Rate my monitor's diet!

[krj-1168]

Given we're talking about Ackies - which are known to prey on insects. I would say the diet is absolutely grade A.

And no I would recommend feeding pinkies to the Ackies as part of their regular diet. Because they're like candy - and will fatten the Ackies up. A better alternative treat for ackies instead of the pinkies & dog food is grounded Turkey.

I've even heard of few breeders feeding young lizards(like baby Geckos) to their breeding adult Ackies as treats. Which actually makes some sense, as Ackies are sometimes known to eat smaller lizards, in the wild. Although they are primarily insect eaters.

 

[TheBloodyIrish]

I agree that not every reptiles can properly digest mammalian diet, however I still would not give it ground food of any kind. Whole food is best for them.

As treat, sometimes I would give them leftovers of pikes and walleyes I caught. It is probably not the best thing for them to have, however I rarely go out fishing. It is probably better than mammals and birds though.

However... I do wonder if they would actually try to catch fish.

 

[varanio]

I still think rodents would be an important part of their diet as well. Remember in the wild Ackies will eat whole food prey items. Whether they be small lizards, rodents, birds, and smaller species of Varanus, or even cannibalism. I think it is important to immitate these types of prey items as well. No, they should not be fed this everyday as I do agree that MOST* odatria species should be kept on 60% insect diet. The other 40 should consist of fuzzy mice or chopped up hopper. I prefer chopped hopper because they lack the high fat that fuzzies and pinkies contain due to their all milk diet. Try it out as it is awesome for females to eat the whole prey item before and after mating. Its good protein and it fortifies their skeletal system, to help with MBD. Even the best powders and vitamin supplements dont come close to the real thing.

A.

 

[davo]

Would that make chopped rat even better then?

 

[TheBloodyIrish]

Even the best powders and vitamin supplements dont come close to the real thing.

Points well taken. They are opportunistic lizards with unusually high metabolic rate. I know there is a few people on Britain that manage to prevent MBD in monitors and BTS by using a snail-based diet which I am to try along with the normal gutloading of cockroaches.

Obviously there are a lot of people with Niles and Savannahs that kept them healthy on a rodent diet for years, however I think the average people overfeed or powerfeed their monitors and don't back off when they become subadults or adults. We are talking about people that free-feed their cats and dogs on a daily basis. I never seen an obese baby monitor, but I have seen a lot of obese adults.

I am going to see if there is an article on the ratio of diet obtained from the stomach of wild Ackies. I remember finding one about the Northern Pikes on JSTOR.

 

[varanio]

Davo if you want to give it a go on the chopped rats by all means go for it, but thats just a messy ride all on it's own. Irish the reason is not powerfeeding as much as it is adequate choices in temps. Monitors need a range of 120 -110 depending on species and habitat. Desert and savannah monitors like ackies and or niles (comparing an odatria vs a larger species) both thrive on cool temps and very hot hot hot dry temps (africa and aus) where as a species like indicus or doreanus will need a more constant temp around 110 at the hottest point (under the basking light) to ambients from 90 to the low 70's at the cages coolest points. Ackies like cooler temps and they will use more often than we think. In my ackie cage i have a basking of 135 and ambients in the high 60's I use one bulb for a 6 foot trough and directly under the bulb the temps are at 135 (directly underneath) to around the high to low 90's around the immediate area and as you get to the other parts of the cage it will drop to the 80's then 70's then finally high 60's. I have ackie burrows going from one end to the other. This approach is used only with my desert monitors. Ackies, gouldii complex, the tristis complex and when I had albigs (south african whitethroats). I would never try this approach with my prasinus or my kimberly rocks for that matter. I use more arboreal setups that maintain ambient temps in the high 70's and use a lower wattage bulb to attain the 110 basking spot. So if i was to go and look at all these obese niles savs salvators albigs and even ackies ( which I have) it all boils down to the way keepers are keeping these animals. Their temps are probably bad, humidity is bad, the animal is stressed lack of hides substrate depths etc.... these are all factors that stress the animal out. The animals will continue to eat no matter how much you offer it providing that it has halfway decent conditions IE heat lamp etc....., but these animals need variety in order to properly digest these foods. They still pass food and will be hungry. But the animal will still store unnecessary fat, because of a lack of better options. It like if I went to Mac Donald's everyday and ate. I would still be hungry the next day, but I wouldnt be able to pass the fat storage due to my improper conditions. This is of course if I were to not exercise and not be in the right state of mind. We have to remember that we have to provide for these animals in a box what nature provides them in vast territories. Keepers need to be more aware that varanids are far more advanced and highly intelligent for being reptiles. They need to be challenged and stimulated daily in order for them to be in the right state of mind. For those varanid keepers here sit down in front of your enclosure and let your monitor tell you what is wrong with it. Much the same way we sit in front of our tanks to figure out a problem with our fish.