Savannah Monitor Diet help?

[Elayne_Dang24]

Going to be my first monitor and I'm doing some research. What's a wide variety diet that I could feed my hatchling bosc that I'm about to get? Also I heard that you could feed raw liver.

[infernalis]

whole prey only.. Beef liver?

Acceptable foods for baby Boscs would be crickets, small roaches, small earthworms, small snails and slugs.

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/varanid/91075-pounding-food-new-video-added.html

have a look at that thread.

Savannah Monitors (http://www.varanus.us/bok/)

[Bradyloach]

Okay, so you can feed your sav all sorts of live prey, any insects if I'm not wrong. This includes crickets, roaches, earth worms (nightcrawlers) they are there favorite, all other types of worm, slugs, snails, and anything creepy crawly! Most sav keepers do Feed rodents, but a lot of us do not believe in that and I am one of them. Oh and you can feed shrimp, keep in mind that organic = good and if they are canned = bad! Don't feed liver :(

[SpOoKy]

http://savannahmonitor.org/ Is a great site but it has been down for a bit. Also check out Varanus.US (http://www.varanus.us/)

Please do not feed raw liver. All food items should be whole prey. These sites will give you a great idea of the type of diet they should be on. Read them thoroughly and come back with ANY questions you may have :)

[infernalis]

Okay, so you can feed your sav all sorts of live prey, any insects if I'm not wrong. This includes crickets, roaches, earth worms (nightcrawlers) they are there favorite, all other types of worm, slugs, snails, and anything creepy crawly! Most sav keepers do Feed rodents, but a lot of us do not believe in that and I am one of them. Oh and you can feed shrimp, keep in mind that organic = good and if they are canned = bad! Don't feed liver :(


Night crawlers are too large for a little baby..

[SpOoKy]

Night crawlers are too large for a little baby..

I cut mine up in smaller pieces when he was younger

[Bradyloach]

Yeah, they are but if you do cut them up they will be perfect loaded with calcium :)

[BarelyBreathing]

No livers, hearts, gizzards, dog food, cat food. Whole prey only.

*Whole prey means that you feed the animal in its entirety, brains, legs, blood, heart, stomach, intestines. Not part of an animal.

[Elayne_Dang24]

Okay thank you all! Getting my little Sav on saturday

[infernalis]

Okay thank you all! Getting my little Sav on saturday


Woot woot.. Make sure you bombard us with pictures.:D

[Bradyloach]

What enclosure do you have? Size, temps, humitdy, substrate depth? Just curious :$

[Elayne_Dang24]

What enclosure do you have? Size, temps, humitdy, substrate depth? Just curious :$

My grandpa and dad just finished a 6x4 for me, should last a hatchling quite a while. Basking spot temp is about 120, mixture of play sand and soil. no fertilizers and the sand is rounded. not sure what the humidity is yet. substrate is about 4-5 inches. Anything I should change?

[Bradyloach]

Wow your off to an absolute great start!! I would increase the inches of substrate to around 12 for a hatchling ? Let Wayne confirm that! And the basking spot to 130. Your doing great!

[Elayne_Dang24]

Thanks! I'll just raise his basking platform higher. And fix the substrate before I get him. Pictures will be up soon!

[BarelyBreathing]

Substrate should be 9 to 12" for a hatchling. Add a Retes stack under the basking spot (top level should be at 130f). Get digital thermometers and hygrometers. It's very important to know the exact temperatures and humidity levels at all times, and those analog gauges aren't accurate.

[Bradyloach]

Okay :) the more substrate the better. :) also a fully lightened enclosure is the best :) read Wayne's varanus.us

[Elayne_Dang24]

Thanks for all the info guys!

[infernalis]

At first I thought the 130 degrees would be a little on the hot side for babies, but I catch them sitting directly under the bulbs all the time. ;)

http://www.varanus.us/babies/CeraBask.jpg


Brady found another really cool treat item, I am getting some myself..

http://www.varanus.us/husbandry/fluker.jpg

[Gungirl]

She is so cute with her little tubby belly.

I am glad you guys touched base on that FLukers food. I was looking into that as a back up food for my skink.

[Bradyloach]

At first I thought the 130 degrees would be a little on the hot side for babies, but I catch them sitting directly under the bulbs all the time. ;)

http://www.varanus.us/babies/CeraBask.jpg


Brady found another really cool treat item, I am getting some myself..

http://www.varanus.us/husbandry/fluker.jpg

:) you can get grass hoppers like that to ! Pricy tho

[infernalis]

I catch live grasshoppers for free.

[Bradyloach]

Yah me to, but for the city people :p