Is it really overfeeding? Sav Monitor

[Vattica]

I have a young Sav monitor, all he is fed is insects, and he eats a LOT of them, he probably eats 10-20 crickets and 10 - 20 various worms (horn, silk, zoophobas, meal/giant meal, butter and the occasional wax worm) daily, and would eat more if I'd let him...the question is: since they are live foods, and not generally overly high in fat, is this going to be a problem in the future? He has grown like crazy, 5 inches in 4 months...He has a pretty good size enclosure and is taken out for exercise, enjoys swimming and the like, but he is getting pretty hefty. I dont feel like he can become obese from a "natural" diet, and he is certainly not obese now - any thoughts?

Leah

[Dom]

I can tell u that right now its fine but It will defenetly need to be checked in the near future ...

Sav's a prone to obeasity since in there natural habitat they actually stop eating b4 the dry season so heance they eat more than they need because they know they won't be able too later ..

I have seen many more obease sav's than fit ones .. both of mine of obease...


I only feed them once a week and even then .. there huge!!! But also long..

Take care
Dom

[lance]

hey dom do you own any other monitors
lance

[Jeff_Favelle]

You cannot overfeed a properly-kept monitor (any species). That's it.

[Dom]

I DISAGREE Jeff...


I've heard you say it b4 .. but honestly I don't feel like arguaing .. Trust me my animals are well kept .. I am starting to find this insulting...

Especially from the pics u post .. better than yours..

Back off - this is not the first time u say this.

Dom

[Jeff_Favelle]

And he'll say the exact same thing. I'd trust what he says about monitors over anybody else in the world. And that's what he says. You really should open your mind. And why should you have to "argue" anyways? If you don't agree with something, fine, don't agree, do some research, and then come back and tell all of us.

Oh yeah, and it won't be the last time I say it either. Wanna hear it again? Ok.

You cannot over feed a properly-kept monitor lizard.

But what do I know, your animals are better-kept than mine........

[Dom]

I agree on the statement for about 95% of the monitors but not for Savanahs..

I simply stated the fact that my animals are cared better b/c all the pics I have ever seen are full of poop.. I'm sure u keep them well but I Know I would not post a pic full of feeces.. Also out of frustrations .. I found your post quite rude and insulting.

I value your oppinion Jeff .. u are trully knoledgable on may things although I will have to disagree on this one ..

Just too let u know .. I did not get them skinny .. Chubs was 2 feet 6 inches and weight almost 8 pounds when i got him .. my other is not really obease but certainly big .. I simply fed her a lot cause she stopped feeding for over a month and some after a bacterial lung infection and I wanted her to pack on some weight.. Id rather see her with some weigh then skinny and having to force feed her .. trust me it was not easy.

Anyway Jeff.. take care
Dom

[Jeff_Favelle]

But it doesn't change my mind that a monitor kept a certain way (I guess I shouldn't use the phrase properly, because that implies that your animals are not kept that way) will not grow obese. By keeping a monitor a "certain way" I mean keeping it at high temps (105F+) and feeding it a "certain" diet. I'll dig up a Frank Retes article and scan it in.

As for my animals, well I've never had a death (except a tomato frog once waaaayyy back in the day) and I breed them every year. Pictures are taken WHEN I'm cleaning cages. I don't have the time to drag the animals out for no other reason than to immortalize it on Ssnakess.com, so I don't. I'll take a wide-angle of my set-up and you'll see that the cages are spotless. But whatever, none of that really matters to me.

I know you know how to keep reptiles, and you know I know how to as well. We're friends who happen to disagree on a point of animal husbandry----NO BIG DEAL, right?

Ciao


Jeff Favelle

[Dom]

I agree bud! I simply retaliated out of frustration..

Take care
Dom