This is a topic that I've seen heavilly debated. What's everybody's opinion of citrus fruits? A few of them are listed on the diet charts as ok to feed skinks.but I've heard from other sources that citrus fruits are bad. What specific reptiles was the article about? Or did it just say herbivores?Īnother interesting topic in this is citrus fruits. What's interesting about this though is that it's slightly different than the diet charts. I think it's also important to select foods that you also like to eat to keep cost and waste at a minimum.
I used the diet charts to select the best foods and I made a little shopping list that I keep in my wallet. But of course, they didn't want to listen to anything I had to say. Of course I knew this information was wrong because I had already done research into it. When I asked about greens and veggies and the fact that skinks are omnivores, they told me this was false and that you can only feed veggies as treats when skinks get old. For example: the place I got my skink from told me to just feed him insects. I think it's really important to know and understand what you feed your animals to make sure they get the right nutrition. This is what I loved about the diet charts, they explained all this stuff. but it does show the need for variety in the diet as well as being aware of what you're feeding and the basic nutritional content of it. Still, I thought it might be of interest to some.Ī big part of the reason why I love blueys so much is their ease of care and I know most people don't feed this kind of variety. Obviously this is a lot of work and is meant to comprise the entire diet for herbivores, not just half the diet for our omnivores. Their recommended diet (for herbivores, not blueys specifically) would be 3-4 main ingredients, 2-3 secondary ingredients, and 1-2 from the flavor and treats group with a limit of one fruit per salad. They have a little info about each food, so if anyone is curious about the merits of specific foods mentions ask and I'll include it. Their food recommendations are broken into four categories - main ingredients, secondary ingredients, flavor ingredients and treats. Foods high in oxalates include broccoli, spinach, strawberries and tomatoes. A diet high in oxalates can also lead to calcium deficiencies. Oxalates are compounds that will bind with metallic elements, including calcium, to form insoluble crystals. Collard greens are very high in calcium, so good to feed for that reason but should be fed in a varied diet and not exclusively. Plants with high goitrogens include the Brassica family, so cabbage, kale, collards, brussel sprouts and broccoli and can be fed occasionally, but not as a staple. It explain goitrogens as well - too many in the diet will bind Iodine and lead to thyroid problems. Phosphorus will bind to calcium and so if this 2:1 ratio isn't maintained, the body will start to strip calcium from the bones / skeleton to meet the shortfall. It discusses the need for a 2:1 Calcium to Phosphorus ratio and recommends calcium supplementation to ensure this, as well as being aware of the foods you are feeding. I figured I'd post their food list up here for discussion / general interest.
#BEARDED DRAGON SPRING MIX HOW TO#
There is an article specifically on how to feed herbivorous reptiles and says it also applies to the vegetarian portion of omnivores (such as beardies and blueys) diets. More interesting reading in the Practical Reptile Keeping magazine.