# Blue tongue food?



## hornet (Jan 20, 2011)

Feeding 1 or 2 blueys is easy but as my collection is growing i need to come up with alternative food items, currently i feed cat food, chopped veggies and snails but as the collection grows catfood will no longer be a viable option because of the amount they can go through so what do the people who have large numbers of blueys feed them in the way of meat?


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## Chris1 (Jan 20, 2011)

raw beef/kangaroo and chicken, either sliced or minced
roaches, crickets,.....snails which youve already said

i cant handle the thought of dog/cat food so thats what i use.

most of my shingleback research came from bluey threads, and those were suggested foods,....


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## spongebob (Jan 20, 2011)

To me bluetongues have three food groups:

1. Protein. Jello meat is around 99c a can and minced turkey is $3.99 for 500g when on special in woolies.

2. Veggies. I get the home brand mixed frozen 1kg packets. Ready chopped into bluey sized pieces. 

3. Fruit. I get the home brand fruit salad in a 1kg jar. Again ready chopped into bluey sized pieces.

and the occasional mouse, woodie, cricket and other bits and pieces such as strawberry leftovers.

I'm still managing to pay the mortgage!


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## Sock Puppet (Jan 20, 2011)

The only dog food mine get is called (from memory) Nature's Choice or Nature One or something like that. I get the kangaroo meat one as it doesn't include a gravy, & it's all natural with no preservatives etc. Mine get a meat:fruit/veg ratio of about 1:4. 

I chop up a small tub full of the greens & that usually lasts a few feeds. Currently the greens they are eating are endive (the firmer, whiter ends neat the base), grated carrot, grated apple, blueberries, & grapes. I find they will take carrots, apples etc if grated a lot more readily than when chopped finely. Other times on & off they may get squash, a small amount of brocolli, bok choy, small amount of mushrooms, strawberries, small amount of banana, etc. 

Once in a while they get a fuzzy mouse each which sends them beserk. 

They'll get garden insects when available (if I don't first feed them to my geckos or fish) like lawn gubs, smooth caterpillars, moths, snails, etc. I never feed them cockroaches as we lay baits around the house. 

I've tried slowly introducing a commercial, granulated food made for bluies & shinglebacks, but they won't touch it, they'll eat everything else around it & leave only that stuff. (Herpavet/Vetafarm "Lizard Food" - would be interested to know other keeper's success or otherwise using this compared to my experience).


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## RoryBreaker (Jan 20, 2011)

Frozen mixed veges from the supermarket , if its good enough for humans , its good enough for my blueys . Mixed with a little cat food , it works out quite cheap and is a good staple . Roaches and pink rats are given as treats . The cheap homebrand works out at $1.80/kg and is already chopped . For smaller lizards , put it through a barmix . Served defrosted of course ! Calcium and vitamin supplements can be sprinkled on top when necessary . 

Cheers


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## jewfish1 (Jan 20, 2011)

Hey hornet: I don't think they're expensive to feed at all. I have three and they go through a can of dog food a week mixed with half steamed veges. I always give them fruit on its own chopped up according to their mouth size. As an extra treat they get snails, raw egg from time to time. I think it costs me about $5 a week to feed my 3 bluey who are 2 years old. I also dust the food with viamin D3 and calcium powder and from time to time give them a multi vitamin powder dusted over their food. They live outdoors.


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## hornet (Jan 20, 2011)

3 are nothing, i have 3, 2 large adults and 1 yearling, i expect my number of blueys to tripple over the next few months so i want to start adjusting the menu to suit. Will be better once my snail colony takes off


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## FAY (Jan 20, 2011)

You can cook scrambled eggs but leaving it sloppy and mashed/sloppy banana.


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## hornet (Jan 20, 2011)

so they will eat cooked egg, they love raw egg but never thought of cooked egg.


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## mozi (Jan 20, 2011)

Hey Hornet I have 5 blue tongues that I keep outside. I ussually feed a mixture of mince, dog food, egg but because I don't have time to chop and that I will go to the fruit and veg shop and buy whatever fruit and veg is cheap or on sale and chop it up and put it in a container ready to take a scoop to feed so all I have to do is thaw out the meat


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## hornet (Jan 20, 2011)

what sort of meat? Seeing as they would eat little to no red meat in the wild i'm wondering if feeding them certain meats can cause health probs?


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## pisces20 (Jan 20, 2011)

*blue tongue food*

Hornet,I have upwards of 240 bluies so I know what you mean. I have two main sources,I have a snail farm produce 10 kg per week for me,I go to petbarn and buy rolls of roo/chicken meat which is mixed with frozen peas,carrot corn.I get old fruit from work which is about to get thrown out, they love it overipe,I breed my own rats so they get fresh pinks and chubbs whenever they want,Just add vitamin,D3 and calcium and they will thrive.


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## reptilife (Jan 24, 2011)

I go to the market and buy half a watermelon, a cantaloupe, a honeydew malen, some strawberries, apple, pears, bananas, kiwi fruit etc basically whatever is a good price.
Take it home and spend an hour chopping it all up until I have filled a bucket.
I just scoop it out to them each day and it lasts me a good couple of weeks and I have a lot of lizards outside.
Probably about a dozen or more. Two or three times a week they get cat food and always have snails available.
Probably costs me $10 a week to feed them all.


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## hornet (Jan 24, 2011)

pisces20 said:


> Hornet,I have upwards of 240 bluies so I know what you mean. I have two main sources,I have a snail farm produce 10 kg per week for me,I go to petbarn and buy rolls of roo/chicken meat which is mixed with frozen peas,carrot corn.I get old fruit from work which is about to get thrown out, they love it overipe,I breed my own rats so they get fresh pinks and chubbs whenever they want,Just add vitamin,D3 and calcium and they will thrive.


 
wow 240+ how do you house that many?


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## pisces20 (Jan 24, 2011)

*food*

I have home made racking, 48 units to a rack x 6 at the moment. Each cage is 60 x 120 x 30 high(cm). Use only heat globes and no UV. Artificial turf as a base, which gets hosed from time to time, mostly vaccumed. Have just built another 5 x 9.7 metre reptile house for this years breeding ( end 2011, that is).


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## Helikaon (Jan 24, 2011)

a pick of that rack would be awesome pisces. that sounds exactly like what i planned to build. at the moment most of mine live in pits.


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## scorps (Jan 24, 2011)

Random question 

Who has the biggest bluey?

I have an eastern that is just over a kilo


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## hornet (Jan 24, 2011)

scorps said:


> Random question
> 
> Who has the biggest bluey?
> 
> I have an eastern that is just over a kilo


 
pic? Will weigh mine this week


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## scorps (Jan 24, 2011)

I only have one from the side so he doesnt look that big, will get one showing his full size one day.


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