Monitor Food

[Ace]

I was wondering if anyone has used the monitor food that comes in a can. Do you know if it is as healthy as feeding mice, and I want to know if your monitors eat it? Thanks

[Diablo]

maybe you could just feed it one of your cats, haha.

[Ace]

My monitor is not big enough, not yet

[Ravnos]

My monitors will eat pretty much anything meat-like that I put in front of them, but still, I think I would avoid the canned diet, unless you go with one of the zoo formulations - ie, not the stuff that Petco sells.

Rav

[Ace]

Do you have a brand name I should look for?

[Diablo]

Well I will be seeing it this weekend.

[Ace]

No i am going to hide it so you can't see it. sorry

[savannah_babe]

monitors should have a wide variety of food, crickets, mealworms, rodents.. they are truely garbage disposals. you can feed them canned diet, but not on a regular basis. moreless as a treat, as it is high in fat content. just like a dog, they should have their main diet, and given treats on the side

[Ace]

Thanks Savannah, Is there a point at which i should stop feeding crickets and mealworms, like at a certain age, and just feed rodents

[Dragon]

I would have thought an adult monitor would require far too many crickets to make an insect diet feasible?

Paul

[Ace]

Well they do an adult monitor needs Rodents also. An adult monitor would eat a whole lot of crickets.

[savannah_babe]

no, they need to continue on the cricket, mealworm, rodent diet. no, you can not fulfill a savannahs diet with just crickets. considering the amount of food they intake, or can intake, feeding crickets helps them keep up with the excercise they need, considering they are lazy :P the amount of rodents he eats depends on his size. always feed him a variety, i know i wouldnt want to eat the same thing all of the time

[Dragon]

So, on a week by week basis, what would the ideal diet for an adult (say 5 feet) monitor be? I'm asking because I do have an interest in monitors and have done for ages, but have never been too happy about the price of feeder insects in the UK. Locusts work out at around 40p each (that's around 70 cents) and crickets are around £2.20 (that's around $3.80) for a tub of about 50.

Paul

[savannah_babe]

personally, if you have never had one before, i wouldnt start with a full blown adult, as its going from one extreme to another. its not easy. i would recommend starting a bit smaller, they do grow fast. that way you will grow with him, and adjust to his feeding habits.

[Dragon]

No, I had no intention of getting an adult. I much prefer to take on juveniles of any species and grow them on. I was just asking what the typical diet for an adult monitor would be in terms of X number of crickets per week with X mice or whatever?

Paul

[themoononastick]

speaking from experience my Ridge Tail monitor (Ackie) doesn't like canned monitor food. He wouldn't touch it even when he was eating really well.

Mind you at the moment he's going through a fussy stage and doesn't seem to be eating much at all.

Anyone got any ideas of irresistable food for my Ackie? he doesn't seem particularily keen on waxworms, fuzzy mice, mealworms, locusts, egg, turkey... otherwise he seems fine and is really active and seems to be hunting the viv for food... of some description! god knows what he's looking for!