Food options for a Black Throat

[lord jackel]

Hi Everyone...I rescued a juvi Black Throat and got an adult Timor Monitor yesterday and and am getting them all setup. I am wondering what does everyone feed theirs?

How often do you feed rodents? (care sheets are all over the place)
Insects? Besides crickets? Specific roaches?
Other items and how often?

Thanks....just looking for some owner experience.

[AjBalls]

Black throats will pretty much eat anything. Once they get so big, pretty much all they can eat is rodents. Chicks and quail too.

Frequency depends on how big the animal is. If it's still relatively young, it most likely still has a high metabolism and will need to be fed frequently. Young ones pretty much every day. Slightly decreasing as they get older. 2-3 days. 4-5 days etc.

Insects, I'm not sure if you're going to find any big enough. Maybe dubia roaches.

One friend of mine fed his crabs and crawfish he would catch. Another friend would feed his anoles from time to time. Some people I know give them wet dog food.

[lord jackel]

Black throats will pretty much eat anything. Once they get so big, pretty much all they can eat is rodents. Chicks and quail too.

Frequency depends on how big the animal is. If it's still relatively young, it most likely still has a high metabolism and will need to be fed frequently. Young ones pretty much every day. Slightly decreasing as they get older. 2-3 days. 4-5 days etc.

Insects, I'm not sure if you're going to find any big enough. Maybe dubia roaches.

One friend of mine fed his crabs and crawfish he would catch. Another friend would feed his anoles from time to time. Some people I know give them wet dog food.

I appreciate the feedback (I was starting to get worried no one had any...lol). He/she is baby (I have since figured out) so it is eating pinkies (every 2-3 days) and crickets...but I wanted to give some variety so was wondering about roaches. I heard about dog food but wasn't sure.

Anyone else have some more insight to add?

[mumps]

You DO NOT feed baby monitors every 2 - 3 days.

Feed daily. I fed my ornatus as a baby twice a day. Crickets at noon and pinkies/fuzzies in the evening. These suckers grow like crazy and demand a lot of food to do so properly. Your black throat should be close to, if not over, 4 feet by the time it is a year old.

Chris

[lord jackel]

You DO NOT feed baby monitors every 2 - 3 days.

Feed daily. I fed my ornatus as a baby twice a day. Crickets at noon and pinkies/fuzzies in the evening. These suckers grow like crazy and demand a lot of food to do so properly. Your black throat should be close to, if not over, 4 feet by the time it is a year old.

Chris

Sorry you mis-read my post - I said I feed pinkies every 2-3 days. He gets crickets 3 times a day (dusted in Miner-all). I have since added organ meat a couple times a week as well for variety(what I feed my ferret).

I was just looking for other feeding ideas.

[Patrick Long]

I was getting deformed quail, and baby chicks when I had my monitor, that was always a little treat for him.

Tied it to a string and danced it....never seen a monitor move so fast.

[dr del]

Hi,

Did you use the disintigrating cotton they make for carp fishing or did he pull it off the thread?

I'm waiting for a sample of the cotton to arive to see what it is like.


dr del

[BallsUnlimited]

crickets,super worms,hard boiled eggs with shells, or you can do the san diego zoo diet which is lean ground turkey with 2 crushed centrum vitamins and bone meal mixed into it. Can also add crushed egg shell to it as well. pinkys,mice try and stay away from a high mice diet. to much fat is not good for them. Once a week a mouse or two depending on size and lots of insects. You can get roaches in bulk they love them.

[mumps]

crickets,super worms,hard boiled eggs with shells, or you can do the san diego zoo diet which is lean ground turkey with 2 crushed centrum vitamins and bone meal mixed into it. Can also add crushed egg shell to it as well. pinkys,mice try and stay away from a high mice diet. to much fat is not good for them. Once a week a mouse or two depending on size and lots of insects. You can get roaches in bulk they love them.

No rodents? Are you twenty years behind in your varanid literature? If proper husbandry conditions are met (high humidity, basking temps of 120-140F, lots of space and hides) then there is nothing wrong with a predominantly rodent diet. The problem with rodent diets is when the animals are kept in tiny enclosures that are too cool. Proper digestion is not possible.

A rodent (mice or rat) is a complete diet. Millions of snakes can't be wrong, can they? What's the difference between an active monitor and a lazy snake? From what you're saying every snake in captivity is doomed to obesity and a short lifespan.

I've been keeping varanids since 1990, and they have all been fed a predominantly rodent based diet. My first niloticus lived to be 16.

Chris

[BallsUnlimited]

No rodents? Are you twenty years behind in your varanid literature? If proper husbandry conditions are met (high humidity, basking temps of 120-140F, lots of space and hides) then there is nothing wrong with a predominantly rodent diet. The problem with rodent diets is when the animals are kept in tiny enclosures that are too cool. Proper digestion is not possible.

A rodent (mice or rat) is a complete diet. Millions of snakes can't be wrong, can they? What's the difference between an active monitor and a lazy snake? From what you're saying every snake in captivity is doomed to obesity and a short lifespan.

I've been keeping varanids since 1990, and they have all been fed a predominantly rodent based diet. My first niloticus lived to be 16.

Chris

you wouldnt believe the amount of people who find out they can feed there monitors mice and power feed them because they like to watch the monitor kill the mouse. Yes at times i would feed my monitors strictly rodent based diets but have found over te years 1-2 mice a week with lots of insects and a day of the san diego zoo diet was always the best option for my monitors. Theres a ton of different ways to feed them. I just posted what worked best for me. Never did i say you couldnt feed them just rodents. The problem with that is people over feed them way to much on rodents and they become obese and end up with health problems. Yes you could as well as i could feed them only a rodent based diet because we know how much is too much for them. Sadly most do not.