Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am looking for some variety in my beardies' diet, and wondered how it would be to feed CANNED dog food occasionally. The ingredients listed are lamb, spring water, brown rice and vitamins. There is no added phosphorus, and Jack just loved his sample! It seems like it would be easy vary, using only the best canned foods. If you think this is a bad idea, please explain why.

Thanks!

well to put it simply:

a Dragon is *NOT* a dog!

I could go on in detail but that's the summary.

just to give you a few tips:

dogfood is going to have the wrong mix of fats / protines / minerals and other elements.

a dragon needs a more varied mix of green vegitables and other things not found in dog food.

I would bet that if a dragon was eating dog food for long he would show signs of liver/kideny related problems in bood tests.

not to say that a bite will kill him....

but not good for a diet.
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I suppose I should clarify:

My thought was to use the dogfood as a substitute for the protein in the dragon's diet, not exclusively. That way they can have chicken, lamb, fish, etc. It would merely provide varity to the crickets and worms they already eat.

Dog food has many other ingredients and preservatives besides the meat proteins....I would advise against it....giving crickets, supers(if the dragon is large enough), various roaches and silkworms is plenty of protein variety....you can also add repcal pellets which are an additional protein source with many other goodies in them.
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Tracey
Tracey's Beardies
www.beardiecrazy.com
"Whining is not only graceless, but can be dangerous.
It can alert a brute that a victim is in the neighborhood" ~Maya Angelou

We had a beardie that was in distress and the vet suggested that we feed him cat food while he was sick. The idea was to provide extra nutrician to help him recover.

How ever you don't want to give him that much protein as it is hard on the kidneys. This is expecially true for older beardies who should be fed 80% veggies and 20% crickets.

Conrad
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Peace through Strength
War through Weakness
Defeat through Kerry (like Johnson)

I wouldn't do it either. Dog and cat food has extremely high levels of fats and protiens, neither of which is good for your beardie in large amounts. Espeically if your beardie is an adult.
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