Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I researched getting this Savannah monitor of mine for 6 months.. before I even contacted anyone to purchase him.... I've spoken with several people who have kept these animals for years... trying to find out what works best for them and working to fill my Sav's requirements to the best of my abilities from that knowledge.. What I've come up with so far is that it really is the keeper's preferences and knowledge of the animal in question that determines exactly the methods and schedules you set them up on. Each animal is an individual.. some will eat what others won't... some become exclusive to one kind of prey item... some will go for all sorts of stuff...From what I know of wild monitors.. they are generalists, built to make use of a wide variety of protein and meat based foods...though in certain habitats the bulk of their diet may be made up of one particular kind of food that is endemic to the region in which they live.. Sort of like Nile monitors with Croc and turtle eggs in the Nile river delta area.

The whole debate over this is.."What is healthier?" and really there's no true answer to that because you have so many different viewpoints and things that have worked for different people with healthy animals coming out as an end result..

Now..this is my opinion and I'm not an expert either but here goes. Monitors will make use of whatever food source they can find in the wild because they have to...they're never certain where their next meal will come from or be... so they have to be generalists.. In captivity however, they can afford to specialize on one prey item or another because they get used to, and recognize the fact, that food will be given to them with a minimum of effort on their part. These are intelligent animals.. whether alot of people see it or not...And once they settle into a routine they come to expect that routine.. even anticipate it.. which is why I hear so many people say.."Its amazing.. My monitor knows exactly what I'm doing when I bring that brown paper bag/container into its enclosure...they recognize it as food without wasting a second" Of course they do.. because thats the routine you've established with it. They know sooner or later that food will come to them...

Anyway, thoughts on this are welcome.. I'm just starting to learn about these animals and I like to hear opinions on what others think...

Though monitor's diet may very from one locality to the next, they are all reptiles and have the same general nutritional requirements. I believe, and I believe I can speak for most of the more experienced owners here...that whole prey items like rodents, chicks...etc. are the best way to go; though some lean more towards supplemented insects while the monitor is young. With this you get vitamines, minerals, nutrients, and even some water with one meal. Plus the fur, bones...etc. are good roughage for the monitors. Everything a monitor needs is then supplied.

Tim

np

Monitors (Sav, Salvator, Ackies, whatever) all use food for a purpose. I feed my monitors for the purpose of reproduction, it is then the monitor's choice as to what they do with the energy I expend them and how they use that energy. I could breed Savs on a cricket only diet (costing a lot of money) I don't because there is no point to. I feed my monitors whatever will supply the most amount of energy in a rapid amount of time. Wild diets have little to do with what we feed our monitors in captivity because there are less variables. In captivity the main variable is not food but something more ecclectic as in basking (and how the monitor uses gradients to transfer energy to growth and reproduction), nesting (good nesting equals healthier females and better eggs)and then food (maximum energy allows the monitor the choice of energy output, my monitors here choose to breed because i allow them that choice).

In reality it does boil down to what you choose, because the keeping and reproduction of animals is about decision making and how those decisions will effect husbandry.

Instead of plagiarizing thoughts, put them to use and then tell us about the results. For me and my successes with varanids (limited because my keeping time and age are young)if I were to only have read my monitors would have done nothing, but I read, adapted that to my monitors and continue to learn everyday what decision I need to make next that will have maximum potential for the monitors I keep (I screw up a lot, but some success occurs).

So go and make some decisions, not I or BRG or FR or Mark Bayless or anybody else can give you the equations, all monitors are different and you will have to get off your butt and just do it, because that is what it is all about, and in the end you will have made many mistakes and may have even had some moments of genius that proved fruitful.

cheers, Andrew

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Varanus Creations

A monitor sets its own schedule. its own routine. If you try to feed the same time whatever days apart you will miss when they are hungry one day, and try to feed when they are not hungry the next time. As far as eating, they eat in the wild what it takes to survive with the best choices. In captivity we feed rodents, peeps, insects, etc all whole animal foods because they produce the best results and have all nutrients required to do what they have to do in life. In the wild rodents are nocturnal, monitors are diurnal so its very very rare that they come in contact. Feed them whatever you want whether its candy, oatmeal, grapes, beer, recycled cardboard, or sewage but dont try to justify doing it here, we feed what works, whole animal foods based on rodents, etc.

I think you mistook what I was trying to say... I wasn't condoning the feeding of non-whole animal prey items. The point of my post, was to gather opinions on the viewpoint of their recognition of the fact they can afford to out-wait those of us who were trying to keep them to eating insects versus items such as rodents.

As I said, lower down, I even prefer the whole prey animal diet. Rodents, peeps, whatever. As I also said, I was simply looking for opinions..ideas, etc.. Not hard and fast rules on anything. I suppose I enjoy reading discussions on some of these things, but it doesn't seem others do....So I'll be sure to avoid posting discussion topics next time.

Originally posted by Lucien:
"I personally, do prefer a rodent diet.. not only for the health of the animal but also for ease of feeding. Not to mention, as I breed my own rodents, I know what he's getting as food and that he has a completely nutritious diet..."

The above posted about a week ago by the thread author and offered up for those absolutely hooked on the belief that anyone who posts a topic for discussion is looking to knock the "experts".
Let me clarify what Lucien is pointing out: Given the opportunistic and generalized eating habits of varanids in the wild - almost any of the commonly recognized food items or diets are going to sustain a captive animal. And as a result, invariably, a captive monitor may express greater interest in a particular item offered. That item may be mice, or it may be a chalupa. That is the point. However I don't think we will be seeing any papers from Mr. Bayless, or Mr. Bennett anytime soon about African varanids craving Taco Bell.

If someone comes on the board proclaiming that they have maintained their newly acquired animal soley on crickets,super worms, and cockroaches, odds are, they're going to get blasted. If Andrew posts that he has just raised and bred a group of Flavi's on that same diet - well then, it may not be a mortal sin after all. The point? It's worth discussing. Not worth trying to put each others eyes out with sticks over. Now go try the chalupa diet...

np

As a matter of fact some people have had ODATRIA live on crickets (dusted) and reproduce, but a discussion on feeding whatever you want goes nowhere among anyone whos actually raised a monitor and kept it alive for even a year on this forum because not opinions but proven hard facts on their husbandry have been experienced by many here and those of us who have lost some over the years dont want others to kill their monitors with bad advice, experimenting, or just taking discussion about philosophy on monitor diets in bits and pieces as what should be done. The facts are solid and proven as well as behind us all and feeding is a basic easy understanding.
Too many times if these subjects are not addressed somebody always says "I read this post about a month/3 months ago, about feeding fruit, veggies, candy, cow dung, trash, industrial waste etc. to my monitor and now its dieing, someone please help me, instead of just posting pictures of your monitors". This is one reason the percieved attitude is misunderstood by newbies. Feed what you want to your monitor but dont point the finger at others when its dieing.