Feeding lizards cat/dog food

[OuZo]

Just following on from Bex's thread, what lizards can or can't you feed dog/cat food to and what flavours should they be or what should be avoided? Obviously things like fishy flavours should probably be avoided and I'm guessing something plain like Jellymeat would be best?

I'm thinking for my Central Netteds, Angle-Heads, Jackies and Beardie. And maybe even the Freckled monitor

Thanks kids,

-Zo

 

[Brodie]

ANYTHING with fish in it should be avoided. If you have a look, even the lamb flavoured ones etc have fish in them. Jelly meat is what I use, I used to use the gourmet stuff, but thats quite expensive!

I dont feed much pet food to my lizards, as it is rather fatty and isnt anything like what they eat in the wild.

A lot of people feed it to their animals because they are lazy..

Its great for a treat though, and the majority of lizards love it, especially monitors. Your tristis will slurp it down!

 

[Lamu22]

illd say all the lizards you mentioned, should be ok. my beardies love ecopet rolls chicken and vegtable especially.

LAMU

 

[Retic]

Just try them with it, that really is the best way to see who wants it. All my monitors will eat it and Mitchells love the fishy ones. Don't make it a staple and give plenty of variety.

 

[Brodie]

I hope you dust every feed and provide a decent UV light boa...

 

[serpenttongue]

The cat food i use is most often beef pate' . The dogfoods i use are PAL puppy food-chicken, and "little champions", either beef, lamb, chicken and whatever the one is with veges in it. I dont buy any with chunks or gravy as i find they cant eat it as well, and its messy. The pate' styles allow the lizards to bite off decent sized mouthfuls.

 

[Brodie]

Dont forget turkey mince.. The yanks love using it, and my monitors love eating it!

 

[Jenny]

Shredded chicken and vegetable cat gourmet food is their absolute favourite followed by beef. No good for them all the time but handy for holidays when everything is left in the care of my aged Aunty who can't bring herself to pick of the cockroaches.

 

[Retic]

No, I haven't found monitors need it to be honest and with a diet of crickets, roaches, pink mice and rats, mince etc I think they get all they need.

I hope you dust every feed and provide a decent UV light boa...

 

[foxysnake]

When I first purchased my bluetongues I was told do NOT dust the dog food with calcium as dog food is already chockafull of it and overfeeding calcium is bad for lizards.

 

[Brodie]

Its not calcium which is the issue, its d3.. I wouldnt bother dusting cat/dog food, but crikets I would. especially if the animal doesnt have uv light.

Then, if you feed them something with fish in it, your asking for even more trouble. Fish has an enzyme that breaks down vitamin D3. This removes the ability of the reptile to as affectively abosrb the calcium, which can lead to a lot of problems as the animal ages. I have seen many monitors suffering from this, especially water monitors that have been kept inside, and fed mostly on fish.

Feeding every now and again isnt too bad. But I like to think Im a responsible enough a keeper to not do it. I guess after seeing the damage it can cause, im not much of a risk taker

Cheers,

 

[Pike01]

And dont forget blueys and dragons can have dog food and monitors should get cat food.

 

[africancichlidau]

Why? I reckon a barking Monitor would be cool

 

[OuZo]

And dont forget blueys and dragons can have dog food and monitors should get cat food.

Is that serious? :?

Well thanx guys, that's all really helpful! I was really mainly asking cos I wasn't sure if it could be bad for some species and I'm really hoping to give some to the Angle-heads every now and then to put a bit of weight on them . I might try a beef pate or turkey mince or jelly meat . I'd imagine like ST said that the pate ones would be easier for them to eat.

Thanx again!

 

[beknluke]

Sounds like a plan!!
I'll try and hit the supermarket tonight
Bex