Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a young rhino hatched this October. He/she is growing fast and has already filled out being fed her greens and squashes (sometimes sweet potato). I'd like to know at what age/size we could start adding occassional fruits to her diet. I'm assuming not yet, but when...6 months...a year?

Thanks!

Hi, I say go ahead and add them now. As long as he is eating the greens there is no reason not to supplement with some fruit. I use fruit here for hydration when I feel that someone isnt getting the amount of liquid into him/her. If he starts shunning the greens and in favor of the fruit I would stop until the greens eating resumes. I used it no more than about 10% and that can be only weekly.

Carole

Papaya is good, cactus fruit or cactus "pears", blueberries etc. I have also found that if you need to medicat grapes work fabulously for hiding pills in.
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Thanks for your advice,
We have a 2 yr old spiny-tail iguana who's favorite foods are her mango and raspberries. She is a great eater, though, and always licks the plate clean (getting a secong meal of greens only...which she also nearly cleans).

It's hard sometimes to give the spiny the "treats" and not be able to give them to the baby rhino, but we don't want to give her anything that might upset her stomach or keep her from her greens (she already picks the squash off first, and eventually eats the greens...also requiring a second meal of greens a day, which she eats).

Maybe I'll try giving her a tiny bit of fruit this Saturday and see how she handles it.

Thanks again, and no offense, but other opinions are appreciated as well!

Oh, I forgot to mention that hydration is also not an issue. We spray the food with water before serving, and she drinks from her water bowl (we've seen her do it just about every evening).

I really just like giving them foods they love, and watching them enjoy it. I just don't want to give her anything that might upset her growth & progress for my own sence of satisfaction.

Thanks again!