Millipedes/centipedes as food?

[kharje]

I wonder if it is possible to breed some millipedes/centipedes as food to a savannah monitor. Does anyone have experience about this? Recommendatios?

[dart]

I'm sure it's possible, but I wouldn't feed an animal venomous prey when there are other options. The SDZ diet is always a good option for supplementing food if you're running low on invertebrates.

[kharje]

I'm sure it's possible, but I wouldn't feed an animal venomous prey when there are other options. The SDZ diet is always a good option for supplementing food if you're running low on invertebrates.

I did read about sav's feeding on millipedes (almost 50%) in wild. (Daniel Bennett's The Savannah Monitor Lizard) This made me think about breeding those.

[WingedWolfPsion]

Millipedes secrete toxins. I know that some animals have developed a trick of rolling them in the dirt thoroughly to rub off most of the toxic secretions before eating them.

I did a quick lookup, and it seems Savannah monitors also developed an instinct for dealing with millipedes--they rub their chin all over them for up to 15 minutes, removing the secretions, before they eat them. I would suggest it's probably not a great idea to feed a whole lot of these toxic animals to them.

Centipedes are simply venomous, and larger ones can pack quite a wallop. I personally wouldn't risk feeding them to a reptile. Most of the time, the lizard will avoid being bitten, but they may get unlucky once...why risk it?

[babyknees]

Ask the people in the monitor board. They'll probably know from experience.

[Rhasputin]

I wonder if that's why my monitor rubs her food on the floor of her enclosure . . .

[kharje]

Thank you very much for your inclusive answer, WingedWolfPsion.