New monitor (salvator)

[murrindindi]

Originally Posted by jarich

My adult female sav still eats insects of all kinds readily.

My V. s. macromaculatus has never been interested in eating insects of any description from day one (not for the want of trying), it doesn`t seem to have had a detrimental effect on his health, he`s now slightly over 3.5 years old and as close as I can measure, 209cm ToL and 17.3kilos (approx. 38lbs).
This species will do very well on a diet based around rodents and fish/seafoods, of course other prey can be offered.

[simpleyork]

that is a beautiful monitor there!!

[Kimmie]

so beautiful, he now seem to have gotten tired of jumpers but love pinkies as soon as I get to the Expo i'm gonna buy some bigger ones

[Kimmie]

oh and which fishes can I give him?

[murrindindi]

Originally Posted by Kimmie

oh and which fishes can I give him?

Hi, you can feed any whole fish, either salt or freshwater, if they are too big to swallow whole, cut them into pieces along the length so that each piece contains the skin, bones, intestines, etc, I mainly use trout for my monitor.
Of course if you can afford it for the time being while the animal is still quite small you could offer tropical fish if you can get them cheap enough (or a few goldfish if you cannot).
I must mention that it`s much easier to feed f/t (frozen thawed) or f/k (fresh killed) rather than placing them in a water container still alive. The reason being that if the monitor is still not acclimated to the enclosure, it can take them much faster without exposing itself for too long, so less stressful.

[murrindindi]

Originally Posted by simpleyork

that is a beautiful monitor there!!

Thanks! Not to detract from the thread, but how are your monitors doing?

[murrindindi]

Originally Posted by Kimmie

so beautiful, he now seem to have gotten tired of jumpers but love pinkies as soon as I get to the Expo i'm gonna buy some bigger ones

Pinky mice are virtually nutritionless for an animal such as a Varanid (especially the hatchlings/juveniles of the larger species).

[Kimmie]

Originally Posted by murrindindi

Pinky mice are virtually nutritionless for an animal such as a Varanid (especially the hatchlings/juveniles of the larger species).

oki thanks, im gonna get him some different things, to see what he likes, he ate some pig heart but only one piece and then he stopped, gonna try some fish as soon as I get my hands on some ^^

[jpsteele80]

As far as fish, if you want to stick with better stuff like trout, salmon ect. that's fine, don't feed gold fish that's some of the dirtiest crap you can feed your monitor, personally I'd just stick to what works for a water monitor, mice then rats, occasionally fish. Just because you can feed it something and it will eat it doesn't mean you should, how often do you see monitors eating ground turkey out in the wild?

[Kimmie]

this is maybe a stupid question, but how long is mouses considered useless? I know pinkies are fat bombs but is it when they start opening their eyes that they are a good thing to feed? - I know mouses alone is not good but just wanted to ask.

[murrindindi]

Originally Posted by jpsteele80

As far as fish, if you want to stick with better stuff like trout, salmon ect. that's fine, don't feed gold fish that's some of the dirtiest crap you can feed your monitor, personally I'd just stick to what works for a water monitor, mice then rats, occasionally fish. Just because you can feed it something and it will eat it doesn't mean you should, how often do you see monitors eating ground turkey out in the wild?

Hi, either fresh or saltwater fish can be offered on a very regular basis (as regularly as rodents/other mammals/any other suitable whole prey). A few goldfish are fine. I have no idea why you suggest fish should only be fed occasionally?
Varanids in the wild eat virtually anything they consider food, "healthy" items or not.
I`d be interested is seeing a few pics of your Water monitor/s if you have any, plus details of age/length of time under you care, etc.

[murrindindi]

Originally Posted by Kimmie

this is maybe a stupid question, but how long is mouses considered useless? I know pinkies are fat bombs but is it when they start opening their eyes that they are a good thing to feed? - I know mouses alone is not good but just wanted to ask.

When they have developed fur and are basically "self sufficient" the skeleton will have developed to a greater extent (in some countries they are known at that stage as "fuzzies" and "hoppers", etc). Pinky mice have not yet formed a skeleton (solid bones).
I`ve heard on other forums that they are "full of milk", making them very nutritious food for Varanids which is rather strange, considering they are extremely small ("full of milk"?), and Varanids/reptiles cannot digest (metabolise) lactose.
Of course there are reptiles such as small snakes other lizards that may get some benefit from pinky mice, usually they have a much lower metabolism, meaning they don`t require as much energy as most monitor lizards.
I believe you keep Tegu`s, a hatchling/juvenile Tegu might get some benefit from a few pinkies because their metabolism is lower.

[Kimmie]

Originally Posted by murrindindi

When they have developed fur and are basically "self sufficient" the skeleton will have developed to a greater extent (in some countries they are known at that stage as "fuzzies" and "hoppers", etc). Pinky mice have not yet formed a skeleton (solid bones).
I`ve heard on other forums that they are "full of milk", making them very nutritious food for Varanids which is rather strange, considering they are extremely small ("full of milk"?), and Varanids/reptiles cannot digest (metabolise) lactose.
Of course there are reptiles such as small snakes other lizards that may get some benefit from pinky mice, usually they have a much lower metabolism, meaning they don`t require as much energy as most monitor lizards.
I believe you keep Tegu`s, a hatchling/juvenile Tegu might get some benefit from a few pinkies because their metabolism is lower.

okay thanks a lot that was very useful

[jpsteele80]

Originally Posted by murrindindi

Hi, either fresh or saltwater fish can be offered on a very regular basis (as regularly as rodents/other mammals/any other suitable whole prey). A few goldfish are fine. I have no idea why you suggest fish should only be fed occasionally?
Varanids in the wild eat virtually anything they consider food, "healthy" items or not.
I`d be interested is seeing a few pics of your Water monitor/s if you have any, plus details of age/length of time under you care, etc.

I no longer have my water monitor but when I did have him he was under my care for almost 3 years,( before I moved and had to get rid of all my animals) and this isn't the wild this is captivity, Yeah they eat almost anything in the wild they can get a hold of but in the wild you don't know when your next meal is going to come either, and when I make comments about the fish like that it comes from people like Crusty who have been breeding monitors far longer than anyone here and I'll take his advice over anyone's.

[smy_749]

Originally Posted by jpsteele80

I no longer have my water monitor but when I did have him he was under my care for almost 3 years,( before I moved and had to get rid of all my animals) and this isn't the wild this is captivity, Yeah they eat almost anything in the wild they can get a hold of but in the wild you don't know when your next meal is going to come either, and when I make comments about the fish like that it comes from people like Crusty who have been breeding monitors far longer than anyone here and I'll take his advice over anyone's.

Hi Jp,

Krusty doesn't keep any water monitors. The biggest species he keeps are indicus as far as I know, and he doesn't keep the larger localities. I'm fairly certain that Krusty (Justin) would not say feeding fish to species that spend most of their time in the water is wrong. Please don't give people a bad name in order to prove your point.