# Baby Accies feeding on my secret lizard and turtle mix...



## herptrader (Jan 10, 2011)

I have some baby accies that are doing very well on my "lizard and turtle mix". I got the opportunity to take a video of them with my son's camera while he and his family have been visiting from Canada and thought I would share.

http://herpshop.com.au/ht/traderPics/100_500.wmv

I find that for the first few weeks I need to feed small live insects and the meat mix but once they are feeding on the thawed meat they thrive.

Actually the recipe for what I feed them is not that much of a secret and I am happy to share if anybody is interested.


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## JAS101 (Jan 10, 2011)

cool video


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## Laghairt (Jan 10, 2011)

Nice looking ackies. What locale are they?


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## Tsubakai (Jan 10, 2011)

I'd like to know what your recipe is. I'm always trying to find new food types for my ackies just to mix things up a bit (and for when I have someone babysit them who doesn't like to deal with woodies).


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## Grunter023 (Jan 10, 2011)

I would be interesting in knowing as well. Cheers


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## herptrader (Jan 11, 2011)

1kg Kangaroo mince (from safeway)
600g Turkey mince (safeway again)
1 teaspoon herp-t-vite
2 teaspoons Rep-Cal Calcium
3 eggs whole - shells and all
200g frozen peas or spinach (A bit of vegetable matter simulates the gut contents of "whole animals")
1 litre frozen roaches (I regularly have to cull my colony and this is where they end up ;-)

Basically I blend everything except the mince with a hand blender and then mix in the minced meat. with a decent spoon.

It all gets spread on a sheet of plastic in layers about 8mm thick with glad wrap in between up to 3 layers and tossed in the freezer. Once frozen (tomorrow nights job) I snap the sheets into slabs to fit a container that stays in the freezer.

When it comes to serving I use a sharp knife, take out a slab, let is soften just a tad and cut it into pieces of the appropriate size. Baby accies get basically shavings cut into small bits. Larger goannas get bigger bits.

I also supplement with life insects and thawed small rodents which are very popular.

---------- Post added 11-Jan-11 at 10:31 AM ----------

... and by the way these little guys are currently for sale: add 100-500 on the HerpTrader

---------- Post added 11-Jan-11 at 10:34 AM ----------

I have some Alice Springs red form but these originate from the border county between Queensland and NT.



anouc said:


> Nice looking ackies. What locale are they?


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## Grunter023 (Jan 11, 2011)

thanks


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## Grogshla (Jan 11, 2011)

awesome thank you mate


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## mrhoyo (Jan 13, 2011)

Could try putting it in ice cube trays? Might be easier than having to slice. 
Could do with extra supplementation when thawed, certain vitamins break down in the freezer.

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## JAS101 (Jan 13, 2011)

i use silicone cup cake trays when i make my turtles food up , they work great .


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## herptrader (Jan 13, 2011)

I have tried ice cube trays but have not found them to work all that well. With the mix rolled flat and thin (about 10mm) it is pretty easy to cut after having been out of the freezer for about 1 minute or so. The other thing is that depending on the age and the species you are always cutting it into different size... from match head size to fairly large cubes.


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## gillsy (Jan 13, 2011)

I just role them up into balls, then freeze them on baking paper before putting them into zip lock bags. Each ball feeds one enclosure per feeding.


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## mrhoyo (Jan 13, 2011)

herptrader said:


> I have tried ice cube trays but have not found them to work all that well. With the mix rolled flat and thin (about 10mm) it is pretty easy to cut after having been out of the freezer for about 1 minute or so. The other thing is that depending on the age and the species you are always cutting it into different size... from match head size to fairly large cubes.


Are you refreezing it when you've cut some off?
I used to roll it into balls, wrap up tightly in cling film and then freeze. When it came to defrosting I could just take it out and open the parcel when it was ready.

Have you had a go at writing nutritional values for it? 
Shouldn't be too hard, just Google the individual values of the ingredients and add them up depending on the quantity used.
Knowing the protein, fat and energy values would enable you to compare it to livefood alone and would let you explain why your mix is better or worse.


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## herptrader (Jan 13, 2011)

Cut frozen, allowed to thaw and then fed.

Nutritionally it is almost pure protein with very little fat.

I have added gelatine to the mix instead of egg to make "turtle cubes" which worked well but I have found that the turtles do pretty well on the semi thawed cubes which float when they are frozen.

I made up a mix earlier this evening and substituted zucchini for the spinach.

One thing I find I have to watch is that some of the turkey mince has stuff added to it which I would rather not have included in the mix but I have used it and nobody seems to care.... except me ;-)


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## mrhoyo (Jan 13, 2011)

herptrader said:


> Cut frozen, allowed to thaw and then fed.
> 
> Nutritionally it is almost pure protein with very little fat.
> 
> ...


 That's not true, all the protein sources you've put in will have some fat, even the peas.
On top of that you have various vitamins in the veg and a high level of iron due to the peas and kangaroo meat.
I'd love to know what nasty stuff is in the turkey, lots of salt, sugar and preservatives I imagine.


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## herptrader (Jan 14, 2011)

It is a while since I have used "flavoured" turkey mince but I do not recall any salt. The last lot I bought was the pure from Tasman meats... but they do not sell the roo.


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## Snowman (Jan 14, 2011)

He said "_Nutritionally it is almost pure protein *with very little fat*_". He never said it had no fat Mrhoyo...
Love it when noobs give advice to the likes of Brian Barnett.  You must have been keeping herps for almost a year by now hey herptrader? Hehehehehehehe


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## mrhoyo (Jan 14, 2011)

Snowman said:


> He said "_Nutritionally it is almost pure protein *with very little fat*_". He never said it had no fat Mrhoyo...
> Love it when noobs give advice to the likes of Brian Barnett.  You must have been keeping herps for almost a year by now hey herptrader? Hehehehehehehe


So he did. Still doesn't account for the vitamin degradation after freezing though.

Who is Brian Barnett?


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## Snowman (Jan 14, 2011)

*Brian Barnett - Owner of the Herp Shop *www.herpshop.com.au 
Brian Barnett has been a keen player in the world of Reptiles for over 50 years and is one of the last true pioneers. Over the years he seems to have met and known many of the people who shaped the hobby, as we know it today. Earlier in his life he was one of the first presidents of the V.H.S. Brian and the club worked closely with the Department governing the new licence system, through their efforts we are able to enjoy the hobby of Reptile keeping. Brian now devotes himself to running The Herp Shop and has supplied Reptile keepers with the tools, and products required to maintain our collections. He has always been a wealth of knowledge and has assisted many people over the years. The V.A.A.H would like to acknowledge Brian's contribution to Herpetology, come to this meeting and become apart of 50 years of Reptile related experiences.
Calendar of Events

*'Keeping and Breeding Australian Pythons' *is the first of Mike Swan's husbandry and breeding guides to Australian reptiles. Mike has gone to great lengths to secure some of Australian's most experienced python breeders to compile this essential guide to breeding some of the worlds most beautiful snakes. Authors include - Kieran Aland, Brian Barnett, Rob Browne-Cooper, Greg Fyfe, Glen Gaikhorst, Russel Grant, Chris Hay, Geoff Heard, Adrian Hemens, Peter Krauss, Dr. David Pearson, Dr. Franciscus Scheelings, Neil Sonnemann, Brad Walker and John Weigel.

http://www.coolcompanions.com.au/au...-snakes-australian-reptiles/coastal-taipan-2/

Victorian Herpetological Society � Blog Archive � Brian Barnett 2011 VHS President

http://www.smuggled.com/BriBar15.htm

The Eastern Children's or Spotted Python - <I>Antaresia maculosus</I> - in Captivity - Definitive Paper by Brian Barnett.

Captive breeding and a novel egg incubation technique of the Childrens Python Liasis childreni

The Amethystine Python Morelia amethistina � Captive Breeding, Reproduction and Growth

list goes on and on and on.. I don't know him personally... But anyone who has bothered to read and learn about keeping reptiles would recognise his name instantly...


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## mrhoyo (Jan 14, 2011)

Not really, I can guarantee you that most people who keep reptiles won't have a clue who he is unless they're in Australia. I've even got that Mike Swan book and I had no idea Brian Barnett was a contributor.
Sounds like he knows his stuff though, I'm going to have a look at some of his articles.

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## Snowman (Jan 14, 2011)

Where are you from?... My mistake thinking you were from Australia. You really should consider putting your location up for people to see.


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## Snake_Whisperer (Jan 14, 2011)

Snowman said:


> He said "_Nutritionally it is almost pure protein *with very little fat*_". He never said it had no fat Mrhoyo...
> Love it when noobs give advice to the likes of Brian Barnett.  You must have been keeping herps for almost a year by now hey herptrader? Hehehehehehehe


 
Lol, I had to try real hard to say nothing!



mrhoyo said:


> So he did. Still doesn't account for the vitamin degradation after freezing though.
> 
> Who is Brian Barnett?
> 
> ...


 
Oh my! 

Sorry mods, for contributing nothing useful to this thread I have been trying real hard to bite my tongue over the last few days here, and I feel I have done an outstanding job!


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## herptrader (Jan 14, 2011)

Actually I am Daavid and I am not ever the real Herptrader though I did get it started. my wife, Judy (trader on APS) is the real Herp Trader these days.

For the record I have been keeping herps since I was a child but seriously for about 20 years.

Brian is one of the true gods of the Australian Herp world. With pythons and elapids in particular what he doesn't know could be written on the back of a postage stamp with a fat texta. It is also possible that he has probed more snakes than anybody else in our corner of the world. I am very proud to maintain his web site for him. He has been keeping, researching and breeding reptiles for over 50 years and even managed a reptile part for a number of years.


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## sweetangel (Jan 14, 2011)

I was about to say that  but that mix sounds good! how old are the babies in the video? they look pretty big?
also how are ur mangrove monitors doing?


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## herptrader (Jan 14, 2011)

About 6 weeks but they had doubled in size in the last two weeks. I have cut back their feeding to just 4 or 5 days per week. They are powering along. I look at the fattness of their tails to gauge how good their condition is. 

They are from a different line to the ones you got from me ages back.


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## Snowman (Jan 14, 2011)

herptrader said:


> Actually I am Daavid and I am not ever the real Herptrader though I did get it started. my wife, Judy (trader on APS) is the real Herp Trader these days.
> .



LOL.. I wonder if SW and I are the only ones who thought you were Brian, because of the herptrader link. Oh well at least you know him and you also must know your stuff.  
ps Daavid or David?


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## herptrader (Jan 14, 2011)

Snowman said:


> LOL.. I wonder if SW and I are the only ones who thought you were Brian, because of the herptrader link. Oh well at least you know him and you also must know your stuff.
> ps Daavid or David?



Daavid and "not even" .. "not ever" is definitely incorrect ;-)

herptrader.com.au and herpshop.com.au go to the same web site. The Herp Shop sponsors the Herp Trader to some extent.


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## mrhoyo (Jan 14, 2011)

Snowman said:


> Where are you from?... My mistake thinking you were from Australia. You really should consider putting your location up for people to see.


Sorry, I didn't realise it wasn't on. I'll sort that now.
What makes you think I'm a new keeper? The fact I don't have a high post count on this forum? 
I'm certainly no expert but I have been keeping and breeding various reptiles over here for a few years now.
I apologise if I've upset anyone by not knowing who that guy is, I didn't know you needed a vast knowledge of foreign reptile sellers to offer advice.


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