The Importance of Reptile Food

Different species of reptile, amphibian and insects have very unique dietary requirements, here at Kellyville Pets we are your one stop reptile food supplier for live, frozen an processed reptile food.
The most important thing to remember when feeding a reptile is to mimic what the reptile would be eating in the wild to be sure your reptile is getting adequate nutrition.

What does my reptile eat?

Lizards-
DiffereFeeding your Reptile Live Food such as crickets and mealworms will bring out the hunting instincts of captive animals whether it be your bearded dragon, turtle or birds, whilst providing essential protein and roughage. All insects are free of animal hormones and organophosphates.

Mealworms are a nutritious treat for Amphibians, Wrens, Chickens, Cichlids, Frogs, Oscars, Rats, Reptiles, Turtles, and Birds!

Australian wood roaches make an ideal and clean insect food for lizards, fish and frogs. Large Woodies are clean insects not known to carry disease organisms. In nature they are found under dead wood or tree bark and grow to the size of a large cricket.

Crickets are lively food that will bring out the hunting instincts of captive animals whilst providing essential protein and roughage. Animal hormones and organophosphates free.

Superworms are extra large mealworms. They provide a natural insect food and are an ideal source of protein for medium to large birds, robins, wagtails and most reptiles.

nt Lizard species eat different foods except all lizards love to eat crickets. Crickets should be offered every day to any adult lizard and multiple times a day for baby lizards as part of a balanced diet. The appropriate size crickets should be offered and are available in pin head size for hatchlings right up to large crickets for adult lizards.

Below is a guide of what to feed different species of Lizard.
Breaded dragons- bearded dragons live on a diet of specially formulated pellets, calcium dusted crickets as well as fresh fruit and vegetables.
Safe fruit and vegetables-•Acorn squash •Artichoke Heart •Asparagus (Raw) •Bell Peppers (Raw)
•Bok choy •Butternut squash •Cabbage (Raw) •Carrots •Celery •Cucumber (Peeled) •cooked Lentils •Endive •Kale •Parsnips •Pumpkin •Spaghetti squash •Zucchini (Raw) •Yellow squash
•Apples •Apricot •Blackberries •Blueberries •Cherries •Cranberries •Figs •Grapes •Grapefruit •Guava •Mangos •Melons •Nectarine •Papayas •Peaches •Pears •Pineapple •Plum •Prunes •Raisins •Strawberries •Watermelon

Foods not to feed bearded dragons-
Make sure they do not eat any of the below items:
Insects captured in the Wild- Never feed your bearded dragon any insects you catch yourself. The insects you catch probably have parasites on them and contain trace amounts of pesticides, both of which can make your bearded dragon sick.
Avocados- Do not feed your bearded dragons avocados. They are toxic, but their toxicity levels are unknown so it is best to avoid them.
Lettuce- Since lettuce is mostly water it is not nutritious for bearded dragons.
Spinach- While spinach is healthy, calcium binds easily to it which can make it hard for your bearded dragon to digest.

Blue tongue lizards-
Blue tongue lizards will eat all the same fresh fruit and vegetables as the above list.
They will also eat formulated pellets. The main difference between the diet of bearded dragons and blue tongues is that blue tongues love variety. Blue tongue lizards also love meat. Blue tongues can be offered raw red meat a few times a week as part of a balanced diet. Raw egg can also be added to your blue tongues pellets to make them more appealing and easier to eat once the egg has soaked into the blue tongue pellets and softened them.

Geckos-
Geckos only eat crickets, geckos do not eat fruit or vegetable or any other meat source, and therefore it is vital to feed your gecko with crickets that are dusted in calcium powder to promote healthy, strong bones.

Snakes-
Snakes eat birds and rodents. Rats, mice, rabbits and small birds such as quail are available as safe frozen food.
When choosing a food for your snake it is important to consider the size of your snake. The larger the snake the larger the food must be to keep the snakes stomach full and to digest slowly. If you feed a snake a food that is too big then it would either struggle to eat it or may not even try to eat the food. If you fed a snake food that is too small then you will need to feed the snake more regularly.
The time in between feeds also depends on the size of the snake and the size of the food it is fed. For example a hatchling Childrens Python may eat 1 pinkie mouse every week or an adult Olive Python may eat 1 small rabbit every 3-4 weeks.
Birds are a snake’s favourite food so it is important that quail is only fed to a snake as a special treat and not a staple diet.
How to feed your pet snake:
1. Defrost frozen food (use warm, not boiling, water)
2. Remove snake from tank and place in a large plastic tub (this prevents cage aggression)
3. While food is still warm, dry food with paper towel
4. Hold food at 1 end (holding the foods tail is best) with feeding tongs
5. Use feeding tongs to lower food into tub, just in front of the snakes face
6. The snake will strike and restrict around the food
7. Release food from tongs as soon as snake strikes to avoid tongs being restricted by snake
8. Gentle wiggle food (this makes the snake thinks that the food is alive and it will restrict harder)
9. Place a lid on the tub
10. Leave snake alone in a quiet place
11. After 30 minutes check to see if the snake has finished eating
12. If the snake has finished eating it can be placed back in its tank
13. Make sure the tank is appropriately heated for the snake to comfortably digest its meal.

WE DO NOT RECOMMEND FEEDING LIVE FOOD TO SNAKES

Turtles-
Turtles have a rather varied diet compared to most reptiles. Turtles can eat fortified turtle pellets, fruit and vegetables, insects and woms as well as fish and even pinkie mice.
Pellets- turtle pellets are an easy way to provide food for your turtle and are available here at Kellyville pets. If you use pellets try to make them part of a balanced diet with fresh food. Think of pellets as forming only the foundation of the diet. Provide fresh food, turtles also eat meat. This is an important part of their diet so be sure to have a regular supply of animal-based food for your turtle. The type of things you should feed your turtle includes crickets, mealworms, and small fish such as comet goldfish or even snails. At Kellyville pets we have small live fish for your turtle to eat available from our aquarium department as well as live worms and crickets, we also have pre-packaged, divided , frozen food.
Turtles have a varied diet which includes fruit and vegetables as well as meat. As a general rule a younger turtle will eat more meat, and as he gets older he will shift to eat more fruits and vegetables. Good vegetable choices include kale, parsley, green beans and cabbage. Small amounts of spinach and broccoli are also fine. For the fruit options use apples, bananas, pears, grapes, kiwi and melon.
When providing fruit and vegetables the ratio to use is, around 80-90% of vegetables, with just the remaining 10-20% coming from fruit. Generally, green and leafy things should be the largest part of his diet, while you should avoid fibre-rich vegetables such as lettuce and celery.

Frogs-
Frogs have a very basic diet, being completely carnivores, only eating insects or young mammals. You should never feed frogs insects found in the wild.
A frog’s diet varies depending on the size of the frog, small or young frogs will eat mostly small crickets or woodies. Larger, older frogs have a much more varied diet eating small pinkie mice, silk worms, woodies, meal worms and large crickets.

Hermit crabs-
Hermit crabs eat a variety of food such as fruit and vegetables, hermit crab mixes which contain seeds and fortified pellets, and will also enjoy eating meat products such as soft dog treats as a special treat.

Scorpions and Spiders-
Scorpions eat only crickets, it is important to feed your scorpion food that is appropriate for its size. Crickets are available in pin head size right up to large sizes. It is important to only feed your scorpion 1-2 crickets at a time and not feed it again until the crickets from the previous feed are eaten or dead. Crickets can easily gang up on a scorpion and kill it to eat it, especially crickets placed in a dessert scorpion’s enclosure as there is little water so the crickets will eat the scorpion to hydrate themselves.
Spiders also eat crickets, large spiders such as bird eating spiders will also enjoy pinkie mice once a month or less as a special treat.
Cockroaches-
Giant burrowing cockroaches are incredibly clean insects, spending majority of their time buried under soil. They will eat any fruit and vegies left on top of the soil and will also eat leaves or other plant material.

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