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 #2197725


Ziggy2
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 Ideas on feeding a gator croc chow

I have a 3 ft gator and I got a bag of Mazuri and I can’t get him to eat it. I have put the food in his mouth, but he bites it and spits it out. I was/still feeding him dead rats, chicken breast and gold fish. I want to get away from fresh meat for the most part. Any help would be greatly appreciated thanks.
01/11/11  10:10pm

 #2198163


Nile/water monitors
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   Message To: Ziggy2   In reference to Message Id: 2197725


 Ideas on feeding a gator croc chow

He is trying to tell you he wants "100% whole prey foods", not unnatural processed stuff. You need to feed him whole prey food items, whole rats, whole chicken, whole fish, whole crab, whole craw fish,smelts,calamari,etc. you could even quarter a frozen turkey and feed it bone, meat, hide. 100% hair,hide,bone,guts,scales,organs,exoskeleton,everything to keep him healthy. If you feed him meat cuts, processed foods, your cheating him out of the things he needs to stay healthy. My Monitor lizards need a diet much like your gator, it is expensive,So, I order bulk frozen rodent/chicks in bulk because its cheaper than the pet stores. Go to the stores/Chinese restaurants and see if they will sell or order fresh fish for you? Stay away from gold fish and bait shops, those fish carry alot of parasites because the holding tanks are always contaminated with new fish/parasites and never cleaned properly to rid the tanks of parasites. If he is limited to meat cuts/processed bagged/caned foods he will more than likely end up with MBD, stunted growth, fatty liver disease, early death. If your going to keep a large animal like this, you need to learn to be creative and find sources of cheep fresh healthy foods for him, he is only going to keep getting larger and needing larger amounts of food. If his diet/temp.s are good, he should grow about 1 ft. a year.



01/13/11  06:25pm

 #2198248


Ziggy2
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   Message To: Nile/water monitors   In reference to Message Id: 2198163


 Ideas on feeding a gator croc chow

He eats mostly whole rats and I use the chichen breast for some other meat source. I want him to eat the croc chow to help with some of the cost plus all the experts feed their gators croc chow so it can’t be that bad for them. If you could tell me where you get frozen chicks that would be helpful too.
01/13/11  10:09pm

 #2198291


Nile/water monitors
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   Message To: Ziggy2   In reference to Message Id: 2198248


 Ideas on feeding a gator croc chow

http://rodentpro.com/
http://www.bigappleherp.com/REPTILE-SUPPLIES/Frozen-Feeders
Alarge part of the gators diet in the wild is "fish" and what ever they can catch. When I was keeping my caimans, I would go around to different food markets and ask them to order fish by the case. That was cheaper than the shelf cost. Ask the butcher to call you when the whole chicken they have to take off the shelves because it just expired, get all you can and freeze it until you need it. I went fishing and froze the fish for later caiman meals. On the Holidays I’d get my relatives to save me the raw turkey necks,gizzards,wings and in some cases the legs. If you want to keep your gator healthy and try keeping the food bill down, your going to have to be creative when finding healthy foods for him. If your gator doesn’t get the "full benefits" out of his meals, he is going to have health problems. Meat cuts don’t offer bone,organs,hide,brain,exoskeleton,etc.. I’v never seen anyone feed croc chow, only whole prey foods. I’m thinking this croc chow is a specially formulated diet, like the caned Iguana/Tegu/Monitor foods that the animals don’t like and end up with health issues while forced to survive on it? I’m not trying to give you a hard time over the chow/chicken cuts but I’d hate to see your gator develop health issues, $$$$ vet bills, death of the animal. 100% whole prey food items will be choir for you at time, but completely beneficial to health/life of the gator.



01/14/11  09:50am

 #2200438


KimboSliceEatsCats
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   Message To: Nile/water monitors   In reference to Message Id: 2198291


 Ideas on feeding a gator croc chow

why croc chow? that will become very inconvienent when the gator is pushing 6 foot and eating an entire bag in one sitting.
01/23/11  12:08am

 #2200843


Ziggy2
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   Message To: KimboSliceEatsCats   In reference to Message Id: 2200438


 Ideas on feeding a gator croc chow

to give him another source of food



01/24/11  09:22pm


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