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picky Eater!?

C

c@atex

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Hello everbody,

I have a 2 month old Savannah Monitor (Yoshi). I have introduced numerous types of prey items and yoshi only selects crickets (eats 10-15 crickets). I have tried superworms, meal worms, Dubai Roaches, earthworms, pinkies (yes I know of the controvery surounding rodents), fresh chicken and quail eggs (right out of the bird, never refrigerated) both raw and boiled. Yoshi will take a taste then its rejected. Is this normal? Should I still consistantly try these items? All insects are given flukers orange cubes plus fresh greens almost daily plus different grain weekly to feed on. The terrarium is a 55 gallon for the time being while the permanent enclosure is being constructed.yoshi is very active and curious about every sound and movement that goes on in the room and always comes out and investigates and is even starting to beg to come out of the enclosure when somebody enters the room. Yoshi moves regulary between the hot spot, water dish, burrow through out the day and at night stays in the burrow. The terrarium is kept at 87 degrees through out the day with UVB, the hot spot peaking at 120 degrees. The burrow stays around 80 degrees with 90% humidity 24/7 and the rest of the enclosure stays around 55% humidity except when misted in the morning and evening and it reaches around 95% for 3-4
hours. Night temp stay around 75-80 degrees. The substrate is a sand and clay mix. I apologize for this being so long but I am a little concerned about yoshi's diet and want to make sure my husbandry is correct.
 
Hello,
Healthy, well supported monitor lizards should not be picky eaters.....
Post some pics of the encloser if you can.
 
First off great of you to ask, you are a good keeper. So far things look good, a lot better than most I see.

A few things I noticed...

Humidity needs to be higher everywhere, not just the burrow. Make sure the top is covered, not screen.

Boost basking temps up to 140, make sure you are using an infrared temp gun.

An all rodent diet has proven to be fine as long as strict husbandry requirements are met and digestion is functioning at it's peak. Also UV hasn't proven to be necessary either. Not my opinions just what I've read from those who have had great success.

Good luck!
 
First off I would like to apologize for not getting back on here sooner, I've been really busy. After I made the initial post I took yoshi to a herp vet and he was given a clean bill of health (confirmed male). I was told by the vet that as long as he was shoveling crickets down his throat not to be concerned because as he grew he would most likely start taking other prey items. What do you know? This past week he has eaten a pinky, a lot of superworms, of course crickets (10-12 a day), and a few feeder house geckos. I wake up every morning to a water dish full of poop and a hungry monster waiting to be fed. Thank you everybody for your input and I believe the problem has been resolved.
 
c@atex said:
First off I would like to apologize for not getting back on here sooner, I've been really busy. After I made the initial post I took yoshi to a herp vet and he was given a clean bill of health (confirmed male). I was told by the vet that as long as he was shoveling crickets down his throat not to be concerned because as he grew he would most likely start taking other prey items. What do you know? This past week he has eaten a pinky, a lot of superworms, of course crickets (10-12 a day), and a few feeder house geckos. I wake up every morning to a water dish full of poop and a hungry monster waiting to be fed. Thank you everybody for your input and I believe the problem has been resolved.
Click to expand...

The water dish full of poop... that brings back some really foul memories. I had a dumi once that would defecate in his large water bowl and that smell is absolutely the foulest thing one would ever walk across their apartment and clean out in a sink. And not a slop sink... the same sink I either washed my veggies or brushed my teeth.

Glad to hear Yoshi turned on the Sav... I have a picky eater too (Pilb) and after reading this I might pop up his basking spot a few degrees.
 
Also varanids that defecate continuously in their water dish may be crying out for more moisture. Boost humidity and see if he still spends a lot of time in there. Just a thought.

Good luck.
 
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