Feeding dog food to your BTS.

[jesswebb93]

I usually feed Blue Buffalo grain-free wet dog food to my Blue Tongues as a staple. Of course I stay away from any that contain by-products, chicken meal etc. But I was wondering, do they HAVE to only eat grain-free or is grain okay for them to have in the dog food? I've been having a hard time finding out about grains in BTS diets.

Thanks!

[Kurt]

When I buy dog food, I buy based on the types of veggies in the mix. Usually a beef stew flavor or chicken with peas and carrots type of mix. I avoid the fish flavors and the ones with rice. I don't look specifically for grain free but if its the advertised flavor I don't buy it. I'm not sure that it would harm the bluey though. I switch up the type of dog food and flavor as much as I can to give them a nice variety.

[donkeybuff]

It is fine for there to be grains in the dog food. I usually buy grain-free, but they don't seem to mind food containing grains at all and it doesn't seem to adversely affect their health.

[alichamp]

This often comes up on the forum. I'm quoting a detailed post from Susann from another thread. You can also type 'grain free' or 'dog food' in the search box and you'll get lots more great info.

I know many here, and on various Facebook pages, have taken to saying food must be grain-free; not the case. I myself prefer to feed grain-free, but that is not so much because there is anything about grains that is bad or unhealthy for skinks as it is for the fact that pet food companies use them as cheap filler --hence, the cheaper grains are used to take the place of more expensive and more NUTRITIOUS ingredients.

For a simplified example, say you look at the list of ingredients and it says: Chicken, Beef, Carrots, Squash, Peas, Sweet potato, Blueberries, Barley, Kale, Oats, Vitamins, Minerals. That would be one heck of a quality can right there, and not one of those ingredients are bad for skinks. Why are you unlikely to find a can with those ingredients in that order? Because most of us are not willing to pay that much for our dogs' food. (For those of you who are not aware, ingredients are listed by volume in order of greatest to least.)
So what do pet food companies do? First off they use meat by-products and by-product meal. Disgusting you say? Maybe so; I wouldn't want to eat it, but our dogs don't care and neither do our skinks. I know what many of you will say. "If you're not willing to eat it, then why would you feed it to your pets?!" I'll tell you why. I don't like eating bones, giblets, or skin of animals even if it is every bit as nutritious as the muscle-meat, but I see nothing wrong about feeding it to my dog. Not only is it often every bit as nutritious, many times it's MORE nutritious. And if the pet food company has already ground up the bones and chopped up the giblets and the chunks of skin for me, GREAT! Talk about whole prey protein fed in the safest way possible (since neither my dog nor my skink can swallow a whole cow).
Personally I see absolutely nothing wrong with feeding my skinks meat by-products (or meal thereof).

The next thing pet food companies do to cut costs is ...TA-DAA! Add more of the cheaper ingredients. Like grains. And potatoes. (Nothing wrong with potatoes, and especially not sweet potatoes.) Which is why you're unlikely to find an ingredient list in the order of my example. Because the grains and potatoes are generally always listed much nearer the beginning of the list. Because they are generally in the food to begin with so that they can still fill up the can but put in less of the more expensive ingredients. Hence why they are referred to as FILLERS.

So. Why do I prefer to feed grain-free? Because, if there aren't any cheap grains in the can, the can has to be filled with other, hopefully nutritious, ingredients. Not because grains are bad at all, it's just that there are usually relatively MUCH of them when they are in the can.
Which leads us to the rice and potato. Nothing wrong with either, but many (if not most) pet food companies are banking on us not noticing that, when they say "Grain-FREE", many have instead got a different type of filler taking the grains' place: rice and/or potato. Yes, brown rice is slightly more nutritious than white rice, but it doesn't come anywhere near the nutrition of meat or even a carrot. And yes, sweet potatoes are quite a bit more nutritious than regular potatoes, but if half the can is sweet potato ...well, you get the picture.

So, to sum up: no need to feed grain-free due to grains being "toxic" to skinks in any way; they're simply not very nutritious, and that holds the same for rice and potatoes.

So Geezer, the Wellness can you were asking about would be great in that it appears to be mostly meat and certainly no grains or potatoes, and many of us use that very brand and their "ninety-five percent" meat-in-a-can, but neither does it have any vegetables or greens, nor any added vitamins or minerals. Pros and cons. Very short, uncomplicated ingredient list, but you have to add stuff yourself for a well balanced omnivorous meal, including vitamins and minerals. (Not to mention keeping in mind which type of animal the meat is from and then thinking about the ratio of calcium to phosphorous, as chicken fed as a staple is known to have caused cases of MBD...)

I know we are all hoping someone out there is going to find a brand, a meat, a food, a SOMETHING that makes feeding our pets a "one size fits all", a "feed ___ tablespoons ___ times per week" so we can just go buy a bunch and be done!

[jesswebb93]

Thanks for the responses, they were very helpful!

[Susann]

alichamp, again you do my work for me and I thank you for it! I'm reading along, thinking: I've got to find that one post... And there it is! You've already dug it up.

[Dakota]

Perfect explanation Susann! Now we must post this everywhere! Consider making a FAQs about it?

[Meeper]

Here's one you haven't heard before... So, I work at a vet clinic, and we offer some serious prescription food. One we have at work is called A/D. It's a critical care diet, which basically means that it's chock full of proteins and wonderful goodies. I was wondering if you guys could take a look at the nutrition facts and see if it sounds as awesome to you as it does to me? I have unlimited access to this stuff, and I think it looks pretty good


http://www.hillspet.com/en/us/products/ ... -ad-canned

[Susann]

Meeper, at a quick glance, I don't see anything in that list of ingredients that causes me to hesitate.
Lots of protein and fat though, so I would personally be adding some veggies and a bit of greens to it.

[Meeper]

For sure- I tried blue wilderness, collard greens and acorn squash for his first dinner and he shot that down pretty hard. I've offered bannanas, blueberries... Not hungry yet, I guess. Or just stressed. Or maybe because he's getting ready to shed? Who knows, I will simply have to leave him be and keep offering

[Susann]

I will simply have to leave him be and keep offering

[NickBrahz]

Could be a combination of any of those Meeper, nothing to worry about one of mine doesn't eat right away takes him a couple days to get through his little dish of food, may be your bub needs a few hours or a day to get around to digging into its tucker.