Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, I saw some guys posting about this on another forum and thought that I would see what everyone here thinks about it. Has anyone tried feeding the mazuri crocodilian diet, mixed with ground turkey, to their monitors? I have read elsewhere that it is a cheaper alternative to feeding the whole animals that we usually feed. I have a 2 year old, 4.5 foot, 12 pound, nile monitor.

Its main ingredient is actually gellatin, I dont know if the igredients are true or not either.
My lizards wouldnt touch the stuff. Besides I know that whole animals work, I dont know what that stuff would do to them, its made by purina mills, a dog food producer, hmmm. I also know what the ingedients of the whole animals really are, I dont have to guess or wait to find out if its good for them or not.

I forgot the stuff thats like the tortoise diet (dogfood like), I knew about the gell stuff though.
A good friend is trying the tortoise diet with uros mixed with fresh greens etc, they seem to love it. I read the ingredients on their website, seems like all of their pellet foods have alot of soybean, soy meal, soy by products, alfalfa, with other ingredients. The link to the crocodilian diet etc isnt working so Im not positive what they claim is in it.
I guess its probably similar to dry dogfood or dry catfood, probably similar ingredients.
If you feel like trying it go right ahead, only time can tell what it does or doesnt do.
I bought this stuff years ago that was a powder, it was made for carnivorous reptiles, mix with water and serve in clumps. It claimed to have alot of edible decent stuff and worked better in the same conditions than dogfood or catfood did compared to other keepers monitors I knew of, but I have always used rodents, crickets, roaches, and chicken peeps with my monitors.
I guess it just made sense to me to feed a basis that I knew was a good diet. Oh, and my monitors really went crazy for that powder food, they loved it and it digested fast also, Im not sure Id use any man-made diet with them exclusively, but why not try it among other foods.

we are referring to pellets, mazuri does have a gelatin form, but that is speacialized food for fish eating crocodilians according to the site. The diet i bought is small pellets, they also have a large pellet diet as well, but i find the smaller ones easier to mix with the turkey.

I haven't used it but have heard of others using it. I would ask if it can be used or has been used without the addition of the turkey diet, or addition of whole prey items.

After all it has been said on here the turkey diet has proven to work for some. We also know whole prey items to be proven to work. So it shouldn't be a suprise when mixed together it all works. I doubt they cancel one another out. But how well does it or has it worked??

if its by purina, and its anything like their dog food, don't use it. they put all sorts of crap in there, and its not very nutricious. all the popular commercial diets have questionable ingredients, and since i guess i'm not allowed to badmouth them here, i'll leave it at that. sorry to be a downer, but i wouldn't do it.
-jake

I have been using the Mazuri crocodile diet for about three monhts now on my albigs. The adults absolutely love it and devour it without a second thought, the babies were a bit slow to take it at first, but now also readily accept it. I havent noticed any differences in my animals, besides my females preferring the diet over rodents, my male will eat anything given the oppurtunity, but the girls get picky sometimes.
The diet comes in small or large dry pellets, even when moistened and clumped together the diet crumbles up and is not easily eaten by large monitors. Moistened individual pellets work fine for babies and juvies. So i then grind up 3 cups or so of the diet and mix it with a pound of ground lean turkey and make meat balls out of it, this makes it consumable for the big guys and gals. I havent weighed my animals or anything like that, but its helping my male lean out, and my animals are very healthy looking and acting, very much the norm when on whole food items as rodents and foul. I have noticed that its easier for them to digest and pass, rats usually taking 3-4 days and the diet is 1-2 days. I still feed rodents occasionally as i have a freezer full of them, however i dont believe it nesacary to supplement with them. Time will tell as i continue to offer this diet. Yes i can afford rodents, yes rodents work. Is it against the law to try something new? NO it is not, especially when it seems to be working. Will it support them enough to breed? who knows, time will tell, and i'll be sure to let you know.
scott
www.varanusweb.com

Come on noone has said it is against the law to try it. Just as it is not against the law to question it.

Three months is not a very long trial run. Them eating it with gusto doesn't play much into it either. My albigs used to go after bananas and strawberries with more gusto then anything I have seen. However it wouldn't make for a very good staple diet.

One reason it may be easier to digest is the lack of bone, and roughage (hair). I tend to digest tacos and burritos real fast but not sure it means it is better then having a steak and salad meal taking longer. (sure doesn't feel better hahahaha)

Do you suppliment it with anything, such as calcium or vitamins? Is the ground turkey mix you use the same as the SDZ turkey diet?

Time is what will tell how well it works. So guess we will wait and see. Unless someone else can reply that has been using it longer?

Nope, nobody said anything..........YET, however whenever alternative diet conversations come up, people act like jerks if someone decides to try something else other than whole foods, that is a fact. Someone asked if it was being used, so i answered with my experiences with it.
I dont quite seeing it like you and tacos, as their stool isnt loose and runny, it has the same consistency as before, it usually only gets runny when i feed alot of chicks or quail. As for breeding, just walked down and caught my male and the other female going at it, the first mating a few weeks back doesnt appear to have taken, as i expected, it was more of a forced thing with the male being reintroduced recently.
dont take it personally but you do know that questioning turns ugly on this forum 9 out of 10 times, as questioning turns to attacking.

To keep it fare I only added the nutrient compensation I knew about both. There is alot more on the list to the crocodilian diet then I mention below (i.e. preservatives, vitamins and minerals) along with fillers (wheat and corn flour).

An adult mouse
Crude Protein 55-60%
Fat 22-23%
Ash 9.5-10%
Metabolizable Energy Kcal/g 5.5-6
Ca 2.5%
Phos 1.9%

Mazuri crocodilian diet
Crude Protein 45.6%
Fat 6.6%
Ash 14.1%
Metabolizable Energy Kcal/g 69.6
Ca 3.13%
Phos 1.78

Minimum nutritional requirements for carnivorous reptiles
Crude Protein 30-50%
Fat 10-15%
Calcium 0.8-1%
Phosphorus 0.5-0.9%

Now myself I will stick to what has worked for me. Anyone else can do as they like. If you get or have any results please come back and share them.

thanks jody,
well it looks like the diet in addition/mixed with the SDZ turkey diet is a good alternative for feeding rodents. I have a pair breeding at the moment, see if she produces some eggs, and how they look. I will continue to offer this diet as a staple for my monitors. Other than performing other "life events" that are normally seen with a rodent diet what else should i be looking for to see if this food item is actually fit for the monitors? What more proof is needed? just curious. If its longevity i cant vouch for that as my animals were older than most captives when i recieved them, you know, past the 2 year mark, that most monitors dont ever live to see.

No matter the diet you use how you rate it should be the same.
longevity, growth, reproduction, how fast the female recovers, condition, etc.

Then I look at how easy it is to use, come by, cost, etc.

If you have your babies on this diet, and now the adults you can compare these things. It is to early to say for sure how well it works but you can certainly come back and let us know later on.

Right now all we can do is compare them by nutrients. My numbers are a bit old (back from college) but I don't think they changed much. One thing I noticed is the difference in fat. You mentioned them looking slimmer. This could be the reason for that. However it is on the low end of what is needed so I would ask is it enough?? On its own maybe not with the ground turkey perhaps?

ok, well i will be happy to keep people posted. THe babies, esp the ones that are really accepting the diet well, are far larger than the babies eating crickets and pink mice. My male is the onlyh one that really seems to be leaning out, which is good, as he was becoming quite a gluttonous pig.
time will tell.........
thanks
scott