Cat/dog Food and water for baby Northern in UK?

[BlueThunder]

Hi,

I've read that some owners feed dogfood to their skinks (among other things), but that cat food is preferable for baby/young skinks. Can anyone suggest a decent brand of cat food available in the UK, and a dog food too for later?

Also, I was wondering how safe tap water is for the little critter? I saw there are tablets available to put in water, should these be used, or do folk use bottled water? I have a Meaco dehumidifier in my flat that pulls a huge amount of water out of the air and was pondering using that but probably won't as I don't know if it afects the water in a detrimental way.

Many thanks!

[smosroka]

I'm a total newbie so someone actually experienced might come around any moment and correct me, but:

Cat/dog food: from what I gather, most wet food you can easily get locally should be fine, as long as you read the ingredients label and make sure it's grain free (unnecessary filler at best, iii think could be harmful at worst?). Opinions seem to vary on whether you should go exclusively for high content of actual meat (what determines if it's considered high quality for dogs or not), or if meat byproducts content is also fine. On one hand quality, on the other... well it's not like, if they find any carrion/baby mice in the wild it's gonna be all cut up and cartilage/tendons removed for them, you know? So you could argue that it just might be more natural or at least won't do any harm from time to time for variety. Switching flavors from time to time is also a way to make things more interesting.

Tap water: heavily depends on how exactly the water in your part of town is treated. This is something you should be able to find online. Look up if local aquarists consider it aquarium-safe, check the treatment methods at whatever purification plant its coming from. Most notably: iirc if it's treated only with chloride as disinfectant it's a very unstable element and will generally evaporate from the water if you pour it into a bucket and leave standing for 24-48 hours. If they are using chloramines though it's a bit more stable and you might need to actually use some water-purifying tablets or else go for bottled water. Again, might be worth it to check what local fish and amphibian keepers do.
Oh yeah and please do not use distilled water.

[lifesagame]

As far as dog/cat food goes when I got my northern the breeder gave me some dog food, no mention of cat food, and my skink is over two months old so I think dog food is fine from the beginning and I can’t really comment on cat food as I’ve not tried it. I am still new to this too so still learning and it’ll be interesting to see if anyone in the uk can recommend any specific brands I haven’t seen.

It seems to vary about what’s recommended when it comes to dog food, whether to go for things like pedigree and Caesar or a more organic and meat rich make and the grain vs grain free argument seems to have quite a lot of posts on here too. I’ve ended up spending more time than I probably should reading the labels (I’m sure the people in my local stores must think I have a very picky and spoilt dog!) and there are a few of the expensive makes that have a higher meat content, less filler and more veg that are available in UK supermarkets so easy access. The main ones I’ve found are lily’s Kitchen, Forthglade and Nature’s Menu which I’ve seen recommended too. I did end up getting a cheap Tesco one early on as it said high% meat but reading the small print the protein is about 8% which seems low but even the best seem to say around 12% with most being moisture. I think I’m probably over analysing this but those three brands are ones I’ve seen recommended.

[kingofnobbys]

I am of the opinion that dog and cat food are NOT appropriate food for skinks or other pet lizards. Wild skinks (unless they live in suburbia or near a farm house) never find cat or dog food laying about naturally , however some wild skinks are known to opportunistically and very riskily raid cat and dog food dishs (will even come inside homes to do this - a my elderly mother discovered = a wild bluetongue skink was following the dog inside through the small dog door flap and helping itself to the very bemused and scared poodle's food , essentially scaring the dog away and then tucking in) and I've seen water skinks and jacky dragons do the same to the dogs next door and even wait for their freeranging cat to leave and then check it's food dish.

A hungry wild lizard will take advantage of any and all food sources opportunistically. These animals are very smart and soon observe the food is put there at the same time every day , and soon learn the routine ,so it becomes part of their daily routine.

Most who give these foods to their skinks do so mostly because it's cheap and convenient , and they are told it's OK to do so.

Therefore and that said - my 9 year old Eastern BTs and my water skinks have never been fed these "foods" .

[splashy07]

First of all, there are many grades of dog and cat food, and believe me what I use is by no means cheap. It's more expensive than food for myself. I have been successfully breeding for three years now, and everyone who sees my skinks is amazed by how well they look, and their size. I use a high grade cat food/dog food alternate days for the babies, and mostly a dog food mix when adults. Mixed with Zilla omnivore mix and repti-calcium with D3. I breed all my own insects and they're added to the diet, as are rat pups occasionally. (I breed those too). I do not know what brands are available to you, look for high grade, read your ingredients. And once again I urge everyone doubting dog and cat food to watch Joe Ball's videos. Australia's most prolific keeper/breeder. And think about this, over here on this side of the world we have to jump through hoops to produce these. If we are successful we are doing something right. They're not backyard animals over here.

[BlueThunder]

Many thanks for the replies guys.

So to recap - check the labels and make sure no grain. Dog food is ok from the beginning. (If I want to go that way). Don't give them distilled water.

I'll try and see how the water in treated near me in North London. If I can't find out I'll go for bottled or get purification tablets.