Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok gang. I've been using this stuff for about a month now. Way to soon to say anything related to growth/health but I can say 5 crocs really like the stuff with 2 holdouts. The diet also enables each animal to eat his fill.

I will also add that their waste products are thicker and water changes are more frequent. The larger 'biscuit' tends to sink which really bothers me. It also seems to be cracked more often with residue dropping to the bottom. The smaller pellet floats and is eaten whole. It is accepted by all sizes of crocodilians.

I think for all but the largest of crocs the smaller pellet is coming out ahead.
The Ultimate Guide to Crocodilians in Captivity

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CDieter
'Reason, observation, and experience; the holy trinity of science.'

Thanks, Chris,
will try to get some of this stuff while visiting Florida in November.

n/p

Paul, I am currently not sure about the exact travel dates,but I will be in Miami November 5th at a fund-raising event for Tomistoma conservation by CSG-TTF , which is hosted by Miami Metro Zoo. You guys will get an announcement soon, we´re just updating the website. Please see www.tomistoma.org for details.
Would be nice meeting you too, Paul - many croc people and several CSG representatives will be there.

I've been using the Mazuri diet for close to ten months. The most difficult part has been finding a way to feed it to the crocs with a minimal amount of waste. In my situation I have found that the larger pellet works better for most crocs over four feet or so. If it is in the water long enough to sink you are most likely feeding out too much at one time. A good system is to just throw in one pellet at a time and let the croc grab it then throw in another. It sound a bit time consuming but really is not. Especially when you consider there is no prep time or clean up involved with the process. I can feed 20 animals 6-8 feet long in 20 minutes doing it a pellet at a time. There are many benefits to doing it this way, you get a close up look at each of your animals during every feeding, you monitor exactly how much food each animal is consuming, you can monitor intake of individuals in group situations, and there is zero waste. The pellet is 90% dry matter as compared to the 70% or so moisture content of whole prey, so each animal gets a fraction of food by weight that you would normally feed. Currently animals between five and six feet would get 30-35 pellets weekly, larger animals, over ten feet would get around three pounds per week. Something close to fifty pellets I believe. As for the breaking of pellets, over time the crocs seem to adapt to eating a solid pellet and tend to be a little gentler while positioning it. It was mentioned in a previous post that this diet would make a good supplement. The diet was actually designed to be an exclusive diet. Rodents, chicks, neighbors, and such could be added as a supplement but the Mazuri should work well on it's own. Over the past few months we have noticed an incredible growth rate on animals that are being fed the pellet exclusively. So much so that I am thinking of cutting back even further on the per pound amount that is fed out to each croc. I just realized this has dragged on a bit and most probably have not made it this far down. If anyone is interested more thoughts or observations I will be happy to post. Otherwise, sorry for taking up so much of your time.

Good info. I disagree a little with your observations of the larger pellet. I do feed one at a time. Thats what has been the most disappointing thing to me. The pellets hit the water and about every third pellet sinks. I have noticed that the crocs have learned to go down and get them but there is still a degree of waste. Perhaps my batch is 'heavier'? Feeds have a degree of variance to them.

I for one am interested in hearing more about your usage of the diet. I like the smaller pellets but am not sold on the larger ones yet.
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CDieter
'Reason, observation, and experience; the holy trinity of science.'

One in every three sinking is a bit much; perhaps your batch is a little off. I have noticed some will sink immediately, but only a couple every now and then. The current density was a compromise, originally there was a pellet that would float for a much longer period of time, at least an hour, but this was a much lighter pellet. There were two drawbacks with this. One is that after a short time the pellet would become very soft and mushy on the water making it difficult for the croc to grab. The other is that you would need to feed out more biscuits to each animal. Perhaps only a couple extra but this would add up over time. The current formula is designed to get the most mass stuffed into each pellet while still allowing a large percentage to float for an acceptable amount of time. There is some variation with this, but most the pellets should float for about 15-20 minutes. Something else I've noticed is that many crocs will not go after the pellet if it has been floating for a while. It seems they prefer to get the pellet immediately or not at all, this could change over time as they adapt to the new diet. I think a good way to compare the smaller pellet to the larger biscuit is to weigh 15 large pellets and see how many smaller pellets it takes to equal this. Feed out each batch to a 6-foot croc and see which works best both in time and product.
Chris, My ramblings tend to go one with little direction in these posts. Feel free to contact me off list if you would like to compare notes.

What is the main differance between this feed and the Burris Mill Feed?

I tried the Burris mill feed years back, but I really didnt like it, it made a lot of mess, although croc's did seem to like it to some exstent.

The biggest difference between Burris Mills and Mazuri is when you call Mazuri and ask for a nutritional breakdown of their product they are more than happy to share the information with you. Burris will claim the nutritional make up of their animal diet is proprietary information. Mazuri has been producing diets for zoo for years and they work closely with the people at these facilities and do there best to provide a diet that is both healthy and palatable for the animals. The Burris product is fed mostly to alligators that rarely make it past four feet (due to farming, not necessary the diet).