Dry dog kibble

[critterguy]

Anyone have experience using this or similar for food? My guy has taken a few pieces quite readily. Brand reccomendation would be nice also. Seems a lot cleaner than him diving into a plate of canned.

[Bird_Brain]

started to try it, but it was not a hit with my group. I didnt bother to continue feeding it more than the several times I tried.

[blue_soda025]

I'm interested in this as well. If it is good for them, it would be a lot more convenient than providing wet food all the time. Although I do wonder about whether they would get a bit dehydrated from eating dry pellets.

[critterguy]

My guy is more interested in dry dog kibble than even roaches most of the time-so its interesting you got that response from yours.

As for dehydration/water. I definetly think that is a possibility-but provided you have some water available on feeding day to wash it down I don't think it would be that big of a deal.

[Katrina]

I have heard concerns about impaction when the dry food swells in the stomach / intestine - same concerns as with very absorbent substrates being ingested. I can't speak from experience, but in past when this question has come up people usually agree that is isn't a good idea based on this logic. I'm not sure if that is being overly cautious, but definitely something to be aware of.

[Jenn]

A long while back I think we had a member that gave her skinks access to dry cat food. If I remember right, she had a major problem with her skinks being overweight.

Personally, I think the problem would be how to mix it with the veggies/greens. I had two skinks that would eat a plate full of veggies by themselves, but the rest had to be convinced to eat their veggies. They ate the veggies because they couldn't seperate them from the meat/egg/cat food.

[KyleWeiss]

I dislike the idea of dry food a lot.

[critterguy]

Kyle: A reason would be excellent.

Jenn: Interesting point. I think that'd be more of a problem of the amount of food versus dry vs canned. Since canned dogfood's number one ingredient is usually water-it naturally would take less dry dog food to equal the same amount of canned.

If impaction is a possible issue perhaps soaking the pellets before offering them would alleviate that issue. However, that would mean that they could not be left in the cage long before being removed.

[Jenn]

If I remember right she left dry food out for them all the time, so you are right that it might have been a problem with the amount of food verses type.

Also, I am more familiar with cat food, but I do know that dry cat food is more fattening than wet cat food and too much of it can cause weight issues.

[Lea]

It's full of salts not really recommended to feed a skink. Impaction is a problem when used dried, wet shouldn't be an issue, but it's more the content of it that is then the issue. Cats and dogs love dried food, generally speaking, as it is highly flavoured and full of additives, usually natural and then supplemented and enhanced by artificial.

If you have a real emergency and have nothing else to feed ... hmm, personally, I would still wait until I could get something better, even if it meant feeding was a day or two late.

It is not a good choice. There are too many other wonderful things to give them.

[critterguy]

Would the additional salts be due to preservatives added to dry food? I would have guessed that the nutritional content, including salts, for dry food and canned food should be quite similar(as well as any natural and artificial flavors...in fact isn't canned food generally considered more readily accepted?)-most are marketed as a complete diet for the said animals.

I've experimented with two foods so far. Ol Roy puppy kibble(which I use to feed my roach colony-the ingredients don't seem very nutritious at all-on par with many lower tier canned foods) and Earthborn Holistic Adult Vantage.(mainly because it came in a little trial size bag). The former he would take straight out of the bag. The latter(which includes such goodies as blueberries, garlic, peas, spinach, and uses chicken meal as opposed to meat by product meal) is a bit harder and the kibble is much larger so he will only eat them if they are either in smaller pieces of soaked in water for a minute or two.

One advantage I see is that soaked dry food might be a good alternative to canned food for animals that have suffered from mouthrot or face scale issues.

[missmacabre]

I wouldn't feed it. I don't know about everyone elses BTS but mind doesn't chew his food much and I think they would just get swallowed whole which can't be good.

[critterguy]

They swallow lots of other things whole with no problem. So long as you are not feeding overly large pellets of kibble-this is a non issue.

[missmacabre]

They swallow lots of other things whole with no problem. So long as you are not feeding overly large pellets of kibble-this is a non issue.

Yes but I imagine kibble would pose more of an impaction risk than the usual food they swallow whole.

[critterguy]

missmacabre: It would seem like it-but I think it gets broken down by the digestive system pretty quickly(slower than canned food, yes because less surface area). Again-soaking the kibble would alleviate the possibility of impaction and make it nearly as easy as canned food to digest(and likely no harder than things like hard shelled meal-superworms). I wouldn't say to feed dry food to a skink with digestive issues or who's been kept too cold.

I appreciate all the thoughts on here!

[missmacabre]

I don't see the point in feeding it if you have to soak it first, and as other's have said it's full of salt. What's wrong with just feeding wet cat or dog food?

[Lea]

Aside from all the bad things in it, the impaction thoughts made me ponder several occasions where I have washed the cat dishes and had a few bits of dried food fall into the sink. They have then swelled and blocked the pipes. Cleaning a constipated kitchen sink is easy, but you can't pour drain-o down a skink to get the same results.

Even my cats have suffered with dried food, usually after eating too much of it. They don't anticpate it swelling and eat until they are full, then, as the artificial flavours make them thirsty, they gulp lots of water causing the food to expand in their stomachs. They can end up regurgitating a huge fluffy mess. Interestingly, the pieces hold their shape and don't break down when they swell. And this is a food designed for cats!

Skinks can not regurgitate and so the dangers of feeding kibble is pretty high.

With all the bad things, both in and related to feeding kibble, it really is not worth the risk.

[missmacabre]

I agree with Lea. I've seen many cats vomit up dry biscuits whole. You still seem undecided on this and I hope you are not are chosing to ignore the reasons why not to feed.


(This post was edited by LeaBilby. MissM, nothing bad, just PM'd you)

[Jenn]

One advantage I see is that soaked dry food might be a good alternative to canned food for animals that have suffered from mouthrot or face scale issues.

If wet food is an issue do to mouth reason, I would feed a ground turkey or other meat. One of my skinks use to get dips in the sides of her lips from wet cat food. I started feeding her ground turkey, ground stew meats and other meats an never had the issue again. I know members that cook a batch at a time and then freeze it. They then just thaw out the meat and add the veggies/greens. This seems like a healthier, but still convient, way to avoide mouth issues.

[melonhelmet]

One advantage I see is that soaked dry food might be a good alternative to canned food for animals that have suffered from mouthrot or face scale issues.

If wet food is an issue do to mouth reason, I would feed a ground turkey or other meat. One of my skinks use to get dips in the sides of her lips from wet cat food. I started feeding her ground turkey, ground stew meats and other meats an never had the issue again. I know members that cook a batch at a time and then freeze it. They then just thaw out the meat and add the veggies/greens. This seems like a healthier, but still convient, way to avoide mouth issues.

That's how I feed my skink. I buy a batch of lean ground turkey, or lean ground chicken and cook it all. Freeze it, thaw it, throw in food chopper with all his veg and blend until he can no longer detect the "icky" green things. Never had a mouth issue from it so far, and I like using the ground meats because It's got less perservitives in it then canned cat/dog food.