Good diet for Savannah Monitor

[casey15]

I would feed a diet consisting of these things(on different days/varied)

-Crickets
-Grasshoppers
-Roaches
-Mealworms/Super Worms
-Ground lean turkey
-Fish
-Crayfish
-Shrimp
-Snails
- Shellfish
-Occasional fruit/vegetable(if he'll eat them)
-Maybe eggs sometimes

All the insects would be gut loaded/dusted with d-3 free supplement

I'd vary his diet and rotate what I fed him. Is this a good diet? I've read that rodents cause health problems/obesity, but I keep getting different opinions on that one.

 

[james.w]

The fact that you mention trying to feed fruit/vegetables to a carnivorous lizard tells me you need to do much more research.

 

[Thelegendofcharlie]

A Savannah monitor does not directly incorporate fruit or vegetation into its diet in the wild, HOWEVER, certain fruits and vegetable can be beneficial to most species of lizards - even our more carnivorous friends.
in a lizards natural habitat even entirely carnivorous species are likely to indirectly ingest fruit and vegetable matter from their prey (i.e. stomach contents) that is not usually reproduced in our captive friends.
In this way, albiet indirectly, they do naturally consume fruit/vegetation, and it is necessary and beneficial. A varied diet is instrumental in keeping our scaly friends happy and healthy, and for the most part will do so when given correctly, some nutrients that are sometimes overlooked or unutelized for "carnivorous" lizards are Vitamin A and Vitamin C.
Vitamin A plays an intregal role (along with d3) in calcium absorption, it is much better for said Vitamin A source to be naturally occuring as opposed to supplemented because as with D3, commercial supplements can easilly lead to Hypervitaminosis. The best source being being beta-carotene (whice is a precursor to vitamin A)
Good sources being carrots, sweet potatoes, apricots, leafy greens, butternut squash and most things orange.
Cod liver oil is also a great source and has many other benefits for your Gu.
Also a very small amount of vitamin C is helpful in prventing stomatitus.
Good sources of vitamin C include strawberries, mangos, grapfruit, papayas, kiwis, bellpeppers and guava.
You can supplement these and other vitamins with the appropriate reptile multi vitamins or even human vitamins, but to put it simply, they are inadequate at best and harmful at worse.
Remember boys and girls - with proper diet and lighting these supplements arent needed.
This has been a public service announcement from The one, the only, The Charlie

 

[casey15]

A Savannah monitor does not directly incorporate fruit or vegetation into its diet in the wild, HOWEVER, certain fruits and vegetable can be beneficial to most species of lizards - even our more carnivorous friends.
in a lizards natural habitat even entirely carnivorous species are likely to indirectly ingest fruit and vegetable matter from their prey (i.e. stomach contents) that is not usually reproduced in our captive friends.
In this way, albiet indirectly, they do naturally consume fruit/vegetation, and it is necessary and beneficial. A varied diet is instrumental in keeping our scaly friends happy and healthy, and for the most part will do so when given correctly, some nutrients that are sometimes overlooked or unutelized for "carnivorous" lizards are Vitamin A and Vitamin C.
Vitamin A plays an intregal role (along with d3) in calcium absorption, it is much better for said Vitamin A source to be naturally occuring as opposed to supplemented because as with D3, commercial supplements can easilly lead to Hypervitaminosis. The best source being being beta-carotene (whice is a precursor to vitamin A)
Good sources being carrots, sweet potatoes, apricots, leafy greens, butternut squash and most things orange.
Cod liver oil is also a great source and has many other benefits for your Gu.
Also a very small amount of vitamin C is helpful in prventing stomatitus.
Good sources of vitamin C include strawberries, mangos, grapfruit, papayas, kiwis, bellpeppers and guava.
You can supplement these and other vitamins with the appropriate reptile multi vitamins or even human vitamins, but to put it simply, they are inadequate at best and harmful at worse.
Remember boys and girls - with proper diet and lighting these supplements arent needed.
This has been a public service announcement from The one, the only, The Charlie

Thanks, I would offer fruit rarely, as a treat.