Vegetable greens help

[tdobbin]

Hi guys, I usually feed my blue tongue collard greens or turnip greens, kale. But I was curious if I could feed him this spring mix at the grocery store?

[Laceflower]

I had actually read somewhere that spinach shouldn't really be a part of their diet, and the food chart that I usually refer to when I'm unsure (bluetongueskinks.net/foodchart.html) doesn't make any mention of it either, but it also doesn't explicitly say not to feed it to them. I usually just shy away from spring mixes that include spinach for that reason. A more seasoned keeper may have better information for you, but I just thought I'd help out where I could!

[tdobbin]

Thanks for the response, I guess I shouldn't buy it. I always use the same food chart but was curious if others could shine a little more information.

[alichamp]

Hi! If you want to give this mix a go occasionally then go for it. But I wouldn't regularly feed that myself. Spinach and chard both have relatively high levels of oxalic acid (which is bad). There is also quite a lot of lettuce in there which isn't that nutritious on its own.

I think you'd be better off spending your money on the greens you are already feeding and I suggest adding some rocket or Asian greens to the diet to mix things up a bit and offer variety.

Spinach has a Ca:P of 2:1 which isn't as bad as a lot of other vegetables. The main reason for minimising spinach is because it is high in oxalic acid which binds with calcium to form salt crystals carried in the blood stream which can in turn build up in the kidneys and synovial fluid of joints.

Swiss chard (aka silverbeet) is OK in moderation, a source of vitamins such as C and K plus minerals and antioxidants. However, it has a poor Ca:P ratio of 1.1:1 as well as being relatively high in oxalic acid.
Collards and mustard greens have a more favourable Ca:P, 14.5:1 and 7.5:1 respectively.

[tdobbin]

Thanks for the information alichamp. I always wanna offer him different foods, I know I would hate to eat the same stuff over and over.