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blue tounges really this time


snake kid

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Yea I feed grated carrot alot too, as said already on here everything in moderation aye. Fruit&vege is the best way to go as a staple

Wouldnt worry too much about insects, see what they go for. Depends how old they are too, young bt in my experience will take anything that moves and will do so even faster than beardies (infact if a baby beardie was to cross their path... :o ) but with the exception of snails, other than the odd invertebrate amoungst their other food older blueys dont tend to seem to show much interest to them. Mealworms still get a good go from them though... lazy buggers :roll:

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apparently (just what I have been told) carrot and corn turns to sugar too fast to be much good, same as it does with us humans. ok in moderation. Also want to watch veges that have a high oxalate count so carrots, broccoli and cauli, as they bind some of the calcium so the lizard doesn't get as much. Ok in small amounts, but use lots of variety.

Ooooo, another interesting piece of trivia I was privey to from some new research showed that carrot had no nutritional value unless it had been warmed slightly. The chemical bonds need heat to change the chain so the body can absorb the particles.

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Also want to watch veges that have a high oxalate count so carrots, broccoli and cauli, as they bind some of the calcium so the lizard doesn't get as much.

Great to see peoples opinions about the diets they feed out :bounce:

But i have to disagree with this, whilst its true to keep in mind oxalate levels as it does inhibit calcium absorbtion by binding to calcium it is easily remedied by increasing the substrate inhibited, secondly oxalates do not only bind to calcium so the effect on calcium absorbtion is only significant if prodominant in the diet.

I have also seen plenty of data showing that infact carrot overall increases the calcium absorbtion levels in several reptile species as a vitamin A source through the conversion of Beta carotene (something that is otherwise scarse in most diets). As with everything there is an obvious equilibrium constant to take into account and with any reptile keeper the calcium ratio should be high as a result of food selection and supplementation.

In other words in most cases by dusting your food with supplementary calcium your reptile would still be gaining that much needed calcium through the diet regardless, and with anything...

...but use lots of variety.

Couldnt agree more :bow:

Brocolli & Cauli do actually have other properties more of concern than oxalates. Members of the cabbage family contain goitrogens that inhibit iodine absorbtion which can cause goiter, these I tend to avoid.

Oh and when you give carrot out if you can get them, the carrot tops make good eating (for the reptile i mean :roll: ) .... i grow my own as much as possible :wink:

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they would really stink on carpet use something a bit better than that

they dont sleep on carpet in the wild cheers.

they dont sleep on carpet in the wild because theyre in the wild, just like they dont sleep in a tank in the wild :lol:

cucumber in the wild ..... maybe

your right though artificial grass (reptile carpet not houshold carpet) will stink but like anything you have to clean it sand is good but needs regular cleaning to and theres always that small risk of them eating it.

alot of overseas ppl seem to use aspen shavings which look nice but cant say ive tried it.

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thats confusing

Sorry about that, basically what i was trying to say is that the whole idea behind calcium supplementation is that you are providing extra calcium to be absorbed by your reptile to ofset the natural inbalances that may result due to diet selection/deficiencies or inhibition as a result of oxalates or phosphorus etc.

Too much of either one (calcium included) can be just as disastrous or even worse than not enough.

I was simply clarifying something i felt required more input.

You can go overboard with bits and pieces of information and whilst it is handy to know what properties the food has to assist providing a suitable diet, to start being too selective would be more likely to result in an overlooked/unknown problem arising where there otherwise wouldnt have been.

I could hear voices of people saying "well ive always fed them that without any problem" :lol: and for good reason

... that and i know how difficult it can be to get blueys to eat what I want them to eat :roll:

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alot of overseas ppl seem to use aspen shavings which look nice but cant say ive tried it.

I use the shavings, they love burrying themselves in it

Plus I just pick out the poo whenever they go so it rarley needs a clean, he just uses one corner as the toilet so it makes it easy :lol:

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  • 2 months later...

I know this is an old thread now, but I can't restrain myself from adding my opinion (sorry in advance).

I reckon that wood-shavings are the best for blueys. The danger of impaction has already been noted by lots of people, so I won't go into that. Wood shavings allow your bluey to engage in burrowing, one of its favourite past-times in the wild and will also soak up urine. You can spot clean the poos right out by grabbing them, and the few surrounding chips around them out of the tank when you find them. Also, I have noticed that Franklet is a lot more active around his house when he's got lots of wood shavings to go burrowing in.

If you do choose to use wood shavings, it is recommended to use ASPEN shavings rather than pine shavings, as pine shavings contain phenols which may harm your lizard. Aspen shavings are quite expensive but do last a long time, because you buy them in bales that have been compressed. I've been using the same bale for about 6 months and there's still a little bit left of it, so it's not as expensive as it might seem at first.

-nicola :)

BTW - I think it's awesome that you've decided to get a bluey. I adore my Franklet to pieces, and you'll balance out the beardie to bluey owning ratios a (very) little bit on this forum :)

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