Chicken not great?

[indyana]

I stop by every so often and review the website, check up on the forums, etc. This time, I noticed the downloadable food chart had been updated. I happily printed it out to replace the old, beat-up one in my kitchen. I was very surprised to notice that chicken breast is listed on it as "In Moderation".

I've been feeding mainly chicken as my skink's protein source. It is very readily available and easy to prep, and on the old sheet I downloaded long ago, it was in the "Daily" section of the chart up top.

Does anyone have any information as to why chicken is no longer recommended as a core protein source? I noticed dog food is listed as "Frequently" still, so maybe a few suggestions as to appropriate brands/flavors would be appreciated. I'm in the U.S..

Thanks!

[Dakota]

Chicken is known to have negative effects on calcium in-take.

ETA: Dog-food should/can be a very good staple for skink.

ETA^2: I'm not sure if I seeing what you are seeing, but the diet chart says dog-food can be fed frequently, and a side note "See specific brand's website for nutritional information and ingredients. Many people use this as a staple protein source."

[lucasrusinak]

i use blue buffalo dog food and my skink seems to like it

[Linnea]

Chicken is high protein but low calcium. It is great food but not to be fed at every meal always dust chicken and other bird meat with calcium.

members who have been feeding only chicken or turkey have noticed it is very hard to know how much calcium powder to add, and it is simply much better to use other types of meat and add chicken every now and then, rather than experimenting for finding the perfect calcium balance.

It has most likely been put as "in moderation" to help prevent MBD issues.


i feed chicken about every 3rd can of dog food i buy

[Lea]

Chicken has a low calcium to phosphate ratio, meaning that free calcium in chicken will likely bind with the phosphates and be lost from the diet. You can use chicken with a higher calcium source food from the veggie list, just watch that you don't increase the oxalate levels too much by doing so. Adding calcium as a supplement when you feed chicken is a good way to bump up the calcium intake. By selecting a calcium supplement that also has vitamin D3, you will also ensure they can utilise that calcium supplement effectively.

Beef and kangaroo have higher calcium, as do pork and egg.

[James Wilson]

Chicken is a great thing to offer your skinks as long as they are getting their calcium (with D3) supplementation. Most protein sources that we feed our BTS are lacking in Calcium and higher in phosphates so it is very important to make sure that the calcium supplementation that you do use is phosphorus free (no added phosphorus).

[indyana]

Thanks for the informative replies, everyone. I'll be sure to switch over to dog food and limit the chicken from now on, as I really don't care to use supplements all the time. I would rather start with a balanced diet.

A follow up question: do I need to avoid poultry-based dog food varieties?

That would be a bit more difficult, although I do believe I have seen lamb or venison foods...

[James Wilson]

You do not need to avoid those dog foods with chicken, and even if you feed dog food (any flavor), you will still need to supplement the diet with calcium every 2nd or 3rd feeding (depending on the situation).

[indyana]

Okay, thanks, James.