Quote Originally Posted by mumps View Post
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.