Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
I was wanting to expand my dumerils menu at feeding time....
right now we do alot of shrimp,freshwater smelts and the occasional mouse.
What other items can i use?
I know the crayfish work but they are very hard for me to find locally and i dont want to mail order his food.
Chicken?
Turkey?
Thanks!
Bryan

I am not a fan of meats as monitor food. Whole food items are, in my experience, so much better. So feed the whole animal those meats come from.

Also as long as your base diet if good, and your supporting conditions are good, you can experiment as much as you want, have fun with it.

Last night I sat down with a monitor friend and breeder and a great Reptile vet(also a friend) and talked about this. The vet said he had a bunch of puppy tails from routine cropping and offered them to another persons monitors and they ate them right up. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww But interesting. Ok, this is the oddest food item ever.

I think the point of owning a monitor is to obtain a healthy individual. Often its a lot of work, but once an individual monitor is healthy, then have fun with it. And let it have fun.

Once I found a huge fresh dead rattlesnake. I brought it home and fed it to some monitors. My White throats have no problem with any snakes. I threw a large piece to my male Lacie and he gulped the first piece down. Then I threw him another piece and he acted like it was the nastiest thing ever and gave me a look like, I am going to get you for tricking me into eating that crap.

Once I hatched a deformed Woma, and it died. I then offered it to an adult female Perenty, That little dead snake scared the pee water out of that perenty. It freaked totally out.

In nature, your dums would investigate all items and possible prey and it will make up its own mind whether to eat it or not. All items. Also try plants and fruit. You will be amazed sometimes. I had another friend that had these really nice Banded white throats and they all ate Kale like it was candy.

Anyway, as long as your monitor is healthy, have fun with it. Best wishes

Hi,
Thanks for the quick replies.....i have serious problems obtaining some of the items listed by the replie like eggs crayfish etc.......i am going to experiment some and do appreciate the help!
Bryan in va.

go to your local Asian market, they will have whole bodied shellfish, crab and quail egg. Asian markets are your friend. Most medium to large U.S cities have a "chinatown/japantown/little Saigon" type area with lots of markets, go check em out, and get something yummy and different for yourself too.
B

Guys,
What or how do you have your tubs in the cages setup for them to soak.....mine only poops in its water which makes for VERY FREQUENT water changes....you all?
Bryan in Va.

Anyone?

I feed whole bodied freshwater shrimp and prawns, sea water shrimp and prawn, whole crab, crawfish,snails, quail egg, rodents and some insects. Only my gravid females will eat insects.
I've never had any reason to try fruits or veggies, seen the pics of the albigs and prasinus eating them, never felt the need to try.
Whole bodied shellfish is a great staple for dumerilii. I've feed mostly shellfish to mine since 1993.
Best.