Sav food time

Xeikeness · #1 (**permalink**) 03-28-2008, 06:53 AM

*slurp!!* Nom nom nom!!!

YouTube - Savannah Monitor Eating

Decided to change things up on him tonight. Usually I feed him parts of rats and chickens(fed him some cow tongue and tripe the other night and he loved it) but I discovered a stockpile of frozen african soft fur rats. So I thawed out three of the tiny little things for him.

He takes a long time to get started eating, he was dubious about the camera. He starts actually eating at about minute 3.40 so feel free to just skip right on ahead to the good parts.

Hairless · #2 (**permalink**) 03-28-2008, 07:00 AM

You talked him into it and added sound effects.
Looks like he's doing well for you.

Cameron...G · #3 (**permalink**) 03-28-2008, 07:11 AM

Very nice!

Xeikeness · #4 (**permalink**) 03-28-2008, 07:30 AM

lol, I added nothing... Well, after I pressed the "stop recording" button anyway.

Usually he eats faster... He was dubious about the camera.

But yes, he was actually cuddling with me earlier today! He is doing much better, I'm so happy.

nicolenadia · #5 (**permalink**) 03-28-2008, 03:48 PM

OH, I love, love, love it!!! He looks great!!!! I love how they gulp their food down. Mine usually bashes the rodent on the floor a few times before he swollows it....maybe making sure its good and dead, which it always is.

I really feel like with regular feeding, you start to build trust with them. While it wont ever be 100%, I feel like they eventually recognize you as the "food giver", and without you, they might not eat.

Great vid! What a neat variety of food you feed him.

Xeikeness · #6 (**permalink**) 03-28-2008, 06:19 PM

I thoroughly believe in the power of variety.

If you only ate mayo and bologna every day, you'd get bored. Reptiles may or may not be the same way... But I have yet to hear of a sav in the wild that only eats one thing. Spiny mice only. Or termites only. I feel like it's better for all the animals to have a variety. With the exception of ball pythons. >.<

Once I start carrying rabbits, after Bunny drops her babies, he'll be welcome to rabbit bits as well. I'm tempted to offer him a whole rabbit one of these days, that's maybe got a square of fur taken off of it and see what he does with it. I know in the wild monitors are fairly opportunitstic. It would certainly be interesting.

Then again, one of those things that if it were recommended practice, everyone would do it. So I dunno. At this point it's just a thought.

nicolenadia · #7 (**permalink**) 03-28-2008, 06:44 PM

Yeah on the opportunistic. don't they like carian?

Do you have a recipe for that? HAHAAAA

yum!

Xeikeness · #8 (**permalink**) 03-28-2008, 06:50 PM

Of course I have a recipe for carrion! What kind of lizard mommy do you think I am?!

Moe66 · #9 (**permalink**) 03-28-2008, 06:52 PM

very cool, i love the way he takes ages with the one and then wolfs the others down without blinking!!!

nicolenadia · #10 (**permalink**) 03-28-2008, 07:06 PM

Thank youz for skooling me on ma terrible spelling! LOLOLOLOL I had no idea how to spell that word. really, i'm serious.(blush)

Xeikeness · #11 (**permalink**) 03-28-2008, 09:54 PM

No worries... Thanks to my name, and the one I had previously, I still have issues with that whole "i before e except after c, and in weird words like that" thing. >.> Gods forbid I ever have to spell "pieces" without thinking about it. >.<

TammyJamaica · #12 (**permalink**) 03-28-2008, 10:18 PM

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this display of absolute monitor-ness at meal time!!! Very good video!

Xeikeness · #13 (**permalink**) 03-28-2008, 10:36 PM

Make sure the sound is up loud when you watch it...

You can hear my men playing DnD in the other room, and at the end of the vid I make lots of slurpy noises.

Arra · #14 (**permalink**) 03-28-2008, 10:37 PM

OMG

That was CRAZY amounts of cuteness. You AND the Sav. :P hearing you go nomnomnomnom SLURP while he was eating made me giggle so much because it was just perfect. And him trying to get those tails down.

AND MAN are those tongues HUGE bigger than I expected.

I want one someday so I can make nomnomnom noises.

He ate so quickly too. :P shows how little time I've spent with lizards. MOAR videos please

of everything. He's so gorgeous and cute and watching him eat is really fun.

:P and I heard you tell Jennyr to get out, pup wants in on everything.

Xeikeness · #15 (**permalink**) 03-28-2008, 11:18 PM

Like I said... my dog is rarely more than five feet away from me. At all times. I got him registered as a service dog for me since when he isn't with me, I tend to get really depressed and over stressed. >.> So now he can go even more places with me!

We are both much happier campers now.

Arra · #16 (**permalink**) 03-29-2008, 02:02 AM

That is awesome

razeraze · #17 (**permalink**) 03-29-2008, 06:15 PM

Remember Exanthematicus evolved to be insect eaters. High fat from mammals will lead to health problems. We feed red meat only because our Sav will no longer eat insects or white meat. We should have introduced insects early on in his life and we may not be having this problem. Snails are another common part of their diet.

They are not big carrion eaters like Albigularis, Salvator or nilioticus. I think a proper diet is probably the hardest thing to replicate for Exanthematicus in captivity. We are currently mixing the red meat we feed, with the Mazuri insectivore diet to encourage a healthier diet for our sav.

Xeikeness · #18 (**permalink**) 03-29-2008, 09:47 PM

Well... As far as diet goes, the breeders and hobbyists I've been talking to have had no long-term ill effects from feeding meat exclusively. Cairo gets a mix of rodents, chicken, beef, and eggs alternating. Not all in one sitting, but every day I mix it up a little for him, which has been what has been recommended to me from various keepers/breeders.

At his size, insects would no longer be part of his diet, with the exception of huge locusts or grubs, and even then only supplementary. His attitude is looking like it's improving, he's active and curious. My vet says I'm doing everything right, and so does my "go-to guy" and the breeders I've been talking to.

Thus far, the only thing that is going to eventually need to change, is the size of his cage.

razeraze · #19 (**permalink**) 03-30-2008, 12:00 AM

The breeders and hobbyist you speak of have breed Exanthematicus? Do they have any Savannahs over 8 years old? If so I would love to talk to them and get their tricks. Every keeper I have talked to besides 1 on here says; insects such as roaches, millipedes, locusts and giant crickets should be offered.
The one on here who kept a Sav alive over 6 years fed it Veterinary dog food. I am not sure how great of a diet that is long term, though it was not responsible for the death of the monitor. A necropsy may have shed some light on fatty liver or fatty heart diseases(common complications from high fat diets). All the people I know who have fed dog food or rodents regularly have all had monitors die in the fist 10 years.

I know for a fact the wild diet does not consist of mammals, unlike Albigularis In fact I have a pie chart here from Daniel Bennett's book stating:
49.4% millipedes, 0.1% scorpions, 9.1% crickets and locusts, 15.1% larvae, 2.0% snails, 21.2% beetles, 3.0% lizard eggs

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