Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hello, can I put my dragons on a diet with capital ingredient catfood?

greetz rigor mortis

water dragons are not cats .. they are water dragons.. and they need a variety of food. if you are talking about catfood as a staple diet then no.. if you are talking about occasionally i don't know.. i have never heard of anyone feeding cat food to a water dragon before.. i have heard of occasionally feeding cooked chicken.. but i don't do that either... they should have a varied diet of whole prey, fruits and veggies, and occasional bugs like nightcrawlers, superworms, hornworms, silkies.. etc....i would think that the vitamins and minerals in catfood be it high in phorphorus, to much vitamin a or b.. etc.. would only detrament a wd..

alissa

I would not even giv this occasionally. Cat food is that high in protein, that even dogs should not be fed with this stuff. Also it does not contain enough dietary fibers, minerals and so on.
Just forget it

Ci@o

Ingo

I would not give them cat food...dog food is actually much better.
BUT there are certain things you must make sure of before you attempt to do this....
1. Your dragons will not take to the food right away so you will still have to feed them their regular diet and progressivly switch over.
2. You will still have to monitor the dragon's health...if they look like they are not eating enough switch back to a regular diet and try again.
3. You must only feed a low fat high nutrient dog food. Too much fat and not enough nutrients could be the end of your dragon.

I have maintained my 3 basilisks for 3 years on a dog food diet with crickets only on the weekends...dusted in vitamins to make sure they get all the nutrients they need. They are all healthy and breeding very well. I have also had sucess with skinks on dog food. It is a good idea if you do it right but it takes patience and time as well as knowledge...research more before you go GUNG-HO and try it right away or e-mail me at cv768@hotmail.com

What brand of dog food did you use? Not all brands are created equal. I agree that dog food is closer, accept for one major point, its generally higher in ash then cat food. Naturally waterdragons wouldn't have any ash in their diet and any might cause problems that might take years to develop. Some animals like skinks and monitors that will eat carrion in the wild, are better suited to these kind of diets. I am suprized to hear that your basilisk have done so well with it.