Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is there any data on what the proper nutritional breakdown should be for skinks?

Recently I was advised that Pink Tongue Skinks could be fed Whiskas Mixed Grill cat food as an exclusive diet. The breakdown for that is
Crude Protein, Min 8.0%
Crude Fat, Min 4.0%
Crude Fiber, Max 1.0%
Moisture, Max 82.0%
Ash, Max 3.0%

Sufficient Water for Processing, Chicken, Meat By-Products, Beef, Starch, Natural Flavors, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Guar Gum, Caramel Coloring, Potassium Chloride, Iron Oxide, Choline Chloride, Taurine, DL-Methionine, Vitamin E & D3 Supplements, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Folic Acid, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity).

This seems inadequate to me, and the ingredient list doesn't intill confidence in this being a complete diet.

Upon looking for more appropriate cat/dog foods I found one that's broken down as follows:
Min. Protein 29.16%, Min. Fat 18%, Max. Fiber 3.24%, Moisture 10.0%

Beef, Chicken, Lamb; Beef, Chicken and Lamb Liver; Ground Bone, Flax Seed, Ground Brown Rice, Ground Oat Groats, Ground Wheat, Ground Corn, Cane Molasses, Tomatoes, Sun-Cured Alfalfa, Apple, Blueberry, Sweet Potato, Celery, Beets, Parsley, Lettuce, Watercress, Spinach, Carrots, Green Beans, Potato, Barley Grass Powder, Wheat Grass Powder, Artichoke, Dried Seaweed, Milk Calcium, Coral Calcium, Dicalcium Phosphate, Barley Sprouts, Fish Oil, Coconut Oil, Yeast Culture, Sesame Seeds, Taurine, DL-Methionine, Sea Salt, Garlic, Black Pepper, Artichoke, Dried Entercococcus faecium Fermentation Product, Bacillus subtilis Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus plantarum Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus casei Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus lactis Fermentation Product, Dried Saccharomyces cerevisiae Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus oryzae Fermentation Product, Dried Aspergillus niger Fermentation Product, Natural Extractives of Sage and Rosemary, Choline Chloride, Ascorbic Acid, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Manganese Proteinate, Calcium Pantothenate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Copper Proteinate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin A Acetate, Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement.

Much more complete, but possibly too much protein and especially fat and too heavily supplemented.

I have snails that I breed, so this is primarily theoretical conversation for my purposes, but it is still important information to help improve our enjoyment of this family of herps.
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E2MacPets
http://www.e2macpets.com

You must keep in mind that all pet food labels try to sell the product and are quite misleading.
I can go into a long list of guidelines in choosing a good dog/cat food however these foods are made to suite dogs and cats specifically (however poorly or greatly).
These foods are made to be fed exclusively only on the basis of lots of tests and feeding trials on what these species specifically require.
Skinks themselves are a large group of reptiles and have somewhat diverse diet needs. Many are insectivores, and some are omnivores. Few if any are carnivores and thus a comparison to a cat diet is useless. The skinks that are omnivores may relatively compare to a dog's diet however any lacking aspects of the dog food for your skink will be magnified over a long period of time if it is fed exclusively.
The insectivores don't compare to cat or dog.
With keeping in mind what cats and dogs need and therefore what is in their food, you can use their food to supplement what you feed your skink if it applies.
Variety in food is still needed to meet the requirements of skinks. Vit/Min supplementation and gut loading insects may reduce this need in some species however again, you can't go wrong with a natural variety.

LEEWAY CORUCIA RESEARCH CENTER (LCRC)

"Many are Carnivores, some are omnivores and some are insectivores"...

One is a herbivore and one is a specialized mulluscivore-Hemisphaeriodon gerrardi-The pink-tongue skink is Gastropodivorous with special dentition for such. One should not try to change such a specialized feeder completely for long term success. A supplement of snails, at the very least, is a must. Yes, Cat food tends to be way too high in protein and fat for most Skinks. to gut load insects for H. gerrardi will not work either. Adult formula low fat dog food is often used for Tiliqua but they are omnivores and such the high vegetable content is not the norm for Pink-Tongues.

Bottom line:

Yes, More Nutritional research for a proper diet regimen is needed. H. gerrardi is a great species that would be propagated more by many if the diet wasn't so specialized.
If one of the major feed producers(like Purina etc.) could be convinced that research towards this product was to their advantage, it would broaden the horizons tremendously.

Sincerely,
Brian
LCRC

t-rex VGF and rep-cal juvie pellets for beardied dragons?
I feed a variety of foods including ground turkey (93% fat free),roaches, worms, crix, fruits and veggies
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Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com