an average it costs to feed an adult bt at one feeding. THnx tito

My blackthroat never reached adult size (had to sell him to move away), but he was about 9 mo. old at 4' and about 10lbs. when he ate 5lbs of food in one setting. That was about the only feeding that week, but these guys can go 6' and up to 40lbs. This can give you some idea that they CAN eat alot at one time but it is better not to gorge them all the time as they can become obese in captivity. This meal was deer, which I hunted and killed myself. Take that in rats = mucho$$$$
Tim

Or get dangerously obese quick. They slow down their metabolisms and growth. 5 pounds in one week, Im not sure about how much it was in weight but my cross ate up to 6-9 mice a day from about 6 month old until under a year old, or that equivalent in chicken peeps. Of course I wouldnt feed them deer meat only because they need alot more nutrition.

My blackthroat was only about 9 mo. old at the time, so he was still very much into llloootttsss of food!
Thanks for the comment.
Tim

Your flavi/argus crosses will not eat as much as pure argus (i have both flavi/goulds and pure argus), but will still eat you out of house and home. I would suggest calling the goanna ranch or emailing them and purchasing bulk mice of different sizes, putting them in a chest freezer and using them as needed. you shouldn't have to spend more than a grand a year, or less on a flavi/argus pair. if they turn out to be male and female, you could make your money back.

cheers, andrew
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Varanus Creations

n/p

i trade my argus babies for mice, so i get them for much less. however, some people make trips to the pet store for mice. yes you can feed a pair of flav crosses for probably 400 a year, or a lot more. cheers
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Varanus Creations

Unless you were trying to kill it,no way a 10lb. monitor ate 5lbs. of pure meat.I know from experience that solid meat bloats them up bad(way more than rodents).My Sweetpea is that big and 1lb. of turkey diet would bloat her so bad,she wouldn't eat for two days!(that's a long time for her)Not trying to say it ain't so but,maybe it looked like 5lbs.

Well you know how Frank always says we learn from our own observations. I don't have a whole lot to compare this blackthroat to, but I know komodos can consume over half their body weight in one meal (of course after fasting for a month or so). My blackthroat was not fed a diet of strictly deer meat, but it was supplemented every other week or so (which by the way he LOVED!). Sure this may be an exception to the rule, but I'm just sharing what I observed, I have no reason to blow anything out of proportion.
By the way, those packages of meat were also consumed by me and they were weighed out accurately.
Sorry if I've caused any confusion...but like George Washington once said, "I cannot tell a lie."
Tim

he was a big baby!

I spend about 6 bucks a week per head.
Thats between 5 species of monitors though, with the timors being the easy keepers and the BT being towards the upper end of the expense list. Also keep in mind that I buy bulk. It would cost double that if I didnt.

I think it cost more as juvies with crickets,pinkies,fuzzies and all.As adults,you want to cut back on their food somewhat to avoid obesity.My 15 month old(5') Blackthroat,now eats 1 medium rat 4 days a week or 3-4 baby chicks/4 days a week.Either way it's cheap.I can get chicks for 25 cents each(delivered)and my rats cost me 65 each,delivered.That's about $3-4 a week.

who do you guy order from? what company?

n/p

I spend 1500 in food every year (approx., includes: adult mice, pink mice, rat food, chicks, crickets, cricket food, roach food.

my electricity runs about 700 a year for just the reptiles.

what i make back: out of each clutch I hold back something. Out of the Kimberlys this next year i plan on holding back 6 or 9. That makes cost more but could be a good investment. I will hold back another 2 argus, I will hold back goulds crosses. I will hold back bredl's pythons, and maybe a few primo jungle carpets as there popularity is rising again. If the Finschi are successful we will probably hold all of them back. More depending on successes.

What does that mean? if my costs are roughly 2200 a year and I make ballpark 30,000 on reptiles, probably less as you have to plan on that, I can probably plan on putting 20,000 in my pocket, if stuff goes really wrong (you have to plan for that too), i may not make anything.

This is why they say it is difficult to make money with reptiles, or atleast enough not to work, and believe me i have to. if everything goes right and i am able to save up a few months living expenses, maybe in 2 or three years I will just do reptiles.

anyways, reptiles are expensive, a lot of work but a lot of fun.

cheers
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Varanus Creations