Feeding - Trial & Error

[smex14]

Hi Everyone!

Just wanted to post because I am way proud and also making progress with Sigs' eating habits.

When I first got him, I don't think he'd had the best diet but was in pretty good shape. However, I soon learned that all the stuff I read on how fussy they were and not eating their greens was serious!

During Nov and Dec he wasn't eating much, I tried every few days until it seemed that he only really eated to eat once a week or even once fortnightly. I tried him on different things and started to learn what he liked and how much he despised greens.

I prepared him loads of frozen ready meals so I could buy in bulk and he didn't like any of them! So I am still learning.

Introduced snails to him a while back and found out he really loved them, so was pleased with that. Last week even though he was changing colour for shed he ate a pinky and tried his first orange and watermelon, which he liked. So his appetite is increasing which is good, he seems to want to eat every week now, which is good for me as I can spend some time feeding him and socializing with him at weekends.

Anyway, since I've been learning what he likes, it's now also about how to balance it all. Today he had his first scrambled egg and I used the egg tohide rocket and courgette/zucchini. It worked a treat and he loved the egg so much he started to look a little bit too full so I've given him a break. {He ate way more than I expected, especially as he has darkened for shedding in the next couple of days. I'm so happy I've found a neat trick to get him to eat his greens, there is no way he can get them out of the egg pieces.

The best thing is, I keep chickens too, so I have fresh eggs on hand everyday for a treat/hiding loads of greens in!

What do all of your skinks like/not like? How do you make them eat veggies?

I find he likes all the tings he is only supposed to have occaisionally the best (bananas-yum), pretty much like me

[NennaMeerkat]

My boy will only really eat protein but I think that is because the people before me fed him a poor diet of protein (which consisted of live goldfish) and nothing else. So my guy doesn't even know what he is supposed to do with veggies. I have gotten him to eat yellow squash and sweet potatoes by themselves but as far as any leafy greens (mustard greens usually) I have to coat it really well with his protein.

Oh and he knows his food dish. I always bring him out of his tank to eat (trying to get some positive associations going) whenever there is protein involved. At first he is all huffy and "leave me alone" but as soon as he spies either the dog food can coming out of the fridge OR his little green food dish he perks up and won't leave me alone. Usually the first two bites are straight from the plastic spork I scoop the dog food with.

Thankfully he takes some time to eat those first two bites that I can mix up some greens with more dog food. I will say he enjoys eating for sure! And to see his snout covered it dog food is priceless.

[Katrina]

Sounds like you are really taking the time to make sure he gets the diet he needs - great work! I also like feeding only once or twice a week, allows you to put some time and effort into the meals.

Egg is a good choice for hiding greens, same with wet dog food. I find mine don't really mind dandelion greens, they seem to go over better than lots of other ones. Same with squashes - if you grate them up mine seem to almost like squash and it is healthy. Mushrooms are good too.

I find the best way to get them to eat greens is to chop them finely and mix them in well. If I have a really picky eater I'll add 70% or so greens so that even if they pick through lots of them they still can't avoid all the greens. Waiting until they are hungry (i.e. only feeding weekly and not giving in and offering what they want when they aren't eating healthy meals) really helps them start eating more greens and veggies. Sounds like you are doing everything right! Keep experimenting and be patient, you are making great progress.

[smex14]

Thanks Katrina!

Nice to know I'm doing the right things. Sigs doesn't like dog food at all - and I can't get him to eat out of a bowl!

I'll have to give mushrooms a try. Yeah I figured the same, chop it finely and put loads in and at least some of it will go in - even accidentally!

Live goldfish?? That sounds bizarre and mean!

Yeah I learned before that when I gave in and let him just eat banana, he almost looked smug...

[ShortStack]

My food processor is my best friend! It makes it really easy to prepare meals, and it also allows me to make sure that Coby has a really balanced diet because the pieces are too small for him to pick anything out. He normally gets some sort of mixture of different greens, apples, ground turkey, grapes, squash, and the occasional mealworms. I also make my food in large batches and freeze it into smaller portions. This is easy for me because I don't feel like any food goes to waste, and all I have to do most days is get a baggie out of the freezer and give it time to defrost. I just started doing this, and I should have enough with the large batch I made for over a month of meals. I want to try and mix in more foods as I go, too. As for the bananas, mine LOVES them, too

[RosiePosie06]

This thread was actually very helpful for me! Thanks for the update on your skink:) Now I have to continue my trial and error to make sure my baby has the best diet possible

[smex14]

Aww thanks Rosie, I'm really glad this post helped you! I've learned so much from this forum since owning Sigs. Feeling you on "my baby", little bugger has well and truly made me his momma.

Shortstack - I wish I had a food processor! I just chop very finely. Sounds like your skink has a really well-balanced diet!

[ShortStack]

I sadly have to get a new one *sobs* Somehow the blade to mine has grown legs and walked off! Thankfully the small one I need to just do his food is only like 10 bucks, so it's easy to replace, lol.