New Food Chart!

[Katrina]

This is still a work in progress, but the food chart has been updated to include some of the more common food items that were missing from the original one. I had planned to add quite a bit more before posting it up, but it was taking too long... so here is the interim version:
http://bluetongueskinks.net/foodchart.html

Planned additions include filling in the remaining information for Ca, P, protein etc., adding more alternate names, adding a column for scientific names, and adding some example diets from various long-time keepers.

I'm very open to other suggestions - I didn't want to include every single possibly food item, but if you think something has been overlooked please let me know. All suggestions and feedback are welcome.

[MissMeg]

This is great Thanks Kat.

[Bird_Brain]

looks great! Much easier to read and understand than older versions. Great Job!

[Fatal_S]

I love it! I'm going to print this off when I get home and take it shopping with me

[Nae]

*Prints*

Awesome

[Katrina]

How does it look printed? I didn't even check although Duncan said it should look ok.

I should add the amounts to feed - just realized it doesn't have that (i.e. 50% greens/veggies, 40% protein, 10% fruit).

What else? Suggestions are welcome! Is there anything you feed regularly that isn't on there that probably should be?

For those of you in Europe or Australia - what alternative names or different veggies am I missing that would make it easier for you guys? I'd love to make this much more useful for those of you not in North America...

[StaceyLeigh]

Love it, well laid out, easy to read! Thanks!

[Katrina]

Changed the formatting a bit and added more info. I can make changes fairly easily, so please make suggestions!

[655321]

Wow! It looks excellent! Thank you so much!

A few ideas:

Almost all of the fruit say occasional/treat, it might be easier for new skink owners if there was maybe a top five list or something. Like the top five best fruits you can use. Also, are there any types of fruit that may not be on the list that are good to feed often? Is durian ok to feed? I'm just curious because I happen to have some...

Since skinks may eat flowers in the wild are there any kinds you could list that would be ok to feed?

Any wild berries not listed that they may eat?

Snails aren't listed. I've read that those are good to feed.

You might want to list crickets (that they have little nutrional value) since many new skink owners may think they're good to feed since skinks are lizards and that's just generally assumed. For example, I was told to feed mainly crickets by the people I got my skink from. Of course I knew this to not be true so I ignored their advice. But many pet stores (in my experience) unfortunately suggest crickets/grasshoppers quite often.

Where it says to use a cheese grater under vegetables you might want to mention you can use a food processor (I find it easier) as this option may help some and some new owners might think you have to prepare them one way, good to give them options.

You might want to mention ways to store food. Such as which foods you can freeze, which must be fresh, and ways to go about storing them.

This is just what I noticed at first glance. Hope this helped!!

This update definitely helped me alot, thanks!

[Katrina]

655321 - thanks so much for the ideas!

Snails - definitely an oversight as I can't get them here. Great suggestion, that should be on there as 'frequent' for people with access to them. I'll have to look into the various types again. I remember thinking about them at one time and meaning to add them, but it was forgotten! If anyone has specific info about what kinds they feed, please let me know.

Flowers - good idea.

Wild berries - if I can get info from Australian keepers then I will add them. I should see if Scott can get me more info on wild plants that they would naturally eat... the only one I can think of off the top of my head is saltbush.

Crickets - excellent point!

Fruit - I wasn't entirely sure how to handle the fruit thing... I think that the other chart may have been a bit confusing in that many fruits were listed as "daily" or staple feeders and people interpreted that as 50% of the diet is fruit, veggies and/or greens. Maybe some should be listed as better than others or maybe the note at the top is good enough. I'd love to hear others thoughts on this because I'm not entirely happy with how the info on that section is presented. The point I was trying to make is that fruit isn't necessary for a healthy diet... but I think it is reasonable to assume that in the wild they eat a fair amount of berries and will eat any fallen fruit they come across. Great suggestions, I'd love more input on this topic.

Food processor and food storage tips are a great idea. Thanks so much for the feedback!

Edit - added snails, crickets, food processor and fixed a few minor formatting / consistency things. I'll wait to make larger changes in excel and reconvert to HTML, but minor things I can do right away.

[Linnea]

about snails, i feed whole Cepaea hortensis

and if i have the time to kill the snail before and poke it out of the shell, then i feed Helix pomatia, which is quite a delicacy even for humans, whe shell however is too hard for a bluey to break.

[critterguy]

It may be easiest to simply put the best foods first on these lists. I am about to buy some greens for my skink...hmm what should catch my eye while I'm shopping?

Also for phoenix worms what is 1:5:1. Is it 1.5:1?

Earthworms Ca:P ratio varies depending on the soil in their gut. But they do have a good Ca:P ratio and work well as a sole diet for salamanders, toads, etc.

[Katrina]

Yeah, it should be 1.5:1. Fixed it, thanks!

I am trying to either have the NEVER foods in red and the best in green or maybe we can look at arranging it differently. It isn't cooperating on the colors so far, but I will keep trying. Good point, the best foods should be eye catching.

When you are talking about Earth worms, do you mean red wrigglers or dew worms? I couldn't find exact Ca:P info for dew worms (Canadian Nightcrawlers), but I did find that they have a poor Ca:P ratio and that they shouldn't be used as a staple for beardies or other lizards unless dusted with calcium. The same site stated that they work great as a staple diet for salamanders and toads, so I assumed those don't need the same 2:1 ratio. I will try to find that site and link it.

Do you have a link that says they do have a good Ca:P ratio? My understanding was that they are a great lean protein source, but not the best for calcium.

Edit: here is the link: http://wormguy.50webs.com/dewworm_care.html

If you go down to 'Caring for Dew Worms' it says that they are deficient in Calcium and you will need to supplement if feeding them to reptiles.

[Katrina]

about snails, i feed whole Cepaea hortensis

and if i have the time to kill the snail before and poke it out of the shell, then i feed Helix pomatia, which is quite a delicacy even for humans, whe shell however is too hard for a bluey to break.

Thank you!!

I will need to figure out how to present that info, maybe different lines for different species of snails? So people know which ones to feed whole and which ones have shells that are too hard?

[Spindown]

wow great job, i really like this new chart. makes more sense

[Bird_Brain]

I would not like to have best foods first. I think it needs to be alphabetical as is. This way would be more universally friendly. If an individual wants to make their shopping list based off the "best foods" go for it, but it is MUCH easier to find other foods when in alphabetical order.

[Alioop]

Great job Kat!! You. Are. Awesome.

I agree with Brad though. It should definitely stay alphabetical. I think its important that people have to look through the whole list while they make their own shopping lists, that way they are also noticing which foods are "nevers." Making the text green isn't a bad idea though.

As for fruits, maybe just an extra column to state something like "recommended" or "not recommended" to differentiate. Ie: Pineapple ~ Occasional/Treat ~ Not Recommended. Mango ~ Occasional/Treat ~ Recommended.

[Scooter_in_Kindergarten]

Awesome! Thank you!!

[655321]

I agree with Alioop. The list should be alphabetical so you can find things easier, but I think colors would be a great idea. I think it would be more important to have food you should never feed highlighted, probably in red like you said, so it's easy to see what you should absolutely avoid. And really good foods in green would also be a good idea if you wanted to just look at the list real quick and see what the best ones are. People should read the whole list but some people aren't going to do that and I was just trying to think of ways to avoid having people feed things that are bad, and make it easier to find ones that are the best.

I agree about the snails that have really hard shells. For that species you definitely have to break the shell or you risk injuring your skink (because they will try to break it to the point of hurting themselves) and some people might not know this and try to feed them whole. You can find them at stores that sell exotic foods and also online. I live near a city that has an exotic food market. I can get them live or frozen. I get frozen because I think it's more humane and I just thaw them and then break the shells.

[Bird_Brain]

I also dont like the idea of color coding. I think the food charts should be there for reference but we shouldnt have to do everything dor people. I gues idont see whats so hard to just read the rarely, frequently, etc. I like how crisp,, clean, and professional it looks. I hate having to spoon feed information to people especially whenits right in front of them