# Fruit Salad for Carnivores?



## Thelegendofcharlie (Jun 14, 2012)

This is something that came up in another thread, and I wanted to repost for anyone that might benefit from the information.
(also anyone thats want to learn how to make a killer fruit salad)


A Savannah monitor does not directly incorporate fruit or vegetation into its diet in the wild, HOWEVER, certain fruits and vegetable can be beneficial to most species of lizards - even our more carnivorous friends.
in a lizards natural habitat even entirely carnivorous species are likely to indirectly ingest fruit and vegetable matter from their prey (i.e. stomach contents) that is not usually reproduced in our captive friends.
In this way, albiet indirectly, they do naturally consume fruit/vegetation, and it is necessary and beneficial. A varied diet is instrumental in keeping our scaly friends happy and healthy, and for the most part will do so when given correctly, some nutrients that are sometimes overlooked or unutelized for "carnivorous" lizards are Vitamin A and Vitamin C.
Vitamin A plays an intregal role (along with d3) in calcium absorption, it is much better for said Vitamin A source to be naturally occuring as opposed to supplemented because as with D3, commercial supplements can easilly lead to Hypervitaminosis. The best source being being beta-carotene (whice is a precursor to vitamin A)
Good sources being carrots, sweet potatoes, apricots, leafy greens, butternut squash and most things orange.
Cod liver oil is also a great source and has many other benefits for your Gu.
Also a very small amount of vitamin C is helpful in prventing stomatitus.
Good sources of vitamin C include strawberries, mangos, grapfruit, papayas, kiwis, bellpeppers and guava.
You can supplement these and other vitamins with the appropriate reptile multi vitamins or even human vitamins, but to put it simply, they are inadequate at best and harmful at worse.
Remember boys and girls - with proper diet and lighting these supplements arent needed.
This has been a public service announcement from The one, the only, The Charlie

Read more: http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=11670#ixzz1xkT2I2ax


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## yulyani (Jun 14, 2012)

Thelegendofcharlie said:


> This is something that came up in another thread, and I wanted to repost for anyone that might benefit from the information.
> (also anyone thats want to learn how to make a killer fruit salad)
> 
> 
> ...



I am totally agree. Tegus they need the fruits and veggies and the antioxidant in them will be beneficial for the metabolism, and to make balance between the high protein diet they eat as the staple food....I usually give my adult-older tegu papaya, orange, apples, and strawberry and he loves it almost the same with chicken. For the monitor lizards, even I still give them the apples ( I grated some and chopped it again very2 small), and I pour it on top of the meat or chicken minced....some of them still pick only meat, but I noticed they eat still a part of the apples quickly before realize it....fruits and veggies are the best food just like human.... it is not too good to eat meat alone


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## dragonmetalhead (Jun 14, 2012)

I've heard lots of carnivores will eat figs.


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## james.w (Jun 14, 2012)

Carnivorous lizards do not eat fruit/vegetables. They do ingest them through the stomach contents of their prey, but that can be duplicated in captivity. Just feed your feeders, (roaches, crickets, worms, rodents) fruits and vegetables.


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## Thelegendofcharlie (Jun 14, 2012)

james.w said:


> Carnivorous lizards do not eat fruit/vegetables. They do ingest them through the stomach contents of their prey, but that can be duplicated in captivity. Just feed your feeders, (roaches, crickets, worms, rodents) fruits and vegetables.



Correct - but a vast majority of foods we feed our Tegus/Monitors/lizards i.e. turkey balls, organ meats, even whole prey like rodents, ground chicken/quail or whetever, does not have stomachs or appropriate stomach contents. 
We all love the convenience of the good people at rodent pro, but I assure you there feeders are on a corn and sucrose based diet.
Its just a matter of direct or indirect ingestion - either way its necessary nutrition, the point of the post is to ensure it occurs one way or another. 
I know we all want to take care of out little buddies as best as we can.
Thank you for your input


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## james.w (Jun 14, 2012)

Tegus are not carnivorous and should be fed as such. I was buying my rodents from a local breeder and they were fed fruits/vegetables regularly. As far as Savannahs go, a large portion of their diet should be insects which are easy enough to breed yourself. Dubias are very easy and can be fed fruit and vegetables.


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## Thelegendofcharlie (Jun 14, 2012)

james.w said:


> Tegus are not carnivorous and should be fed as such. I was buying my rodents from a local breeder and they were fed fruits/vegetables regularly. As far as Savannahs go, a large portion of their diet should be insects which are easy enough to breed yourself. Dubias are very easy and can be fed fruit and vegetables.



Buying rodents from a trusted source or breeding yourself is great. But many people arent able to do so.
Thats the only reason I suggest supplementing. Again just be aware or proactive to whats going in your lizard, and much agreed on the dubias, I wish more people realized what a great feeder they are.


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## laurarfl (Jun 15, 2012)

Echoing what james said....tegus are not monitors and are not obligate carnivores. I understand the concept of adding a touch of plant matter to the diet of a carnivore. However, one thing to remember is that carnivores are designed to eat high protein low carb diets. Adding a lot of fruit can tax the insulin pathways. Tegus are omnivores and should have plant matter added to the diet anyway.


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## Thelegendofcharlie (Jun 16, 2012)

I should have perhaps reiterated that my statements were aimed at Monitors and other carnivorous lizards more so than Tegus but I chose to post in this forum as opposed to "other pets" because of relevancy.
That being said, I am aware that Tegus are omnivorous. 
Thank you for bringing up (another) good point laurafl, It should have been included in the former post, that the feeding of vegetation should be kept to a minimum as carnivorous species are not intrinsically designed to metabolize large quantities anyway. Too much can cause a decline in health in of itself. 
So although carnivorous lizards will benefit from vegetation, take care to feed it to them sparingly, especially fruit.


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## laurarfl (Jun 16, 2012)

I think it was a good post and a lot of good points. Somehow I didn't think that you thought tegus were carnivores. But you gotta say that to cover your bases for all audiences.


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