Reptile & Amphibian Forums

remember a while back when we were talking about the Marion food. I never saw a resolution. Since then I was at the SD Zoo and talked to Jeff Lemm and saw the CRES diet. I also called Marion. Here's what I learned. SD Zoo uses the leafeater diet and a high fiber supplement that the zoo makes. Each adult ig gets 35 grams mixed with 30 grams of water and then sprinkled on their food daily. According to Marion they think the zoo buys the leafeater opposed to the reptile diet cuz the price and ease of ordering. The only difference Marion could tell me between the 2 diets was that the reptile diet had 2% more protein. Leaf eater diet comes in 25lb bags for $25 plus shipping. The reptile food comes in 2lb bags for $12.50(includes shipping) and there is a 4lb min. order. There are also different sizes of the food, crumble, the size of BBs. Lemur, 1/2"x1" and ape biscuit, candybar. So for someone like me the reptile food is a better fit 'cuz I only have 2 to feed. So, I went ahead and ordered the reptile food. I should get it monday as it takes that long to get to the west coast. Shelf life is 1yr and Marion said humidity seems to affect taste and the bugs love it so keep it in a sealed container.
My two cyclura are both finicky eaters and I am pretty happy with my diet for them so this is just a test out of curiousity for me. If you guys are interested I can post later when I see the stuff and feed it.
On a different note, Jeff has his basking sights at about 150 degrees.

Hi Joel,
It was good to see you again and hang out - glad your wife and son had a good time. I saw more of your sculptures online - awesome and thanks again for the pinguis sculpture - many compliments on it. I have tried all of the biscuits from Marion, from reptile to gorilla-sized. The gorilla sized (yellow) actually has some animal protein in it and we did use that for a bit for the protein before we started on the zoo protein diet. The herbivore pellets all work well if soaked in water or ground down. The herp biscuit is a good choice for you, but remember, ants like it too. Talk soon,
Jeff

What is this stuff? I feel like I've been living in a cave. With over 100 ctenosaura's, this may be something to look into. Is there a web site? So far I've been a Zoo Med juvenile formula feeder (adult formula for the cyclura) and have had great success with it. But, Zoo Med did change their formula and it is no longer collard greens and legume based. This Marion sounds like a product to look into.

I did some quick research, and got the ingredients of both diets. I'm not a zoologist, but it seems that the zoo med diet would be a better diet for ctenosaura, unless those "unpronounceable ingredients" that you may be able to pronounce are better than collard greens, mustard greens, and kale. I have never heard of soybeans being used as a main ingredient also.

Here is the Marion reptile diet: (scroll down for zoo med diet)
Ingredients

1.Soybean hulls,
2.soybean meal,
3.corn gluten meal,
4.corn hominy, sucrose,
5.sugar beet pulp,
6.corn grain,
7.dehydrated alfalfa,
8.soybean oil,
9.(stabilized), dicalcium phosphate,
10.apple fiber,
11.calcium carbonate,
12.sodium chloride,
13.L-lysine,
14.propionic acid,
15.vitamin C,
16.vegetable juice added for color,
17.natural flavor, choline chloride,
18.zinc oxide,
19.ferrous sulfate,
20.manganous oxide,
21.nicotinic acid,
22.d-calcium pantothenate,
23.copper sulfate,
24.menadione dimethyl-pyrimidinol
25.bisulfite (vit K),
26.riboflavin supplement,
27.thiamin mononitrate,
28.ethylenediamine dihydriodide,
29.sodium selnite,
30.biotin,
31.folic acid,
32.pyridoxine HCL (vit B-6),
33.cyanocobalamin (vit B-12),
34.stabilized retinyl palmitate (vit A),
35.D-activated animal sterol (vit D-3),
36.dl-alpha tocopheryl acetate (vit E).
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Crude Protein 22% minimum
Crude Fat 4% minimum
Crude Fiber 12% maximum
Moisture 10% maximum
Ash 6% maximum
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Here is the Zoo Med Juvenile reptile diet:
Ingredients:

1.Sun-Dried Alfalfa,
2.Wheat Bran,
3.Soybean Meal,
4.Collard Greens,
5.Mustard Greens,
6.Kale,
7.Spirulina,
8.Glycerin,
9.Natural Flavors,
10.Beta Carotene,
11.Vitamin D3,
12.Vitamin A Acetate,
13.Vitamin B12 Supplement,
14.Riboflavin, Niacin,
15.Folic Acid,
16.Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Vitamin K),
17.Calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride,
18.Thiamine, Biotin, DL Alphatocopherol (Vitamin E),
19.Stable Ascorbic Acid,
20.Choline Chloride,
21.Cobalt Sulfate,
22.Copper Sulfate,
23.Ferrous Sulfate,
24.Manganese Sulfate.
___________________________________________

Crude Protein, min., 24.0%
Crude Fat, min., 6.0%
Crude Fiber, max., 12.0%
Moisture Content, max., 15.0%
Ash Content, max., 9.0%

Hi Mark,
Thanks for that, it will be great for users of this forum. I believe both diets are probably pretty good depending on your use. Either would work for us as this type of diet is used only for fiber and is only about 10% of the day's diet, if that. In my manual I will make mention of your diet as others I know use it too.

a 25lb bag of the bb sized leafeater diet. It is kind of a reddish brown color. I just sprinkle it on the mixed greens I feed the chucks. It took a few weeks but now seems they prefer it over the greens. You should definately mix with water for the cycluras. The chucks seems to handle it dry ok but that's their nature. I offer it every other feeding. Dried the feces out nicely and now just nice pellets and very fiberous just like in the wild. Mark should definately look into it with all those animals. Mark if you like I can send you a few lbs as it will probably go bad before I use it all. At least you can try it before purchasing. It is probably a cheaper alternative. Tom