My BTS will only eat dog food HELP

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Snowypuff_thedragon
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My BTS will only eat dog food HELP

Postby Snowypuff_thedragon » Mon Dec 12, 2022 7:08 pm

I have a 5 month old halmahera, and they refuse to eat anything but dog food and wax worms. he wont even eat BANANA. nor berries, nor any kind of treat. and he wont even look at any kind of greens. we feed him open nature adult dog food. (grain free) usually chicken. he wont eat anything else. not even mealworms. do any of you have advice? help is appreciated.
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Janella
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Re: My BTS will only eat dog food HELP

Postby Janella » Wed Dec 14, 2022 3:46 pm

So there is some keepers who have raised skinks on a sole diet of just canned dog food. However, a good way to get them eating is by processing the foods all together so they can't pick out what they don't like. Also adding snails or eggs to the greens helps as well.
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Re: My BTS will only eat dog food HELP

Postby Justincalhoundvm » Wed Dec 14, 2022 5:39 pm

I'll send my agreement here. I fed mine a diet of dog food blended with greens, veggies, some fruit, other protein sources etc. Just chuck it into the blender with my supplements and create a paste like substance so they cannot choose to avoid veggies. I've seen really great growth on my individuals this year with this method.
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Re: My BTS will only eat dog food HELP

Postby Janella » Wed Dec 14, 2022 6:58 pm

It is also important to remember the ratio of food they need. 50% protein source (snails, egg, canned dog food, ground lean turkey, salmon, etc), then 40% veggie (dark leafy greens, cactus pads, squashes, green beans, carrot, pepper, sweet potato, etc), and finally 10% fruit (banana, blueberry, raspberry, grapes, peaches, mango, etc).
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Re: My BTS will only eat dog food HELP

Postby splashy07 » Thu Dec 15, 2022 6:08 am

Don't beat yourself up. I know many breeders, some of which do it for a living that have kept and raised countless skinks on nothing but dog/cat food for 20+ years. Use wax worms sparingly, they are zero nutrition and all fat. Mealworms are known to be difficult to digest. Superworms and dubias are a better choice. If you want to get some vegetables in there put it all in a processor and blend. The only type vegetables my skinks will eat without mixing are green beans and peas and carrots. Years ago I kept halmaheras and found them to be a bit more picky than my current Aussie collection. I used a small food processor (that I'd kept from the days I raised parrots) and mixed their greens in there with the dog food and some raw egg and they didn't leave a drop.

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