:
I feed them mice as mice are the whole package with muscle and bone. I will also feed them chicks when they are large enough to take them.These are wonderful
Do you only feed them frozen/thawed mice? Or will they take other protein sources as well (beef liver/heart etc)?
We are imitating nature in our enclosures. The best enclosure being still an imitation, we can not 100% know what they ingest here is what they ingest in their environment. Aside from that, if a Gila Monster dies in the nature due to impaction of some kind, it is a sad day. If one of mine dies, it is an economically and emotionally sad day as well so I am always extra careful.Very beautiful animals!
One thing I have never understood, is to why keepers worry about substrate being ingested by the animal. Wouldn't it get ingested in the wild in the course of the animal feeding? Just something I've seen mentioned before, and always scratched my head at. :
Thanks! Those will get better as I learn to use this macro objective.
You can only purchase Gila Monsters from breeders. These animals are highly protected so collection from wild is illegal. You can check reptile classifieds for animals available, they are still quite pricey though.
Gila Monster venom is serious business. It causes rapid fall of blood pressure, respiratory irregularities, heart related anomalies, hypothermia, edema, internal hemorrhage etc. Here is a nice site explaining all the venom components and giving several LD50 values: http://www.toxinology.com/fusebox.cfm?fuseaction=main.terrestrial_vertebrates.venom&id=TV0002
Dr.Ward said:
Check your state's venomous and wildlife regulations to see if any permits are required. I know in Florida, they require a venomous license, which requires around 1000 hours of training.
. It is so funny to see that big mouth open like that and see the nice purple color. Anyway, he starts moving again very slowly, makes it all the way to the other end of the cage (3-4 feet or so) and goes to the water bowl to get his morning drink. He puts his face in to the water and laps the water up like a dog with this tongue, then he tilts his head up like a bird and gulps the water. He does this several times then finally notices me watching, starts shuffling towards the cage door and stops right in front of it. So I open the door, cautiously reach in and start scratching the top of his head. Again he tilts his head up quite similar to my parrot and enjoys the affection for a full minute or so. Then he retreats slowly and starts his daily activities, which is about 6 hours of digging and making a mess .
And because of this delivery method, they tend to hang on for quite a while. I've heard the bites are very painful.
I always keep that in mind mate. I had an adult male bit down on a female once and I know how incredibly hard it is to make them release by physical force. Yet a little vinegar/water mixture sprayed into their mouth does the trick!