# Homemade Vegie Mixes



## Bomber (Jan 13, 2012)

Hey Guys

Made my own vegie mixes for my reptiles today. They all containing a good balance of Greens, Fruits and of course Vegies. Let me know what you guys think? would love feedback


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## mad_at_arms (Jan 13, 2012)

Patiently awaits LizardLady's review.


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## Bel03 (Jan 13, 2012)

What is in the beardie mix?


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## LizardLady (Jan 13, 2012)

mad_at_arms said:


> Patiently awaits LizardLady's review.



Hehehe, :lol:


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## Bomber (Jan 13, 2012)

Beardy Mix

2 Grated Apples
2 Grated Carrots
3 Soup spoonfuls of baby peas
10-20 Dandeline heads 

Use whatever quantity you want but that is how much I used.


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## IgotFrogs (Jan 13, 2012)

i'll take some of number one and number three thanks lol


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## Bomber (Jan 13, 2012)

LizardLady said:


> Hehehe, :lol:



She's here!!!!!


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## Bel03 (Jan 13, 2012)

Bomber said:


> Beardy Mix
> 
> 2 Grated Apples
> 2 Grated Carrots
> ...



I will also let LizardLady take over now she is here......but i will pre warn you, they are not the best ingrediants. (for the beardies at least, im not sure about the others)


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## LizardLady (Jan 13, 2012)

Okay, first things first - kudos to you Bomber, for going to such great lengths to keep your masters happy and healthy!  It certainly looks yummy!

Right, now for the "review"... From what I can see, there's quite a bit of banana in the mix - "High phosphorous, feed RARELY"... Ditch the banana, and only offer it once in a blue moon (they love the stuff, but won't miss what they don't get!)... Peas (raw) - simply, feed "RARELY"... I'm guessing that's carrot, not sweet-potato? If carrot - "High vitamin A (150 IU/g), moderate oxalates, feed OCCASIONALLY"...

If you could include a list of your ingredients, I'll tell you what's in them! 

I would also be happy to email you a comprehensive list of stuff, and a Care Sheet, if you're interested? Just PM me with your email addy, and thy will be done! 

Hope this helps! (and up to your standard Mad_At_Arms?!  )

Best,
Carolyn


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## mad_at_arms (Jan 13, 2012)

LizardLady said:


> Hope this helps! (and up to your standard Mad_At_Arms?!  )


Expectations met


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## LizardLady (Jan 13, 2012)

Doh! If I'd only been patient, I would've got what I asked for WITHOUT asking for it! *shakes head at self*!

Apples - Feed "OCCASIONALLY"
Carrot - Already covered that one
Peas - Already covered that one
Dandelion Heads - Should be using the greens, not the heads...

I use Endive, Watercress, Parsley, Bok Choy, Sweet Potato, Yellow Squash, Butternut Pumpkin, Parsnip, small amount of Red Capsicum... This is my "staple" salad mix - sometimes I add Snow Pea Shoots, Green Beans (occasionally, not often), Hibiscus leaves, occasional treat of Mango, Nasturtiums (flowers and leaves - this is the "adult" plant of Watercress), and, the BEST OF ALL - SILKWORMS! 

Hope this helps now!

Best,
Carolyn



Bomber said:


> She's here!!!!!



Hehehe, i do pop in occasionally!


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## Bomber (Jan 13, 2012)

Carolyn you got your **** down pat and a fair review too, thank you for that  I'll be contacting you when I make another batch using a few of the things you have listed. This was my frist crack at one and my second crack will be better. I'll inbox you my email addy and what I have used.

Thanks Again
Dan


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## Bel03 (Jan 13, 2012)

LizardLady said:


> Hehehe, i do pop in occasionally!



While you are here.....now that muppet is over his pms , im curious to know how his growth rate is looking....... in the last 2wks he was gone from 18.5grams to 32.7.......:shock: yes, he is a GUTS! He is eating close to a cup of vegies/greens etc daily, (the list i already went over with you) plus woodies & crickets (anywhere from 10-30 daily) He has doubled in length, he isnt just fat  but is he getting big too quick?


Anyone else with 2mnth old beardies......how much do they weigh?

Sorry to cut in Bomber.....you will get a great list once Carolyn has your details! She is a big help for new mums & dads


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## LizardLady (Jan 13, 2012)

Bomber said:


> Carolyn you got your **** down pat and a fair review too, thank you for that  I'll be contacting you when I make another batch using a few of the things you have listed. This was my frist crack at one and my second crack will be better. I'll inbox you my email addy and what I have used.
> 
> Thanks Again
> Dan



No worries at all Dan, happy to help!  Oh, and email sent! 



Bel711 said:


> While you are here.....now that muppet is over his pms , im curious to know how his growth rate is looking....... in the last 2wks he was gone from 18.5grams to 32.7.......:shock: yes, he is a GUTS! He is eating close to a cup of vegies/greens etc daily, (the list i already went over with you) plus woodies & crickets (anywhere from 10-30 daily) He has doubled in length, he isnt just fat  but is he getting big too quick?
> 
> 
> Anyone else with 2mnth old beardies......how much do they weigh?
> ...



WOW! He IS a piggy, isn't he?! lol As long as you're still keeping up with the Calcium daily, he'll be okay - he needs to keep up the strength in his bones, teeth etc to cope with the "spurt", otherwise you may run into some problems down the track... Generally, he'll only eat what he "needs" to, so just let him have what he wants (as you have been!), keep the Calcium up to him, should be okay!

Hope this helps?

Oh, and thank you for the kind words! 

All the best,
Carolyn


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## Bomber (Jan 13, 2012)

Bel711 said:


> While you are here.....now that muppet is over his pms , im curious to know how his growth rate is looking....... in the last 2wks he was gone from 18.5grams to 32.7.......:shock: yes, he is a GUTS! He is eating close to a cup of vegies/greens etc daily, (the list i already went over with you) plus woodies & crickets (anywhere from 10-30 daily) He has doubled in length, he isnt just fat  but is he getting big too quick?
> 
> 
> Anyone else with 2mnth old beardies......how much do they weigh?
> ...




Quite forgiven Bel  and yes I trust Carolyn's list will be fantastic and truly helpful, so far i'm convinced


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## Bel03 (Jan 13, 2012)

I just give credit where credit is due! So thank you! Yep, still doing all that i explained to you previously, & i have checked that he isnt just eating himself sick by changing the amount i supply. If i only put half a cup in, its all gone, if i add the full cup, he leaves a little bit......so im guessing he is def just eating what he needs.....he is growing so so so fast! Thank you for the reassurance....again!


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## feathergrass (Jan 13, 2012)

LizardLady said:


> I use Endive, Watercress, Parsley, Bok Choy, Sweet Potato, Yellow Squash, Butternut Pumpkin, Parsnip, small amount of Red Capsicum... This is my "staple" salad mix Nasturtiums (flowers and leaves - this is the "adult" plant of Watercress), and, the BEST OF ALL - SILKWORMS!
> 
> Hope this helps now!
> 
> ...



OMG funny thats what use as a staple ..you see this wise lady set me straight one day and now i even freeze the food and take out what i need each night before bed *grin* actually minus the silk worms my baby doesnt like them at the momment


Oh and bel mine was born on 4th nov last and when i weighed on 4th jan she was 22cm nose to tail tip and weighed 32.something g

and eats vege morning cricks afternoon and some more vege early evening and is currently miss cranky pants cos shes shedding again i swear this is the 3rd shed since i got her


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## Kimberlyann (Jan 13, 2012)

Im no expert like Lizard_Lardy but there should be alot more green, endive is the best as it holds the most calcium, apparently beardy's go for colour, my main mix is endive, yellow squash, carrot, sweet potato, red capsican, then ill add things like apple, banana, blue berries, dandelions or what ever else i have at the time


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## Bomber (Jan 13, 2012)

Kimberlyann said:


> Im no expert like Lizard_Lardy but there should be alot more green, endive is the best as it holds the most calcium, apparently beardy's go for colour, my main mix is endive, yellow squash, carrot, sweet potato, red capsican, then ill add things like apple, banana, blue berries, dandelions or what ever else i have at the time



My three Beardies go for the colours, Dandelions became a hit with them.


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## Kimberlyann (Jan 13, 2012)

Funny story, the other day while sitting out in the sun with my three, my daughter runs off to grab the 100th dandelion in the garden to feed to the beardies, when she comes up to me with this bright yellow flower with a long stem my big male jumps up and trys to grab it, she fell over and moved it away from him on all fours, he jumped up an other 3 or 4 times before i stopped myself from wetting myself and grabbed the flower to feed to him


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## Bluetongue1 (Jan 14, 2012)

There is a lot positive I would like to say but I suspect this will be a long post without that. Suffice to say then that if my missus provided the fruit to me that you provide your EWD I would be a happy man.

I am going to throw a spanner into the works...

Firstly, I believe far too much is made of the P content of bananas. The concern is that this binds calcium. The reality is that P is an essential mineral in the building of bone. As a percentage of the diet it does not interfere with uptake and utilisation of sufficient calcium. Kanyana Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, in the Perth Hills, has developed and been using a diet for Shinglebacks being rehabilitated or kept long term for at least 10 years now. That diet is as follows:
12% Meatballs with Wombaroo Reptile Supplement
22% Chopped apple
22% Green leafy vegetables
22% Banana
22% Tomato
My initial reaction was that this cannot be right. That changed to it must be just for putting on condition. Upon enquiring, it is also used for long term residents that are unable to be released. Non e of the animals, young or adults, on this particular diet have shown any signs of developing MBD.

Clearly there are aspects of this that fly in the face of what we would consider appropriate on the basis of analysis of nutrients and potential interactions.

I believe it is also important to consider the size of firm vegetables and leaf vegetables offered. These should NOT be grated. They should be coarsely chopped so that the lizard needs to chew them before swallowing. The appropriate size to chop them into is the distance between the eyes. Even leaves need to be chopped. Whole leaves that have been swallowed have been known to require veterinary intervention on rare occasions. Remember that in nature the leaves would be torn off in pieces before being swallowed. Chewing of firm food is important for dental health in order to avoid periodontal disease.

The addition of dandelion flowers is a plus because even they contain a good degree of calcium plus nectar which certain lizards enjoy. Perhaps what should have been said is that the leaves of dandelions contain more calcium per volume than milk has. So the addition of chopped dandelion leaves will be highly beneficial to growing lizards.

I am not sure why peas should not be regular dietary item. They are certain the best way I know of to get reluctant bluetongues to eat. I would also challenge the traditionally held view of mealworms being bad. The P to Ca ratio basically is interpreted as an indication that animals fed a staple diet of mealworms will develop MBD. If you look at the information available overseas, you soon discover that huge numbers of lizards are raised almost exclusively on mealworms with no apparent drawbacks. Finding middle ground, the regular inclusion of these insect larvae in the diets lizards are a benefit. If you want to look at P to Ca ratios, crickets don't cut it. Yet how many people feed their geckoes exclusively on crickets? 

Bottom line... there is still a lot of sorting out to be done. We need to determine the there difference between what looks theoretically unsound versus what is actually unsound in practice.

Blue


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## Bel03 (Jan 14, 2012)

Feathergrass, thanks for the size comparrison, muppet sounds like he is of similar size as your girl, so that makes me feel better! I was amazed at the growth in the last fortnight, as that is when he had the big spurt.....i wondered if he was just on the fat side!  As for shedding, he has just started shedding for the second time with me, i think that like snakes, the faster they grow, the more often they shed. I get what you are saying about it seeming to be a constant thing though, cause basically it is! It is amazing how differently they shed to snakes!


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## feathergrass (Jan 14, 2012)

Bel i totally agree there, I tried you know a tablespoon of salad in the morning 15 to 20 crick and another tablesppon of salad and fast found that wasnt cutting it we are up to 1/2 to 3/4 a cup of salad a serve and 20 to 30 cricks a day and that atleast for now seems to be satisfying the bottomless pit i all my dragon growth rate as i have calculated is something like lengthwise 1cm to 1.5cm per week and sometimes i swear i see her growing as i watch ( but decided it was just her tummy getting fat when hunting her crickets down lol) 

Bluetongue1
Before i got my dragon i got books books and more books and read all i could find online and decided theres alot of conflicting information out there which to new people can be confusing so the way i figured it was if you read all you can get your eyes on and try if somethings not working try something else and as long as your dragon stays healthy grows and doesnt get sick then you have to be onto the right track, and if by chance before you find the right path for you and your dragon and you end up with a vet trip then keep note in your books what you tried and what failed and what worked that way you can make your own record of whats worked for you and let others know as long as people keep in mind what works for the a nd their dragons maynot indeed worl for someone elses for example: Silkworms dragons love them...mine hates them
capsicum mine isnt too sure on them but hates banana and love watermelon

sometime i think you have to take in account for what your dragon likes and what he doesnt and find a healthy balance both master and slave can live with  

cheers 
Karla


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## Bluetongue1 (Jan 14, 2012)

My apologies. I was not meaning to cast aspersions on all that has been worked out, has been tried and effective and therefore accepted. I was trying to get across there is still room for negotiation when you take the whole diet on balance. However that does not mean that you should throw out the baby with the bath water and start from scratch. For example, if adding a few mealworms to the vegie dish, do choose the light coloured ones that have not long shed as they haven't laid down a full, hard layer of chitin yet.


*Feathergrass*,
I reckon too many care sheets provide a list what can be eaten, often with little or no indications of how much of eah or any explanation why. Others go the other way and nominate exactly what, how much and how often. It doesn't take many of those to put the head into a spin.

I can only agree that different animals of the same species have their individual likes and dislikes. I am sure no two mature and healthy bearded dragons out in the bush grew up on identical diets. I think dietary items should be grouped according to the recommended percentages of each. I think they should also be earmarked for important vitamins or minerals. At the same time there should be a list of those not suitable to use. That way you can vary what is offered according to likes and what is in season, yet you are still getting the overall balance. So as part of the soft fruit, in place of banana you can supply watermelon, as you do, or rock melon or honeydew melon etc

Blue


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