It doesn`t matter how many times these things have been said, what matters is the message that vertebrates (including some rodents), are NOT responsible for the thousands and thousands of deaths, conditions in the tiny boxes are!
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It doesn`t matter how many times these things have been said, what matters is the message that vertebrates (including some rodents), are NOT responsible for the thousands and thousands of deaths, conditions in the tiny boxes are!
No contest there... Even conditions in some large boxes need serious improvements.Quote:
Originally Posted by murrindindi
the problem is there's very few top notch sav habitats posted on the web for people to copy & if there was very few keepers could afford to make them compared to the amount of savs sold at 20 dollars a piece. Inexperience keepers lack of knowledge kill these animals not mice, we all do our best at the time with our knowledge at the time, but the problem with knowledge is it's gained through experience & the problem with savs is it usually to late by the time we know what were doing.Quote:
Originally Posted by murrindindi
We say feed insects mainly diet with chick/rodents/eggs as treats because this allows for the keepers inexperience in setting up basking lights & maintaining humidity, insects digest easily & mice make sure they get their calcium fix, if the insects aren't gut loaded properly the mice also help to fix that problem.
For the last 5 days i've fed nothing but eel & trout to my nile & the main thing you notice is the big reduction in waste against mice/ chick based diet, chicks & mice need good basking temps for the sav to digest it's food, this can create dehydration because people use big lights that dry the air & this then effects the sav causing dehydration & that effect long term kills your sav. :(
Mr Bennett did state somewhere along the way that a decent cage set-up is better than a large cage set-up with little to offer the sav inside, cold climates find it hard to heat big areas of soil not to mentions keeping ambient temps correct, but the right size cage will allow for multiple flood spot lights & offer you captive a decent life.Quote:
Originally Posted by Infernalis
so no bird /rat cages please!! :)
Yes, but I still don't get why you are so persistently pushing keepers to add rodents to their animals' diets? It just doesn't make sense.
if the newby keeper don't dust correctly & gut load correctly you still have a dead monitor, using rodents as treats on a weekly basis you get the best of both worlds. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by BarelyBreathing
Considering they (inverts) contain different types of nutrients than vertebrates, how do you supplement them when they don`t get the vitamins, proteins and trace elements the vertebrates provide, which surely means they are deficient? Can you give specific details, so we can all see how it`s done, and did you raise your 10 year old Savannah monitor on an exclusively invert diet, from hatchling to adult?Quote:
Originally Posted by BarelyBreathing
Gut loading is a lot easier for beginners than trying to figure out how often rodents should be fed, and how to watch for signs of a sick animal. Dusting isn't necessary as long as you provide a varied diet.Quote:
Originally Posted by MDFMONITOR
Murrindindi, that savannah was raised on inverts only until sexual maturity. The basis of the diet is still inverts, with a few reptiles added to the diet a few times a month. Also, if you look up the nutritional values of the invert prey items I have mentioned, you'll find that they are complete when it comes to the percentages of vitamins, proteins, and trace elements.
Don't forget, exoskeletons are calcium based.Quote:
Originally Posted by BarelyBreathing
Indeed. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Infernalis