Hey olimpia,
Glad some of what I wrote helped you. To go over some things that you said and asked in your last posts I will start with the tongs. If you are using them to drop food directly into the living *habitat, please stop immediately. This can and will cause aggression as time goes by. Or did you setup a feed pen yet? *Cheap examples of feed pens include plywood pens and large plastic tubs for smaller ones. Simply put, buy a plastic tub or some 2x 4"s and plywood make a*Simple square. Even for large monitors, the height does not need to be higher than 4 ft if using plywood. Make sure to use packing tape on the inside top few inches to ensure no escapes if feeding crickets or flying Climbing roaches. *And a make shift screen lid. It doesnt have to be Perfect .The best way to feed is to put on surgical plastic gloves and put roaches etc...into*Plastic cup without you little buddy seeing. You can use tongs if in*Privacy. Take cup full and toss in feed pen. Take*Monitor for 30 mins to play or walk around and afterwards place him in the feed enclosure with food already there. If container is outside, place in partial shade and no extra light needed. If inside place a 75 watt or so basking Light hanging several feet above the container to give*Light and supplemental warmth. When all food is gone, wait 30 mins, remove and place in normal enclosure near hot spot. If you do this aggression should not be a issue as an adult. If you feed items directly into living enclosure your hands can and will be confused later as food and you will see much more aggression. Also, please make sure your adult enclosure has no glass! I cannot stress this enough. If you have ever experienced a tail wack from an adult, you could see that they could easily and readily break the glass with their tails.
I cannot change your mind for you but will offer some insight into why frozen pinks should not be used. They are fed artificial, syntheteic and sometimes medical diets at labs even*Before preserves are used and they are frozen. I source my*Pinks locally and take them*Right off their mothers milk. Nothing better or more nutrious. Think of a frozen ellios as compared to a freshly made organic pizza. It is cheaper but there are many reasons for that and at this point if you only buy them for a*Day a week, at a dollar or so a piece it is a very worthwhile investment, at least for me. Another thing about your roach selection. Just make sure no matter how many varieties you raise, this is not a variety diet for a monitor lizard and have seen first *hand problems resulting from*Feeding too many roaches. *Savannah's are scavengers by nature and if fed too many of any one item, they can and Will refuse them for the rest of their lives potentially. Things to remember are that no one item should be considered a staple. You are what you eat. It is not uncommon For monitors to refuse foods that have been frozen or throw them Up undigested later. Also, small(not tiny) is better than large items. They are much happier and healthier if fed more small items than few large in the insect world. If it was me, a good sample diet at this point would be two days crickets and slugs, two days roaches and snails, one day worms, one day pinks, one day eggs. Just make sure to remove eggs from Fridge and allow to warm up for several hours before serving. I place mine outside in the morning and feed come noon. It's a sight to see if you haven't already. They will swallow the eggs whole without even cracking the shells!! If ever there is a day where food becomes unavailable, organic cat or dog may be substituted. Real kind lol not the pellet crap. Or bird innards or anoles/geckos *may be used as well. *First warning signs of malnutrition etc...will be present in the hip areas. If you see any thinning, this is a problem.
With regards as the monitor community/forums not really helping. There is no surprise there. They are of the*Mind Mostly that if you do not know these lizards, do not buy. But people like things bigger and there becomes the problem. They are killed, starved, improperly fed or just released into non indiginous environments when their needs cannot be met. Florida is a prime example. I have personally rescued many in my own area and it breaks yor heart. The worst case was an 80 lb water monitor house in a 75 gallon aquarium!!! Just get to you when they don't know what the problem could be. you would think people would want to teach and change things but you know how that goes. When I got my first monitor, the only available info was at the library in Encyclopedias lol not to mention mostly in Latin. Way before the net but it's been a long time and happy to share what I've learned with those willing to listen. Great to meet and talk with you. Have a great day
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