Does anyone puree their BTS chow? Entice? Ruffage?

[Chifte]

I'm a new owner of a BTS, I purchased him from a breeder about 6 weeks ago and he was about 3 weeks old at the time, he's doing well but a pretty finicky eater. He goes for turkey, kale and meal worms, he won't eat a particularly good amount of anything else.

So today I went to buy his weeks worth of food, and then I went into Target and saw a B&D food processor for sale and I thought, much like my mother used to do, I would finely chop or puree his veggies with his meat and trick him into eating a wider variety of foods.

I get all his veggies, some fruit and his turkey ready, I puree and it looks...disgusting. Figured, eh what would he care, smells like turkey and lettuce anyway. Well, I think he does care, he already associates me with food so he comes out as soon as I take the bowl out and he waits. I put an ice cream scoop of his new puree diet and he looks at it and looks up at me and just goes to sun himself. Which is unusual, he typically eats his turkey and meal worms right away.

Now I know I'm jumping the gun, as this all has happened within the last 3 hours and he very well may enjoy it tomorrow. But does anyone else do this for their BTS? Is puree a good idea, it lacks that ruffage.

Some pictures to make the thread more fun! (he does have a big water bowl, forgot to put it back in ) Anyway, hope to see some comments later this evening! Enjoy the day everyone

After his recent shed, his colors are dramatically different than when I first got him, they really come out.

[Laurenk]

Okay first of all, the picture of the fish is really OT and unneeded. We try our best to keep our posts on topic. Anyway, I shred my greens very finely and then mix them in with thee dog food or other protein source and cut that into pieces. I think the lizard may not have recognized the puree as food.

[Chifte]

Okay first of all, the picture of the fish is really OT and unneeded. We try our best to keep our posts on topic. Anyway, I shred my greens very finely and then mix them in with thee dog food or other protein source and cut that into pieces. I think the lizard may not have recognized the puree as food.

I copy/pasted pics too fast, they all have the same random letters next to them, I've removed.

Perhaps if I offer chopped greens mixed with the puree, this way he will get a mouth full of both, I just can't think of another way to get him to eat more of his diet.

[Richard.C]

I prefer to have them chew at food,roughage is a good thing,mixing up maybe,if he enjoys certain food items perhaps keep some of those non puree,but instead wizz up the stuff u want him to eat but he rejects,like vegies

U can also give a quick wizz so it rough chops,not a liquidy mess,personally if i was a wizzer thats what id do,but i like to let them have to chew it,has many benefits

Its like wizzing up dog bones for your dog,they will still eat it,but they lose the many benefits the would get from chewing it,teeth cleaning for example

[Susann]

At the to of this forum, go to Frequently Asked Questions, then go to Feeding Your BTS. LOTS of good advice and ideas in there.

[El Lobo]

Okay first of all, the picture of the fish is really OT and unneeded. We try our best to keep our posts on topic.

Please adhere to the posting rule:

Please do not 'back-seat moderate'. If you are not a moderator, please draw attention to any infractions by contacting a moderator or using the 'report' feature. Taking matters into your own hands is not acceptable.

[IchliebeTiere]

I run it thru a food processor to mix it well but I stop when it's still a little chunky. If I'm feeding night crawlers I cover them with the tiny chunks of food. They do try to escape but they usually have food stuck to them.

[El Lobo]

A couple of points you might like to consider:
The food dish may be a bit deep for the little one, try a flat saucer/plate etc to make approach easier.
Deepen the substrate to 2-3" all over so he can burrow down into it.
I can't see the basking spot so I assume it is out of photo range.
I like the tunnel.

I use paper plates which also reduces mess. I'm not a fan of pureed food for BTS as they have a full set of teeth at birth and are independent from that time on. Also, sloppy food tends to stick around their mouth and could lead to mouth infections.

Ours are fed this way but the meat could be substituted for dog food and mixed together a bit more. Calcium and D3 were added after the pic was taken.

DSCF2408CR.jpg

[Spindown]

^ Now I'm hungry!!

[juliec1]

A couple of points you might like to consider:
The food dish may be a bit deep for the little one, try a flat saucer/plate etc to make approach easier.
Deepen the substrate to 2-3" all over so he can burrow down into it.
I can't see the basking spot so I assume it is out of photo range.
I like the tunnel.

I use paper plates which also reduces mess. I'm not a fan of pureed food for BTS as they have a full set of teeth at birth and are independent from that time on. Also, sloppy food tends to stick around their mouth and could lead to mouth infections.

Ours are fed this way but the meat could be substituted for dog food and mixed together a bit more. Calcium and D3 were added after the pic was taken.

DSCF2408CR.jpg

I like this mix; could you please share the recipe. PLEASSSEEE

[Lea]

He's a beautiful skink!

But as for your question about purée, I'm with el lobo and not a fan. I wouldn't like a purée diet of a singular slop with one taste. It's ok if you have a reason to do so, such as swallowing difficulties, or those oddities such as a lapper-skink, that likes to lick all over food but never really seems to enjoy a whole mouthful. For difficult skinks, it can be a way to get nutrition in, but for all those regular eaters, purée slop, no matter how well intentioned you are, is just that, slop. They appreciate texture and taste and even though they can appear to be picky with what they enjoy, are probably stimulated by such things, too.

As was briefly mentioned, they might not recognise the purée as food, mainly because of smell, more than the actual look of the meal. If it doesn't smell like any particular food they have had before, they might be too wary to try it. A meaty dish with an undertone of kaley green mealies sounds revolting enough, coupled with the weirdness in sloppy presentation, that smell would turn away many a skink.

Your intentions were good, so don't feel criticised, mostly these things are leaned by trial and error, but for now, stick with the familiar and introduce new food items with the regulars, to increased variety. Purée of one food group alone would probably not have a nose turned up, but I doubt that would be the point of a puree diet anyway, since you probably did so to make things easier.

Oh, and I'll just say again, you have an awesome looking skink! Can't wait to see more pictures!

[Katrina]

Okay first of all, the picture of the fish is really OT and unneeded. We try our best to keep our posts on topic.

Please adhere to the posting rule:

Please do not 'back-seat moderate'. If you are not a moderator, please draw attention to any infractions by contacting a moderator or using the 'report' feature. Taking matters into your own hands is not acceptable.

Thanks, Norm.

FYI, we usually let a few OT pics go as long as the majority of the thread is bluey related in here. No need to jump on new members, fish and other pets are welcome (although if there are more 'other pets' then it should be in the off topic section).

Welcome, Chifte. Feel free to add the picture of the fish back in.

[El Lobo]

I like this mix; could you please share the recipe. PLEASSSEEE

I don't generally use an electric chopper or food processor because they take too much time to clean and don't cut uniformly enough for what I want. The meal in the pic consisted of grated butternut squash and zucchini, knife chopped kale and cherry tomato. The meat is human grade kangaroo rump which is relatively inexpensive here. A small amount of papaya for a treat which also contains an enzyme which aids in digestion.

[Richard.C]

Kangaroo rump is great ,quite a lean meat as well,your blotchies eat better than me norm,excellent presentation to

[juliec1]

ok so if the kangaroo meat is raw, what do you guys think of using raw chicken... here in the states i do not think we can get kangaroo rump???

[Susann]

I personally wouldn't feed raw unless I was really sure where the chicken came from... But that may just be me. If you boil it in some water and chop it up would be much safer. Let's see what others say though.

[Chifte]

Well I've kept using the puree I made and he seems to really enjoy it, I heeded advice to throw some ruffage in there. I put a few pieces of just chopped vegetables and I also put his meal worms and a super worm right into the puree and the moment he saw the movement and tasted it he went to town. He ate eats an entire ice cream scoop of it now... he now poops bigger too!

I do believe the next batch I make I'll cut down on the amount I puree, I still think it's worth the effort to get him to eat more variety.

A couple of points you might like to consider:
The food dish may be a bit deep for the little one, try a flat saucer/plate etc to make approach easier.
Deepen the substrate to 2-3" all over so he can burrow down into it.
I can't see the basking spot so I assume it is out of photo range.
I like the tunnel.

Hello Lobo,

He doesn't seem to mind the small dog bowl, I first started with paper plates when he was small but I dislike wasting paper and the metal is very easy to clean. Now that he's bigger he seems to have no issues accessing his meals. These skinks seem to grow incredibly fast, I mean he was a little squirt when I recieved him. I had a beardie little under a decade from when he was a baby on, he didn't grow nearly this fast. I didn't record how much he's grown, but his entire body fit in my hand, now he hangs out of it and hefty.

I'll get on deepening the substrate, I figured if he can get his entire body under it then it should satisfy him, but he certainly likes to dig so it can only make him happier!

The basking spot is in the picture, it's a large rock tile I bought from Lowes. I do think I should figure out a way to raise the tile without making him have to climb Everest, my temps are 94 basking/ 81 cold side, my understanding is babies like it warmer but I think as he grows I'm going to need to reduce the wattage but raise the basking spot so he can still get his basking temp and lower his cold side to the mid 70s. His basking was about 96-97 but with the AC on it's caused minor issue.

Thanks all for the help and compliments.


Drogos' roommate, Promo.

[El Lobo]

I use chicken meat sparingly as it has amongst the worst Ca:P ratio of all the commonly available meats. When used it is always cooked. Raw or under cooked chicken is implicated in far too many cases of salmonellosis for me to take the risk.