Protein source

[flutter]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and got my bluey a couple of days ago. S/he is a merauke blue tongue skink (I was told by the breeder and checked with your list of species too, will post pics later to confirm from you guys later!). S/he will be about 2 weeks old. I'm thinking of naming s/he snuffy, but then every time I say it, I regret it coz it sounds stupid lol. It's named that because s/he does that cute hissing/huffing nose occasionally . This is my 1st bluey, but I have loads of other weird and wonderful reptiles (as well as insects and mice)! I just have a few queries about protein sources.

1) DOG FOOD! I was wondering what brand you guys use/what are the best brands? I went to ASDA the other day looking for some, and just got overwhelmed by the masses and masses of dog food, there are so many different ones it is unreal! I'm in England. Also how do you keep this stuff fresh/edible and how long for?

2) My favourite local reptile/exotics shop has ordered in a can o' snails for me. Once I open them, how do I keep them fresh/edible and how long are they ok to eat for?

3) Can BTS eat water snails? (or pond snails, or aquatic snails.... pretty much snails that live in water instead of on land, you get the idea) I read that snails can be used as a staple. I can get a pretty good breeding tank of these guys going, so wanted to feed these to my skink. I just wasn't sure that when the caresheet said 'snails' whether it meant any snails or specifically land snails (like most normal human beings would interpret it to be)? The breeding group of snails would be in a tank of their own, properly filtered, cleaned and fed. So are these snails ok?

Also s/he is so cute! S/he actually ran round the viv to the front to see me yesterday when I came the the room. And Earlier I'd been handling mealworms so I smelt of food, so s/he tried to nibble my finger the cute little little bugger! S/he promptly stopped when I moved my finger away and told him/her off, I plan to have him/her as well trained as my bearded dragon, who actually responds to his name.... crazy I know!

Edited by Brad (ReptileKing) to eliminate foul language.

[Keblin]

Would love to hear an answer to that first one! A lot of the recommended dog food brands are only easily available in the US, it would be nice to see some UK brands! Hope you get some answers! ^^

Not sure about aquatic snails...I presume they would alright but wait for more experience people to reply! A lot of people just detox your average garden snails, or breed african giant land snails as their fairly easy to keep!

Piicttuuureess of the cutie please!! ^^

[tylociraptor]

Apple snails are fine, at least as far as I have read. Basically so long as it is not poisonous, you are ok.

Wellness brand dog food is what I use, but I do not know if that's available in the UK... but it IS available in Canada, and in my experience, we and the UK have a lot of products in common. Go go commonwealth lol

[Keblin]

Apple snails are fine, at least as far as I have read. Basically so long as it is not poisonous, you are ok.

Wellness brand dog food is what I use, but I do not know if that's available in the UK... but it IS available in Canada, and in my experience, we and the UK have a lot of products in common. Go go commonwealth lol

Thanks for the snail clarification! ^^

Unfortunately its no go commonwealth this time! That's the brand I've been trying to find since its so recommended but no luck! Hopefully someone else has seen it and I'm just bad at looking!

[Keblin]

Sorry to doublepost, but has anyone tried "Wainwright's" dog food?

You can get a low fat one that is majoritvly turkey which sounds good! It does have rice in it though...

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/wainwright-s-light-adult-tray-dog-food-with-turkey-and-rice-395gm-12-pack-27691

[skeetersmom]

Roaches and hook worms are good protein sources also, but not sure how readily available they are in your neck of the woods. Too bad folks in the UK can't (or can they) form a co-op and order the Merrick or whatever food from the internet splitting the shipping cost. I know one can will last awhile. I opened one a couple of weeks ago, and froze the left overs (after giving my pups a taste of course)....just a thought

[flutter]

Edited by Brad (ReptileKing) to eliminate foul language.

^I saw that on the bottom of my post, I never swore! What was edited, I don't get it...... Unless it was an unfortunate typo??? The part of England I grew up in use to arrest people for swearing!


I have giant african land snails, but they don't breed as well as aquatic snails (I admit my species aren't the best of breeders, I hear fulcia are notorious breeders) . Other than trumpet snails (them cone shaped ones) are there any aquatic snails to avoid? It's just there are snails that breed a lot faster than apple snails. That and breeding multiple different types adds some variation. I'd like to use snails and dog food as a protein staple.

Tomorrow I'm getting a can o' snails, and today I bought a tin of cat food. Of all the wet dog and cat food there was 2 that really stood out and had alot higher amounts of protein and a lot lower amounts of fat, the one I got was Sheba Prime Cuts of Chicken. It had a higher percentage of meat than the other one. I swear they must have thought I was mental in ASDA, I read the back of every tin of wet cat and dog food!

If anybody is interested it's ingredients are: Chicken breast (min 45%), tapioca starch, sodium chloride. It's analytical constituents are: protein 12%, Fat 0.5%, inorganic matter 1%, crude fibres 0.1%, moisture 85%.

I've not opened it yet, but if it's chunks of meat (which I think it will be) do you think I should give it a rinse under a tap, just to get some of the salt off? I'm not planning to feed this as the only cat or dog food, I like lots of variation, so hopefully s/he won't have too much salt overall. It just doesn't say the amount of salt, so I'm concerned how much there is, but the amount will be less than 1%.

If anybody else has suggestions for decent cat and dog food, I'd like to know them all, so I can mix them up a lot to help avoid deficiencies.

I have to say this site is very helpful, like it says somewhere on this site, a lot of information is contradictory, and it's nice to see a care sheet as detailed as the one here, that is based on experience, tried and tested! There also seems to be a nice atmosphere here, a lot of other forums you see massive arguments and slagging matches, but it's not like that here. It makes you feel like you can actually ask things and get actual help!

[flutter]

P.S My skink shed today! The foot shed came off in one and it looks like little gloves. I defo need to include pics of these later too. I might make the foot shed into a new thread as there are a few places that you can donate sheds too and they use them as educative aids, so it might be nice making list of them.

[Keblin]

skeetersmom: They aren't usually available in shops at the moment, but you can easily order roaches on the cheap online or from other reptile keepers in the UK! Not so sure about worms, havent looked into that yet!

flutter: I know that one reptile centre was using a variety of whiskers to feed their pink tongue skinks...but I think you need to be a bit careful with cat food as it contains taurine and it might not be very good for your skink if used as a staple! Have a look at that dog food brand I suggested, you can get it at pets at home so it shouldnt be a hassle if its good!

[flutter]

I have never and will never shop at pets at home. The place disgusts me. I use to ride the bus half an hour away to an exotic pet shop even though I lived directly across the road from a pets at home, the buses weren't even that regular and a return ticket costs just under £5. I think it's the biggest pet shop in Sheffield, but I refuse to buy anything there, I use to go in to offer correct care for pets, and tried in vain to try and get them to care for their stock properly.

I'll look for another source of the food though. I do know to feed mainly dog food and not cat, but like I said I'm offering a mix, so it'll only be a bit of cat food every now and then, cat food also tends to be better quality. I feel sure the care sheet recommends cat food for babies instead of dog food? Mine is 2 weeks old.

Do you think dog food and can o' snails will last about a week if a put it in a sealed box in the fridge? Do they smell/change colour when they're off? I've never had can o' snails, and never used wet dog food really (I honestly can't stand wet dog food, I pet sat my friend's dog who needed wet food and nearly vomited every time it needed a feed!)

[Bird_Brain]

Edited by Brad (ReptileKing) to eliminate foul language.

^I saw that on the bottom of my post, I never swore! What was edited, I don't get it...... Unless it was an unfortunate typo??? The part of England I grew up in use to arrest people for swearing!

No worries. I apologize for not sending you a pm when I did it. It completely skipped my mind, however, I will not repeat it here. I sent you a pm with explanation.

Just to let everyone know, regardless of why I edit a post, I will ALWAYS make a note at the bottom as to why I edited it. I know I wouldnt want my posted changed with out me knowing why and just to go and read my post and find it was different than what I had originally wrote would upset me as well. So please dont feel like I am calling you out.

[Keblin]

I have never and will never shop at pets at home. The place disgusts me.

Fair enough!

I do know to feed mainly dog food and not cat, but like I said I'm offering a mix, so it'll only be a bit of cat food every now and then, cat food also tends to be better quality. I feel sure the care sheet recommends cat food for babies instead of dog food? Mine is 2 weeks old.

Perhaps because cat food is more carnivorous than omnivorous than dog food, and babies are meant to get a higher amount of protein?

Do you think dog food and can o' snails will last about a week if a put it in a sealed box in the fridge? Do they smell/change colour when they're off? I've never had can o' snails, and never used wet dog food really (I honestly can't stand wet dog food, I pet sat my friend's dog who needed wet food and nearly vomited every time it needed a feed!)

Fraid I don't know about the can o' snails, but apparently dog food should be kept for no more than 4 days if its sealed in the fridge! I'm sure I saw someone on here or another forum say they keep it for a little longer though...

There's also other tinned reptile foods you can try, such as canned tegu/monitor food! Thats all protein!

[Lea]

I treat any canned/sachet dog or cat food, like other fresh meats in the fridge, so as said before, about 3-4 days. It's been preserved, so would probably last a bit longer, but I err on the side of caution, it's dead flesh and will slowly rot, whether we like to think so or not, so best not to keep it longer than I would do for a meat I'd give myself. Bear in mind, though, that in the wild most of these skinks will eat carrion from the side of the road, that could have lain there gathering bugs for days! This is probably one time I don't mimic their "wilder" life! Captive bred skinks wouldn't have the exposure to these different types of bacterium and are less likely to build immunity, and being foreign to the immune system, leaves the skink more susceptible to illness.


Hmm, just a little OT addit- actually, in ANY part of England you can be arrested for swearing. Usually you can get off on a misdemeanor charge or fine, but you WILL be arrested for swearing at a police officer, and can also be arrested for swearing in a public place, as part of the "disorderly conduct" clause. However, the law is fairly wishy washy and is up to the discretion of the officer. A pub is obviously a public place, but could you imagine someone trying to arrest a person there for swearing? There would be outrage, a probable bar brawl, even a riot or coup! This ruling has been overturned by judges on many occasions, citing reasons akin to " swearing is so commonplace, there just isn't enough jail space to accommodate that number of arrests!"

Anyway, just a little recent English history lesson, but way OT, I apologise!

[skeetersmom]

Flutter - you will have no problem determining when snails go bad...trust me. I tried taking a couple of snails (from can-o-snails) and freezing them. Skeeter refused to eat them (and he loves snails). The can will last 2 weeks in the frig - but just barley towards the end.

[Keblin]

Thanks for the info both of you!