Z Trip;828590; said:
dont be rediculious of course goldfish have nutritional value like any other fish.
anything can pass disease, you have to take measure to eliminate that, like quarintine
hwo do u feed
- Thread starter large_cichlids
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dont be rediculious of course goldfish have nutritional value like any other fish.
anything can pass disease, you have to take measure to eliminate that, like quarintine
DeLgAdO;829502; said:
I've been bitten twice excluding baby snakes because they're like that, and the above reason is why it happened the last time. Luckily, he didn't hold on and constrict, and I learned something I should have known already...don't dangle a dead rat in front of a snake.
Also, I only feed my snakes in their cages, mostly for the same reasons already mentioned...I don't want to stress out the snakes and I don't want to have to deal with moving an animal that's already in feeding mode back to its cage. I've never had any problems with my snakes expecting food every time I open the cage.
I've heard that monitors are very intelligent lizards, so maybe you could train it similarly to how people train their dogs to eat at a set place and time under certain circumstances.
DeLgAdO;829504; said:dont be rediculious of course goldfish have nutritional value like any other fish.
anything can pass disease, you have to take measure to eliminate that, like quarintine
Gold fish compose of scale, fat and bone. NO NUTRITION. They should not be sold as feeders and should not be given to anything to consume. Minnows can pass disease to, so quarantining them and gutloading them is what I recommend. Its hard and expensive to find whole fish large enough for an adult nile monitor.
Z Trip;830303; said:
So why do so many animals eat fish in the wild? Surely evolution wouldv'e eliminated such feeding behavior if it didn't benefit the animal in some way.
Many fish are piscovores, (fish eaters) Fish are a part of a nile monitors diet. Now what fish they eat are very important. Gold fish are not recommended for this because they are not natural and in the wild pretty much nothing eats them. In captivity, the animal should not be forced to eat them ither. Now I don't know what kind of fish come from the Nile river so I canot tell you what type you should be feeding it. Sorry.
Z Trip;830347; said:
Well then surely you dont feed your python MICE or RATS right?? Surely lab animals are hard to come by where the python would live in the wild, so that would be UN-natural.
For the life of me I cant see why you love "splitting hairs".
This is partialy why I don't like this site. People don't care what they feed their fish, if its cool, they will do it. Now the Asian farmers love pythons because the mice and rats eat their crop, this is where Macklots Pythons come in. Now Coastals eat the rodents living around barns that eat the feed and crop of the farmers, but they do sometimes take out chikens and people don't realy like that.
OK maybe this will end this "debate". I am copying this straight from REPTILES magazine so if anyone wants to argue they can e-mail the Ed. of the mag. Just for reference the authors names are Robert J. Faust and Mark K. Bayless.
Nile Monitors diet in captivity.
"Wild Nile diets vary greatly, from insects to mussels, and from small mammals to small crustaceans. Although it can be difficult to match this diet in captivity, one can still manage to provide a varied and well-balanced diet for captive Niles.
Mice and small rats are often staple diet items used by most keepers, and since Niles drink a lot of water, they tend to not suffer from hair impactions to which other African monitors can succomb. Hatchlings will do well on at least 10 vitamin dusted crickets a day for the first few months. Mealworms and pinkie mice will also be accepted. Older juveniles will thrive on small mice or pinkie rats served every other day. Large Niles that are more than four feet in length can be fed adult mice or small rats two to three times a week.
Along the sandy banks of the Nile river, unattended nests of Croc eggs are prime targets for Niles. In captivity, Nile owners should attemt to meet thier lizards desire for eggs. HOWEVER store bought or NON- embryonated eggs are found to contain AVIDIN. This can cause a deficiency of biotin wich can cause muscular weakness. If you want to feed eggs to your Nile, give it only fertilized eggs which can be found at poultry hatcheries, or obtained through mail order.
Accidental stunting of a Niles growth is common, because many owners are unaware of the Niles high metabolism. During the first year a young Nile will accept food daily and should be allowed to. "
NO MENTION of FISH.
NO MENTION of mice or rats causing health issues.
This is an easy guidline for our friend to follow!
Nile Monitors diet in captivity.
"Wild Nile diets vary greatly, from insects to mussels, and from small mammals to small crustaceans. Although it can be difficult to match this diet in captivity, one can still manage to provide a varied and well-balanced diet for captive Niles.
Mice and small rats are often staple diet items used by most keepers, and since Niles drink a lot of water, they tend to not suffer from hair impactions to which other African monitors can succomb. Hatchlings will do well on at least 10 vitamin dusted crickets a day for the first few months. Mealworms and pinkie mice will also be accepted. Older juveniles will thrive on small mice or pinkie rats served every other day. Large Niles that are more than four feet in length can be fed adult mice or small rats two to three times a week.
Along the sandy banks of the Nile river, unattended nests of Croc eggs are prime targets for Niles. In captivity, Nile owners should attemt to meet thier lizards desire for eggs. HOWEVER store bought or NON- embryonated eggs are found to contain AVIDIN. This can cause a deficiency of biotin wich can cause muscular weakness. If you want to feed eggs to your Nile, give it only fertilized eggs which can be found at poultry hatcheries, or obtained through mail order.
Accidental stunting of a Niles growth is common, because many owners are unaware of the Niles high metabolism. During the first year a young Nile will accept food daily and should be allowed to. "
NO MENTION of FISH.
NO MENTION of mice or rats causing health issues.
This is an easy guidline for our friend to follow!
Z, I really don't know how else to break this to you, but you're going to find folks that disagree with you on pretty much every forum. You think that just because someone does something different than you, its wrong. And it just isn't so, no matter what you want to believe.
I don't think folks should feed live prey to their snakes, but if its done safely, I'm not going to gripe about it and flog them in the streets because I think they're wrong.
I don't think folks should feed live prey to their snakes, but if its done safely, I'm not going to gripe about it and flog them in the streets because I think they're wrong.
<So minnows that are kept by the thousands in dirty unfiltered "bait" tubs are healthier than goldfish???>
and goldfish aren't kept in filthy conditions? i'd have to agree with Z trip on this one, goldfish are horrible feeders and are rarely well taken care of before feeding. i may be wrong but in the wild niles will eat fish, as long as they're healthy then i don't see anything wrong with offering fish along with insects and mice.
and goldfish aren't kept in filthy conditions? i'd have to agree with Z trip on this one, goldfish are horrible feeders and are rarely well taken care of before feeding. i may be wrong but in the wild niles will eat fish, as long as they're healthy then i don't see anything wrong with offering fish along with insects and mice.
