Savannah Monitor diet debate thread

[bighog85]

Originally Posted by mo9e64

Adult Sav's diet in Senegal mostly comprised of millipedes.who feeds this to their Sav or more importantly who decides what to replace millipedes with fish and crayfish,which are not part or similar to anything in their natural diet. And the enclosure is not the easiest part of monitor husbandry-there are alot of variables which Bighog attributes to diet ,which are caused by improper caging.This is the death of female monitors due to reproductive issues(improper nesting sites)

Millipedes are something I would love to feed to my monitors but my wife is SERIOUSLY against it, lol. She barely lets me keep the roaches so millipedes are just something I can't do. The reason I feed fish and crayfish when I can find it is that it is very nutritious without being fatty. Invertebrates digest differently that vertebrates do so feeding crayfish is a natural choice. Fish are just very nutritious. What I meant by the enclosure being the easiest part is that it really is a onetime deal. Assuming you set it up right the first time, there is rarely a need to do a ton of maintenance aside from water changes and such. Diet, when done properly, is often a never ending process of preparing food which often makes a keeper lazy. Why do you think those monitor meatloaf concoctions come up all the time? It is because keepers are looking for an easy solution to feeding a high maintenance animal. Wow, you just won't get off this kick of yours where you think that I believe diet is the only answer. You are getting desperate.

Originally Posted by Damion930

Lol sorry could your massive comprehensive skills not deduce my meaning without a.. sorry that's just petty and funny to me all I was saying is that u can't just look at what an animal ate and say that's the best food for ther health thers a little more to it than that and I belive that's somthing most can understand whether or not they keep the animal in question ofcourse it can be used to get an idea of starting point for a proper captive diet its just not a tell all because again they will eat what they can not what's good for them oh almost forgot.

Oh I can comprehend what you are saying, a little punctuation would just add some credibility to your posts. Again, it appears that a five year old wrote it and I don't know many young children that I would take seriously on a reptile forum. So what you are saying is that people know better than millions of years of evolution for what these animals should eat. It is not like these researchers went out and looked at one animals stomach contents and called it quits. They studied hundreds of animals and when any study shows that kind of consistency, it is generally proven as fact.

Originally Posted by Damion930

Sorry if the comments I made seemed offensive. Was not at all my intentions bighog I greatly respect your knowledge and advice even though you come across kinda harsh somtimes lol it dosent bother me I can see you are only trying to educate for the benefit of the animals

I'm not offended at all, I love discussions like this. I am fully aware that I come across harsh and most of the time I do it on purpose. If they as adults(I'm assuming we are all adults)cannot handle some harsh words, then they need to grow up. So no worries, I'm not going to throw a tantrum because of some harsh words.

Originally Posted by mo9e64

all the current monitor husbandry techniques were brought about by people who tried new things,they failed but learned from their mistakes.Just becareful who you get your facts from because i tell if this was 10-20 years ago he would have fought against alot of the techniques we use today.but people would believe him-sounds like he's done this for along time tell us,what technics have you brought to monitor husbandry.Without trial and error we would not see the correlation of calcium absorption and high temps-monitors and other reptiles can grow properly without uvb completely indoors

It is funny that you mention this because it just so happens that a lot of the techniques that you are proclaiming here are those that were "correct" ten or twenty years ago. You are wrong though that all of the current info was learned by trial and error. A lot of it, such as the diets for savs, was learned from these studies that I have mentioned. Daniel Bennett did captive savs a great service when he conducted his research and found that they are primarily insectivores. Fifteen years ago, most people were keeping their monitors at the same temps as snakes but we learned through research that they need basking spots upwards of 140 degrees. The point is, it is not twenty years ago so why suggest that the old ways of doing things have anything to do with our discussion here? I have been keeping reptiles for almost twenty years though monitors have only been in my life for about ten of those. I am not a scientist who has studied these animals for the last fifty years. I never claimed to be a pioneer of monitor husbandry so I'm not sure why you brought this up. I just follow the guidance of people that know a lot more than I do and then try to teach what I have learned. If you are just trying to get into a pissing match then just go somewhere else. Forums are meant to teach and be learned from and you are doing neither.

[infernalis]

Reading that data that I just quoted, reinforces what has already been said in this discussion.. The primary diet has virtually zero fat tissue in it, so that tells me that the physiology of the animal is such that Savannah Monitors do not "process" fatty tissues and therefore it builds up inside the monitor and eventually will cause organ shutdown (death)

Brian had posted a nice necropsy photo once in the past, I wish I could find it. The photo shows the fat buildup around the animals vital organs. Not good.

I recently posted this photo on another thread, Have a look at how firm that belly is, it's not dragging on the ground, and he does not waddle when he walks. He has a nice gate to his walk, he can run a lot faster than me, and if you look close, this animal is fit.

most captive monitors I have seen have big bellies that drag, why is that?? too much fat in the diet maybe??

[Little Wise Owl]

You mean this isn't healthy?!

[infernalis]

Glad you used the rolling eyes, I almost took you seriuosly.

That my friends is one morbidly obese Bosc.

[Little Wise Owl]

That monitor is 28lbs and his diet is:
"Chuckie eats a variety of foods from defrosted large rats, defrosted chicks & quail, monitor diet, scrambled eggs and scraps of this and that"

- Chuckie that fat monitor

[Damion930]

Oh no def not better than evolution or mother nature both responsible for the extinction of millions of animals do to minuscule changes in environment lol. No I def get the point and agree for the most part but still think that a time line of healthy keeping on a specific diet is more beneficial than the stomach continent because well even researching hundreds of animals within the same environment ther are still going to consistently be unhealthy items in ther wild diet on a regular basis with virtually no way of distinguishing between the healthy and unhealthy content what if they eat those millipedes because they are the yummyest things ever they would always be in the stomach in large amounts. I guess my only point realy is that you have to look at what others have had true success with and failure to determine a suitable healthy diet and sorry punctuation is a pain on my phone and most people that can read over a 5 yr old level don't need it words and context punctuate themselves

[infernalis]

No offense, but that is one reason why I refuse to enter the "texting phone era"

slews of words all jammed together and abbreviated annoy me. but I was raised differently than today's generation.

I used to get corrected and scolded if I even used "ain't" in a sentence.

[Little Wise Owl]

Hey now

I text like a monster but my texts all contain proper grammar and punctuation.

[infernalis]

I sometimes use Dorothy's blackberry, but those keys are so damn tiny, and I have huge hands it's difficult to type.

[mld]

Originally Posted by infernalis

No offense, but that is one reason why I refuse to enter the "texting phone era"

slews of words all jammed together and abbreviated annoy me. but I was raised differently than today's generation.

I used to get corrected and scolded if I even used "ain't" in a sentence.

I agree, I guess we are showing our age!
"i hate words that r jammed together 2 it drives me bonkers and i dont understand what there trying 2 say have the time if they would just put some sort of punctuation in there sentences it would make it more readable and understandable but hey thats the generation these days and hopefully when they write their resumes they will consider trying to puts more efforts into it oh i can understand if they are paying for each and every syllable but not sure if that is the case do text myself so how does it work do you pay for each text sent or for each word oh well i ain't gotta clue what im talking bout anyway and thats what spell check is 4"

[mxracer]

Quail can be feed daily, same as baby chicks. But savannah's will thrive better on an insect diet. And don't go from saying you never sold me the ackie, to saying im an old friend. I had to drive to the best western in hamilton to meet you. But because this is the internet you get to lie and be the good guy. Soon I will be purchasing 4 savannah's so that I end up with a male and female hopefully. We need people to try breeding these. So try pairing yours up and give it ago.

[Lankyrob]

Originally Posted by mxracer

Quail can be feed daily, same as baby chicks. But savannah's will thrive better on an insect diet. And don't go from saying you never sold me the ackie, to saying im an old friend. I had to drive to the best western in hamilton to meet you. But because this is the internet you get to lie and be the good guy. Soon I will be purchasing 4 savannah's so that I end up with a male and female hopefully. We need people to try breeding these. So try pairing yours up and give it ago.

Why is it some people enter a post into a long thread without actually reading the majority of the information posted first? Everything that has been posted leads to the conclusion that feeding anything other than arthopods on a regular basis is unhealthy and you jump into the end of a thread with the totally opposite.

Either that or a, you arent intelligent enough to understand or b, you are just looking for a fight.

[Reptile_Reptile]

Originally Posted by mxracer

Quail can be feed daily, same as baby chicks. But savannah's will thrive better on an insect diet. And don't go from saying you never sold me the ackie, to saying im an old friend. I had to drive to the best western in hamilton to meet you. But because this is the internet you get to lie and be the good guy. Soon I will be purchasing 4 savannah's so that I end up with a male and female hopefully. We need people to try breeding these. So try pairing yours up and give it ago.

dude dont be a ****. sorry but this thread is pissing me off i dont even know why i keep looking at it. probably cause Wayne and bighog are actually producing content i can learn from.

[Lankyrob]

Same reason i keep reading reptile, i want one of these guys someday and want it to have the best opportunity of a long and happy life. I know without a doubt who i will be listening too in terms or husbandry when that day comes.

[Reptile_Reptile]

Originally Posted by Lankyrob

Same reason i keep reading reptile, i want one of these guys someday and want it to have the best opportunity of a long and happy life. I know without a doubt who i will be listening too in terms or husbandry when that day comes.

for real........... just a heads up Rob you can call me JR