From: seedman@IASTATE.EDU (Varanus Komodensis)
Subject: Re: What do Anoles eat?
Reply-To: seedman@IASTATE.EDU (Varanus Komodensis)
Organization: Iowa State University
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 00:39:43 GMT

In article <C0ECD0.3x3.1@cs.cmu.edu>, tmohler+@cs.cmu.edu (Tim Mohler) writes:
> In article <AfGFePC00WB7ESlNod@andrew.cmu.edu> Andrew Lewis Tepper
<at15+@andrew.cmu.edu> writes:
> >always used to love mice, but lately hadn't touched them. The pet store
> >suggested I try a variety of foods, so I bought a rat, two anoles, and a
> >couple dozen crickets. The good news is that he went _wild_ for the
> >crickets, and gobbled them up. 
>

	First, how big and how old is Fluffy.  How warm is the cage. It
	sounds like a climate problem.  Measure the air temp and floor temp
	of the cage.  If the floor of the cage (the warm spot) is below 90
	to 115 degrees, its too cold.  In the wild, savannah monitors find
	these types of temperatures everyday during the spring summer and 
	fall months.  During their winter, our summer, the temps sometimes
	drop, and savannah monitors have been seen to go into period of 
	reduced eating.  They seem to realize that they need warmth to 
	digest well.  
     
> However, crickets aren't very nutritious. They are salty. I think you can
> get some calcium-enriched crickets from some places, but I don't know...
>

	I always dust my crickets with a calcium suppliment.  Crickets don't 
	contain enough calcium, even in large quantities, to support a
	growing monitor.  I use a mixture of "Reptical" and "Vitalife", both
	by Tetra, to dust the crickets. I put a meal of crickets in a
	baggie with some vitamin powder, then shake.  
 
> Have you tried dipping the mice in egg yolk? Balzac LOVES egg yolk. I 
> don't give him much, just in case of cholesterol...
>
	
	Don't feed them too much raw egg.  It is thought that there are some
	strains of salmonella that humans are immune to that reptiles are not.
	I used raw egg to get my monitor to take mice the first few times.
	Ever since, I only give him pieces of hard boiled egg as a treat.
 
> He didn't eat the anoles, and they are
> >now living in his cage. (Ever hear of a savannah monitor sharing a cage
> >with anoles?!?) 
> 
> This is puzzling. Balzac will eat DIRT if I put it in his cage. No kidding.
> I have not yet found a food he won't latch onto if I make it move. Except
> for spinach. He will eat (among other things) mice, gerbils, rats (small
> ones), people fingers, eggs, worms, crickets, fish, tried to eat my roomate's
> iguana when it got close to his cage, people toes, dirt, saltines...
> 
	In the wild, savannahs are known to eat anything that isn't nailed
	down, including other savannah monitors.  Tim's right, once they 
	know you as the food source, anything you put in the cage is 
	immediately considered food, including your own bodily appendages.  
	I found the solution.  I use a pair of 2ft barbecue tongs to put
	food into the cage.  This is how I got my monitor to eat bananna.


> >Fluffy, my savannah monitor was refusing to eat for almost 4 weeks. He
> 
> Ok, first. Savannah's HATE bunny names. They are carnivores and need a
> dignified name, like Toadkiller Lizard or some such.

	Watch it Tim.  I know an American Alligator named "Fluffy" that
	would not take kindly to your "bunny names" reference.  She's 
	by no means a sissy.  Meanwhile my savannahs, Buddy and Morticia,
	and I have a movie to watch.  Buddy has this thing for the 
	V. salvator in "The Freshmen".
		
						-=- seedman@iastate.edu


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