Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have a rat that is quite large i was wondering if i should kill it and let my monitor rip it up or if it would be better to cut it up into mouse sized portions i didnt know if she would enjoy ripping it up herself or not thanks in advance
charlie

If you want the rat to possibly cause quite serious injuries to the monitor, feed live...
Varanus ornatus, like ALL the African varanids has blunt teeth, no chance of "tearing it up", and it takes a split second for something to go wrong. F/k or f/t is best.
If the prey is around the size of the head and neck, the monitor should have no problem swallowing it.

i would never feed live as i stated before didn't know if i should cut it up or let her resort to wild ways. i was unaware of the blunt teeth because i recall reading about niles tearing food up if they couldn't eat it whole. and i realize the ornate is a different beast that's why i was checking ,and the rat is rather large.she eats ground turkey so ill replace turkey one day with rat quarters thanks for the input
charlie

Hi again, do the monitor a favour; stop feeding turkey mix, ONLY whole prey.
Rodents, birds (chicks), fish (fresh or saltwater), prawns, shrimp, crab claws (break a large claw), though my Ornate could even break a 6 to 8 inch claw with a couple of crunches!
They love snails too, make sure no pesticides have been used. The freshwater type are fine, you can usually get them in aquarists shops..

hymm seems like other sites are full of bull [bleep]. thanks again for the input you have been a great help i wish i could explain

charlie

It`s been proven beyond any shadow of a doubt, that ALL carnivorous varanids require a whole prey diet to remain in good health.
The SDZ "turkey diet", which has been shown to work, was very carefully formulated, and unless it`s followed precisely, is just one`s own recipe, which will probably be very inferior (unhealthy) as a staple.

Hi murrindindi,

While you're right that African monitors possess "blunt teeth" but it's also important to note that they also have very "sharp teeth" in certain areas of those jaws. The crushing teeth are generally about a little less than half way down the jaw. The front portion of their teeth (top and bottom) are very sharp.

Diet plays a role in the teeth shape as well, no two monitors the exact same teeth. Cheers

Hi WRC,
yes, the small front teeth are sharp, possibly initially for gripping the prey before taking it further into the mouth.
Also, the hatchlings/juveniles have the sharp dentition, probably for similar reasons (plus prey choice during ontogeny)?

Definitely agree. When they're young their prey is obviously a bit different from when they are adults. More bugs and the like when they are young and those teeth still rounding out into form. As they age, the rears round out into bone crushing pegs while the teeth towards to front are still sharp (yes possibly for that initial grip or thrashing/ripping about at oversized food items such as a big roadkill). Cheers Murr