Melbourne Zoo says this is the Best Best Food for blueys!!!

[evil pixie]

For fatten = mice, either pinkies or fuzzies

[wallflowergirl]

We feed ours with a whole bunch of veggies and berries and roo mince and snails for protien. We use a vitamin and calcium suppliment every other week now.
The veggies change every week depending on what we get.
We buy our snails from a guy who breeds them. We don't bait snails but I don't know what the neighbours do.
The roo mince is human quality and is just chopped up meat. We cook it first to make sure there's no paracites. They love it but we have to make sure they don't get too much meat or they wont eat their veggies.
Soon we will be probably buying escargot quality snails as Brock who owns the <a href="http://www.hydroshop.com.au">Hydro Shop<a/> in the area, which deals with hydro plants and reptile supplies is breeding them and gives us a great rate. The snails are fed on some powder. I don't know the ins and outs but they are meant to be good. He has many lizards and snakes and they are all healthy and looking great so he must be doing something right.
(the website needs redoing though as it's fallen into disrepair. He and I are trying to convince his bosses to let me have a go at it.)

[Blotch]

For fatten = mice, either pinkies or fuzzies

yeah I know mice are great for fattening them up, but the problem is that for 5 pinkies - they charge $14!!! And they are dead! I'd rather buy a pair of rats and breed them - but I'm not gonna do that - no room! Anyone know ehere I can get pinkies in melbourne super cheap???

[Colin Hamilton]

You got about the standard reply on diet and thats similar to what simon watherows article in aus reptiles magazine or care sheets on this site.The onley thing i do different from that is i wont use meat from a butchers or supermarket anymore from bad experiences,never had a problem with canned food.

[Tigergenesis]

Tiger - Yeah They do the whole calcium dusting as you'd expect.

Have you ever had issues with blueys refusing food? If so - what did you do? It's time for Aussie blueys to start brumating, however a couple of mine are a bit thin, one in particular is worrying me, know how I can get her to eat? next Question - know how I can plump her up really quickly?

I have a couple that pretty much stop eating all together, some just eat less and the rest continue their normal eating habits. Worms (particularly silkworms and hornworms) seem to get them all to eat.

[KyleWeiss]

Great info from the zoo, Blotch.

Their feeding seems pretty sound to me, I've heard of much, much worse diets.

Except for the calcium-to-phosporus ratios, there are really no set-in-stone feeding "requirements," for blueys, it's just combining the best ingredients possible for them. It's still an open book for feeding, within reason. We know what isn't good for them, everything else is just a variable.

KW

[Blotch]

#1 - Are silkworms and/or hornworms available in Aus??
#2 - Would normal worms out of the ground be ok?
#3 - How good are blueys!?

[Lisa]

You can get silkworms in Aus, my local petshop has them. Don't know what a hornworm is. As for your average garden worm, they're good eating and apparently have a near perfect calcium/phosphorus ration (I read that in a Reptiles Australia Magazine article that was for some other lizard). Mine sometimes eat them when they are all dead and chewy like when they've gotten stuck on the driveway in hot weather. We refer to them in that condition as either jerky or biltong. Ralphie just had some jerky about an hour ago (And the white grubs that you get in your lawn that look like witchety grubs but turn into black beetles? They're marshmallows!! The black beetle they turn into are good eating, too)

You can feed your bluey just about any fruit or veg, but if you look at the caresheets you will see which ones are better to feed regularly, and which ones should be fed sparingly.

Blueys are opportunistic feeders and scavengers. Any kind of bug, grub, beetle, insect or spider you find in the backyard, chances are that a wild bluey would eat it, provided it was slow enough for it to catch. That is their main diet in the wild, plus vegetation such as grass, flowers, mushrooms, all the stuff you'll see if you go for a bushwalk. If you don't use snails baits and poisons, then your backyard should be your bluey pantry.

It is interesting that studies have found that the one animal that is thriving due to the increasing urban sprawl is blueys because their diet now includes the occasional gulp at dog or cat food left in bowls outside or fruit & veg scraps from people's compost patches. (although the urban sprawl means that more are being killed by cars, dogs and cats)

I don't mind admitting that mine have had a taste of just about anything that has graced my fridge or pantry, they share a lick of my ice cream on a hot day, they'll get a piece of ham or pineapple off my pizza on Friday nights, Jubby is partial to shortbread creams and they get raw meat off cuts when I buy dog bones. But common sense prevails and these are one offs or very occasional.

Colin, I have actually thought that mince was what killed my first apline. When I got him from you and you said you had them on mince, I kept him on that even though I had started Jubby off on dog food as a baby. When I took Ralphie to the vet at one month old for a check up, he said mince was crap and you'd be better off with dog or cat food if that was the choice, but snails should be your #1 bluey food. I'm not blaming you! But mince has been off the diet ever since and I stick to bugs and grubs for their meat source, plus dog food and the occasional pinky picnic.

[Colin Hamilton]

Melbourne zoo knows best,i wouldnt trust Zacs caresheets,he is an american that will tell you bluetongues are aliens whose favourite food is strawberry icecream with bannana on top with calcium sprinkles

[Blotch]

I msg'd zach today and that's exactly what he told me to feed my thin eastern!!! Are you spying on our convos Colin???

[KyleWeiss]

Melbourne zoo knows best,i wouldnt trust Zacs caresheets,he is an american that will tell you bluetongues are aliens whose favourite food is strawberry icecream with bannana on top with calcium sprinkles

Zach's been LYING to me?



KW

[Arkangel]

Melbourne zoo knows best,i wouldnt trust Zacs caresheets,he is an american that will tell you bluetongues are aliens whose favourite food is strawberry icecream with bannana on top with calcium sprinkles

You've got that wrong Colin. Their favorite food is banana ice cream with chocolate sauce and whipped cream calcium. Oh wait... that's my favorite food.

[aggiegirl]

Ya'll have shattered my image of pristine bluey nutritition (or human nutrition for that matter!) Guess Pele' isn't the only bluey who occasionally deviates from the care sheet shopping list!

[KyleWeiss]

Melbourne zoo knows best,i wouldnt trust Zacs caresheets,he is an american that will tell you bluetongues are aliens whose favourite food is strawberry icecream with bannana on top with calcium sprinkles

You've got that wrong Colin. Their favorite food is banana ice cream with chocolate sauce and whipped cream calcium. Oh wait... that's my favorite food.

You know Kristine if you ate a balanced diet you wouldn't need the extra calcium...

KW

[Colin Hamilton]

In general I'd say most people on this site would agree with most natural foods. Most natural foods are good for bluey's at least from what I've gathered. Of course lettuce and some other things being the exception. Most of the problems run into the processed foods, even the cat foods a lot of people use, including me. No matter how natural they are, they still have preservatives and various chemicals. That's why I try to serve mostly fresh fruit, veggies, and greens. And give silkworms, butter worms, Goliath worms, super worms etc. for their protein. I still usually have to serve a little spots stew to get mine to eat his greens though

I use kitekat with beef and vegetables as the meat content of the diet,it says its made to the nutritional guidlines set out by the Association of American feed control officials,amongst the normal ingredients it says it has gelling agents,vitamins and minerals,and colouring agents,CONTAINS NO PRESERVATIVES, and other places it says it contains no preservatives or added salt.The reason they dont add preservatives is because they know preservatives can have an adverse effect on cats,never had baby bluetongues regurgitate or get sick and die from catfood.Meat intended for humans at butchers isnt supposed to have added preservatives but when the australian vetinary association tested meat in butchers in sydney 58% of samples had added preservatives and they stated that in their newsletter 48.Its my experience also over the years that some batches of human meat has a serious effect on young bluetongues,something to think about IMO if preservatives effect cats what do they do to lizards.Blame all the problems on bannanas (the yellow peril )

[Zach]

I msg'd zach today and that's exactly what he told me to feed my thin eastern!!! Are you spying on our convos Colin???

Colin is everywhere!

[Tigergenesis]

In general I'd say most people on this site would agree with most natural foods. Most natural foods are good for bluey's at least from what I've gathered. Of course lettuce and some other things being the exception. Most of the problems run into the processed foods, even the cat foods a lot of people use, including me. No matter how natural they are, they still have preservatives and various chemicals. That's why I try to serve mostly fresh fruit, veggies, and greens. And give silkworms, butter worms, Goliath worms, super worms etc. for their protein. I still usually have to serve a little spots stew to get mine to eat his greens though

Spots Stew does not contain chemicals or preservatives - that's one of the reasons it's one of the few canned foods I'd feed my blueys.

Ingredients
Chicken, Zucchini, Squash, Celery, Chicken Liver, Carrots, Green Beans, Water (sufficient for processing), Peas, Turkey, Calcium Lactate, Soy Sauce, Kelp Powder, Garlic Powder, Choline Chloride, Ascorbic Acid, Zinc Gluconate, Taurine

[Leigh]

What IS Taurine, its in REDBULL the energy drink, I lied to my mate and said it was spanish for bulls wee{taurus urine}

[Shellyjean]

What IS Taurine, its in REDBULL the energy drink, I lied to my mate and said it was spanish for bulls wee{taurus urine}

It is a key ingredient of bile, which in turn is needed for fat digestion, absorption of fat-soluble vitamins as well as the control of cholesterol serum levels in the body. (It is incorporated in the bile acid chenodeoxychloic acid, which emulsify the dietary fats) This nutrient is also used in the proper use of potassium, calcium as well as sodium in the body, and for maintaining cell membrane integrity. It is thought to be helpful with anxiety, hyperactivity, poor brain function and epilepsy as well as hydrating the brain. Taurine, together with zinc is also required for proper eye health and vision.

I like your definition better though Leigh!

[Zach]

I wonder why it isn't in dog food? It's in all cat food I've noticed.

I love Spot's Stew. They're finally carrying it locally.