Unfortunately you can't teach an apple a trick any more than you can teach dumb people to use their knowledge sponge.
There's really no point in wasting time formulating a coherent argument using logical reasoning and scientific evidence because these are the type of people who don't know how to think anyway. They see one thing for a short period of time and that means to them anyone ever can use it in any situation on any animal and they'll never die.
Saying 'gutloading is a waste' is like saying 'people eating healthy see no benefits from doing so'. Really? Really? Common sense is really all that's needed there when you think about it and see how nutritious a cricket is on its own. I could go into a long explanation, but they're not going to pay attention as they have lizards that can thrive with or without it. Monitors are like garbage disposals. They can eat anything. That's their ecological niche, and they're good at it. Kind of like goats. (No diss to monitors, I think they're amazing animals and want some myself.) To apply that to every other species of reptiles given their absurd variation and diversity in species is ridiculously narrow-minded. I've fought too many arguments with these types - trying to teach them something is like shouting at a brick wall to 'sit'. Ain't gonna happen, and it shortens my lifespan with the near embolism that occurs listening to people be so stupid.
And to say UVB is just a marketing ploy actually makes me laugh out loud. They don't actually see the animals suffering from the broken bones and terrible deformities that occur with MBD from lack of UVB. I have several prime examples of it myself in the rescue animals I've adopted, and have seen literally hundreds of examples of it without ever even practicing as a doctor for a single day yet. Not all animals need it, but the ones that do do. Silliest 'marketing ploy' ever since most people don't start with one anyway and have to get one later to fix the terrible disease they've caused.
Sorry ecoreef, I've seen enough stupid for this month to fill my quota already...I won't be diving into the other forum to start a discussion that I already know the ending to.
In addition to Tree boas, Chams, and a number of other neat herps over the years, I own a pair of Blue tree monitors. To give you an idea of how long...well these two were some of the original first batch to be imported I was told. I've had them since 2002. So 10 yrs now in our care......
At the time, there was nothing about them to read. I visited many sites and chatted with a number of people. It would be correct to say that when I visited that site years ago it nearly made me stop using the internet for information entirely. The same can be said of other websites. The Chameleon Forums is the only site I will actively participate on now. It has a completely different vibe and user base.
UV lighting for monitors is completely different than our Chams. They don't have anywhere the need for it like our Chams. However they do need it. I use a halogen UVB bulb for their basking area and two 4" repti sun 10.0 bulbs. Since their habitat is 7' tall, 8' long, and 24" wide, I needed serious UVB to cover a large chunk of the habitat. Personally, I can tell when the bulbs need to be replaced since the monitors blue spots start to fade. New bulbs = bright frigging blue spots.
As for gut loading? Well I simply feed fresh veggies from the fridge to the mice I use. Once every 14 days I cut a few slices to a size they can eat off a nice steak ( London broil ) and roll some rep cal on it. While nearly everybody who had these animals from that shipment lost them, mine are doing well. Last year the female dropped some eggs...but my bastard of a male ( Blue Meanie ) made a snack of them. I considered turning him into a mantle piece for my living room
Should I share my tips or experience with the turds over there? No. Screw 'em. They just inflate their egos amongst themselves, they don't do anything for the hobby imo.
Chameleon Forums has one of the best groups of users I've ever come across, well moderated, and a whole different vibe. All of which makes it worth using, promoting, protecting.
And now something to make us all happy again. The most innocent creature on this planet, a baby cham.
