The
diet for monitors in the wild is obviously going
to be more varied than in captivity. It is impossible
to have access to so many different insects, small mammals
and birds. With this in mind, it is still very important
to feed your monitor a varied diet. Feeding monitors
a single food type is detrimental to their health because
they miss out on different vitamins they get from different
animals.
The basic carnivorous lizard foods should be
the main part your monitors diet; crickets,
mealworms,
silkworms
and butterworms
where available. A good substitute for crickets are
cockroaches, as they tend to be much larger meals, and
have more nutrients than crickets. Since monitors
are quite large and go through food rather quickly,
you should consider building a habitat and breeding
either crickets or roaches. This way you will always
have a good supply of food and you control what the
feeder insects eat.
Pinkie mice should be offered sparingly, but still
included as part of their diet. Some monitors will also
readily eat live fish. If you are feeding your monitor
fish, place a shallow bowl of water in the monitors
habitat and let the fish swim inside. Always allow your
monitor to naturally hunt their food.
While live food is necessary for your monitor to maintain
a healthy life, you can always keep a small bowl of
commercial food in the habitat. Much of the commercial
carnivorous lizard food is enriched with different
vitamins. While your monitor may pick at it sparingly,
it does add a little more variety to their overall diet. |