Food for Gilamonsters
In nature gilamonsters will be classified as nest looters. They prey on what they can find in nests from different animals. Because of this, periods will occur where the gilas won´t be getting anything to eat over longer periods, days, weeks or even months. On the other hand, in some periods they will be getting alot of food. So in captivity gilas are not so demanding regarding food.
The natural diet mainly consists of pups from Sylvilagus audubonii (dessert cottontail rabbit), different newborn pups of differetn types of squirrels from the family spermophilus,eggs and small chicks from Lophortyx gambellii (Gambels quial), eggs and small chick from Zenaida macroura (dessert dove) and eggs from different types of reptiles.
When you look at the diet, it is mainly mammals and birds.This diet is easy to copy in captivity, with mice, rats and day old chickens.
As supplements i sometime feed my animals with raw eggs mixed up with vitamins and minerals from herpetal. This is mainly done after hibernation, or with females, just after they have laid eggs.
Don´t overfeed the animals with eggs, as some animals can get so hooked on it that they won´t eat anything else.
I feed my adult animals every 10th day with a medium rat or 2 adult mice or some day old chickens