ornate monitor feeding?

[weston]

I know this is a fish keeping forum but I was just wondering if anyone keeps monitors on this site aswell? If so and if one of these individuals could give me an idea on how frequent i should feed my ornate nile monitor that would be awesome. He is curently small, very small almost hatchling size, and I was informed by a employee at my local pet store to feed pinky mice and insects such as crickets, mealworms, and roaches until he has grown some in size and he is able to take on larger prey items and raw meat or canned diets aswell. I ended up jumping the gun giving him a fuzzie only an hour after I purchased him and he instantly took the mouse. I feel like this is a good sign that he is healthy but I'm not sure when I should feed him again. he has mealworms in a dish in his enclosure aswell as 3 large crickets roaming around his terrarium none of which he seems interested in compared to how he acted with the mouse. when would you guys think an apropriate amount of time has passed to feed him again. Also would feeding him these larger mice now cause any issues or should I pick up some smaller mice when I go to buy mice in a few days for my pythons? also would feeder guppies in the water section of his enclosure benifit him any or would he even chase after or catch any of these to eat?

 

[FriedFlowerHornFillet]

power feeding them shortens their life span you could do mice once a month and have guppies and crickets in the enclosure provided it's big enough you may be able to get the crickets breeding in there

 

[reptilerancher]

feeding small meals every 2 to 4 days of high protein low fat food. feeding rodents isn't the best choice with monitors young monitors do best on a diet of insects such as crickets, roaches, super worms, earthworms, ect. I offer my monitor chunks of rabbit, whole chicks, fish, and hissing cockroaches once a week now that he is adult size.

I don't recommend feeding live but if you do never put in more live food then gets eaten in a single sitting and always make sure you watch to make sure the prey doesn't hurt your pet.

below is some care sheets for niles which ornates are close enough to have the same care

http://www.exoticpetvet.com/nile-monitor-care.html
https://www.thespruce.com/nile-monitors-1239213

 

[Vicious_Fish]

I agree, you should try to stick with insects while they're young. What you really need to start is a dubia roach colony. They're a must when keeping monitors and they help you save some cash on your food bill.

 

[weston]

I tried some but he isnt touching them I've put crickets mealworms and roaches in his enclosure and he doesnt touch them but i try a mouse and he instantly grabs it even from my fingers now Vicious_Fish

 

[Vicious_Fish]

Well don't give up on the insects. Food variety plays a big part in healthy development in monitors.

 

[weston]

Vicious_Fish im gonna try like a dozen large crickets. something closer in size to the mice maybe hes just not going after the smaller prey items becauae the roaches crickets and worms i had were all fairly small. also should i be feeding him canned foods? i tried a little bit of raw turkey, beef, and egg the other day with some calcium powder in it he just didnt seem interested he was smelling it like crazy but never ate any.

 

[Vicious_Fish]

Try some larger size roaches. Dubia's get over 2" long so that might spark it's interest. The only monitor species I've kept are Ackies which mainly eat insects so I never bought any canned diets. I do feed mine scrambled eggs about twice a month and they lick the plate clean. Mine also get pinkies twice a month, too.

 

[weston]

He ate the larger crickets and another pinky! They were out of the roaches but it took him awhile to actually gain interest in the crickets so im glad hes eating those atleast. How many should he crickets should a hatchking eat a week considering he also gets a small mouse aswell?

 

[Vicious_Fish]

Hatchlings should be offered food daily until they grow into the subadult size. I would offer 1/2 dozen crickets a day and see how many it takes down and adjust from there.