I had been feeding my little alligator exclusively on live fish (no goldfish) but had a batch of minnows succumb to a too-rapid water temp change, so I froze them and he was just as happy to eat frozen/thawed. One day he was begging so cutely while I was feeding other cages that I tossed him some trout chow pellets. He loves them, and gobbles them up as soon as they hit the water. He's fat, in both belly and tail base, so this is not starvation or desperation. Is there any harm in maintaining him on trout chow with occasional live food "treats" as long as he's of a size to take the pea-sized pellets.(That probably won't be long -- he's growing fast.) I know conventional wisdom says whole, live food is ALWAYS best, but my turtles live, grow, and breed just fine on Repto-Min. How 'bout a 'gator?
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Adequate diet? How long often?
Replies (3)
My caiman eats a base of cichlid pellets (pretty close nutrionally to Burrels gator chow) supplemented with live fish and occasional a thawed frozen rat. He started eating the pellets several years ago when he cohabitated with a Red Devil (who unfortunately became lunch). Ironically, he won't touch the gator chow....
Rob
>>I had been feeding my little alligator exclusively on live fish (no goldfish) but had a batch of minnows succumb to a too-rapid water temp change, so I froze them and he was just as happy to eat frozen/thawed. One day he was begging so cutely while I was feeding other cages that I tossed him some trout chow pellets. He loves them, and gobbles them up as soon as they hit the water. He's fat, in both belly and tail base, so this is not starvation or desperation. Is there any harm in maintaining him on trout chow with occasional live food "treats" as long as he's of a size to take the pea-sized pellets.(That probably won't be long -- he's growing fast.) I know conventional wisdom says whole, live food is ALWAYS best, but my turtles live, grow, and breed just fine on Repto-Min. How 'bout a 'gator?
...I've never heard of gator chow. Is it available by mail from herp supliers, and would it be financially worth looking into? Thanks for the info about cichlid pellets -- I'm reassured.
I ordered last year, I'd have to dig up the address - I believe the place is called Burrels and they are located in Louisianna. They shipped me a 50lb. bag, but the pellets sank and disintegrated way too quickly in the pond. He also didn't seem to show any interest, where the cichlid sticks would be gobbled up. I compared the ingredients and nutrional info., and didn't find much difference between the two - maybe 1% in protein.
>>...I've never heard of gator chow. Is it available by mail from herp supliers, and would it be financially worth looking into? Thanks for the info about cichlid pellets -- I'm reassured.
