Blue Tongue & Dog Food

[Bighead]

We got an adult blue tongue at my store a couple days ago and my boss is insisting that he needs to eat "the cheapest wet dog food you can find". I'm sure this is a bad idea, but I need something to back myself up before I tell him. He is getting plenty of good fruits and veggies, but he told me not to feed him crickets or mealworms. Appearently "he will eat the substrate when he goes for the crickets and get impacted." Grrr.... What can I show or tell him?

[V.hb]

feed it fruits/veggies in a dish with some superworms.. they wont escape, the worms will eat the food in the dish, and the bluetongue can eat all that....You can also throw in pinkie mice, and rat pups.. Dog food can't be digested properly by reptiles.

[Bighead]

I know dog food is bad for them, but is there some way I can prove it to my boss? A caresheet from a reputable breeder or something? Thanks.

[V.hb]

alotta people say dog or cat food, but its *****.

temporarily it wont kill it, or probably even harm it other than a bit of runny stool..... If your boss wont bend just make sure it always has clean fresh water at all times to remain hydrated. Then do your best to sell it, and educate the buyer on what to PROPERLY feed it.. Sometimes in petstores you gotta just adapt and do your best with what you've got to work with.. good luck.

[LISA127]

The dog food is fine occassionally, but it needs to be good quality. Blue tongues won't usually bother with crickets, so I wouldn't feed them to him. The crickets are too small and fast for a blue tongued skink. I feed my blue tongue, along with fruits and veggies......good quality canned cat/dog food, moistened monkey biscuits, nightcrawlers, superworms, butterworms, scrambled eggs, plain cooked chicken or turkey. But honestly, I really don't think you'll have much luck with crix and mealworms. They are too small for him.

[Toirtis]

There you go:

http://members.shaw.ca/cloose/diet.htm

[Bighead]

Well, I guess dog food isn't as bad as I thought. We sold him yesterday and I think he went to a pretty good home. Thanks for the help.