BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hiya!

I brought home my first blue tongue a few months ago, and I have been feeding him a diet of chicken and turkey grain free dog food and insects, as well as vegetables mashed into it. I'm not sure if this is something to be concerned about, but one of the cans of dog food I had been feeding him with smelt off. I had already fed him yesterday and I hadn't noticed the smell until visiting the fridge this morning, and I've thrown that lot out.

Is it okay that he's eaten something a bit sour? I can't see him deviating from his regular routine, and his poop is consistent with previous ones so there's no change there.

Thanks!

Keep an eye on him , it could make him sick. Poultry that's off is particularly hazardous if ingested , because of the bacteria on it..

larger wild skinks are known opportunistically to eat carrion ( fresh road kill ).... but I think of it's rotten it's not touched but left for the blowflies and ants , in fact they are more likely to opportunistally eat the maggots , flies and ants they find on rotten carrion as these are a better protein source and they are not as well equipped to handle chunks of rotten flesh as goannas (monitors) , raptors and crocodilians are .

Personally , my skinks NEVER get dog food , I follow this guide for all my skinks ( eastern bluetongues and eastern water skinks ) : https://www.completecritter.com/blue-tongue-skink.html , when I give mince , it's lean chicken or turkey mince that I boil / blanch (just cooked enough to kill any bacteria and only ever enough to use for a meal).

Thank you for the insight!

I've been feeding him this type of food because it is what the breeder I dealt with has been raising his skinks on. I'm not sure how reputable the word of one person is, and I think i'll need to do some more digging to come to my own conclusions about what kind of food will be best in the long run. That's a whole other can of worms though, and I know everyone's got a lot of opinions and things about feeding, which is to be expected!

I'll be keeping a very close watch on Belgabad in the coming week, thank you again for the response!

I'm sure he will be fine. They eat roadkill in the wild. And dog food NEVER smells good to me! I use high end brands that keep in the fridge for a week. And I have noticed the longer the food stays in their cage the more they like it. Gross! But I've never had one get sick. They've got quite a digestive system.

Sometimes other stuff in the fridge can affect the smell of the dog food. One time I had dog food in the fridge and we had leftovers that has garlic in it and that garlic smell made the dog food smell funny.

Keep it in sealed plastic containers with as little air as possible.

Thanks guys! I had been keeping it in a plastic container, but I think I may need to get one that is more air tight.
Still no signs of illness, I think we'll be okay