Baby Savannah Staple. Need help!

[sSNAKESs.com]

Hey guys.. what im wondering here is if a baby savannah can eat pinks and mealies, wax worms, etc as a staple??? basically what im asking is if i can feed them anything besides crickets and roaches as a staple?? I hate dealing with crickets and roaches. I know when they are bigger its fine but what about as a youngster?? :) thanks guys..

[NiagaraReptiles]

Properly raised feeder rodents can certainly be a staple food item for a Sav. I would stay away from wax worms though as they are too fatty for Monitors.

Personally I really like crickets, but I realisze some don't. I have a friend in the US and has raised several species of monitors right out of the egg to breeding on rodents alone. Sav's are one of the species that this will work with, however, other husbandry factors can have a strong influence and may make an all rodent diet harmfull.

The biggest thing to to be sure you have a porperly designed cage for a varanid that will regulate humidity levels so the earth doesn't dry out too quickly. It MUST also have significant depth for burrowing - this is what Sav's were built to do, it you take it away from them, they get limited excersise. You must also provide a proper basking spot with hides available and varying temperature levels under the basking spot itself, with the highest temperature available for basking being around the 150°F mark.

Just a few of the key elements to keep in mind.

Best wishes,

[Jeff_Favelle]

Yeah, without that high basking spot and a diet of rodents, that thing will become wayyy too fat. And give it dirt to dig. Its good excercise and it let's the monitor be a monitor.

[Iguanalady]

Try snails, slugs and earthworms...

[norman]

are there any types of snails, slugs, or earthworms that should be avoided? and what are the risks of w/c feeders such as the above?

[norman]

what about for other types of lizards... I know this is the monitor forum but i posted in the general lizard forum then did a search of the site and came up with this....But for things such as beardies would earthworms be ok? my savannah is mainly on mice now, so im mainly wondering for my beardeds...check out my post in the gen. liz. forum or answer here please...
thanks
pete

[eyespy]

There was a breeder named Joel used to post on the beardie forum at that big but unfriendly site who tried earthworms for his beardies. As I recall they seemed to do great at first but developed digestion and liver problems from a diet that was too protein-rich. Rotating them in and out of a varied diet is probably fine but as an everyday staple it would be like us eating nothing but cheeseburgers.

[Ravi]

Hi Jeff

There is some very interesting advice being offered to you.

Personnaly I can state that crickets make an excellent diet for baby to juvie savs. They really do love insects; these include roaches and mealworms.

If you don't like crickets then mealworms will work just as fine.

Once they are at a suitable size, rodents can make up their staple diet with no problems at all.

Just be sure that your setup is up to par and you'll be fine.

Regards
--Ravi--

[norman]

What about kingworms? I get them at the same price i do for crickets so are they any good?