Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all, I want to get some of this diet to try. The question is, which one? They have the leaf eater diet that has been spoken of here and they have a "reptile food" as well. The ingredients are the same but different and I cant make heads or tails of it especially about halfway thru the ingredients when things start sounding like chemical compounds!

Any advice?

I got the ingredient lists from www.marionzoological.com

Thanks!
Carole
Marion

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www.reptilecare.com

Here are the ingredients:

Leaf Eater
Soybean meal, corn gluten meal, soybean hulls, sugar beet pulp, corn hominy feed, yellow corn, sucrose, dehydrated alfalfa meal, zinc sulfate, soybean oil (stabilized), dicalcium phosphate, flaxseed oil, niacin supplement, apple fiber, manganese sulfate, ferrous sulfate, calcium carbonate, d-calcium pantothenate, sodium chloride, copper sulfate, L-lysine, riboflavin supplement, thiamin mononitrate, cobalt oxide, folic acid, menadione nicotinamide bisulfite (vitamin K), pyridoxine HCL (vitamin B-6), l-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), propionic acid, choline chloride, ethylenediamine dihydriodide, FDC # 40, biotin, sodium selenite, vitamin B-12 supplement, vitamin A supplement, vitamin D-3 supplement, vitamin E supplement.

Reptile Food
Soybean hulls, soybean meal, corn gluten meal, corn hominy, sucrose, sugar beet pulp, corn grain, dehydrated alfalfa, soybean oil, (stabilized), dicalcium phosphate, apple fiber, calcium carbonate, sodium chloride, L-lysine, propionic acid, vitamin C, vegetable juice added for color, natural flavor, choline chloride, zinc oxide, ferrous sulfate, manganous oxide, nicotinic acid, d-calcium pantothenate, copper sulfate, menadione dimethyl-pyrimidinol bisulfite (vit K), riboflavin supplement, thiamin mononitrate, ethylenediamine dihydriodide, sodium selnite, biotin, folic acid, pyridoxine HCL (vit B-6), cyanocobalamin (vit B-12), stabilized retinyl palmitate (vit A), D-activated animal sterol (vit D-3), dl-alpha tocopheryl acetate (vit E).

Thanks,
Carole
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www.reptilecare.com

it was decided the leafeater was sufficient. It was not worth the triple the price or whatever it was to get the "reptile mix". I believe Jeff Lemm said this and the leafeater is what the San Diego zoo uses with great success. They have a great track record breeding cyclura.

doesnt seem like you can order it right off the website. where can one get it and how much does it run. i'd like to try it.

gave them the credit card number and it was done. Got the stuff like a week later.

Hello again Carole,
I have been using dry food supplements since Jacobsen's Green Iguana book was published in 2003 and feel that it makes a notable difference. Marion reptile has been the favorite supplement for my group -- I consider it the best. It tends to hold its form after being soaked unlike others that turn to mush. The iguana size is good for hatchlings, but I prefer the tortoise size for adults.
I have asked the same question(why more if ingredience near identical ?) The manufacturer's reply was "different formula." I was told reptiles require a slightly higher level of magnesium. They also mentioned that it is a supply and demand issue. There's a small market for reptile food and a big market for dry leaf eater foods. Economy of scale makes the leaf eater less. Perhaps some zoos use leaf eater for reptiles, because they are already ordering it in huge amounts for other animals ? As Tom mentioned the SD Zoo has had cyclura success with leaf eater. Would their success be better with reptile food ? We won't know unless they try it ? The triple cost to unquantifyable benefit probably keeps this from occuring.
If your looking to save money, the lemur leaf eater food is the same size as the tortoise reptile food, and probably makes a better supplement than most of the other reptile foods on the market.

Carole
My cyclura love it, go crazy for it. I had to stop using it after 4 mos. why? For some reason what comes out the back end is just nasty. New diets tend to do that to cyclura until they adjust and I kept it up waiting for normal fecal results. It didn't happen. I stopped, made some phone calls waited a bit and tried again. I was still cleaning up dark green applesauce and it stinks! Both my critters have clean bills of health. I just hated the clean up. Also, ants love it too so keep an eye out and keep it sealed up.
... not to rain on the parade
jf

ps I was using the leaf eater. its easy to order just call them

EEEWWW, anyone else have this happen? I have tried the Zoo Med and Rep Cal pellets and they have tended to firm things up nicely.

Carole
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www.reptilecare.com

Hated it. I used it on the chucks and it gave me the exact opposite effect that Joel had. It plugged up the chucks solid. Most of the chucks were addicted to the stuff. They got to the point where they would not eat the greens.

Hey Joel,
Good to know what others have experienced. Apple sauce droppings has not been a problem for me. I use reptile and not leaf eater, so maybe the, "different formula" makes a difference ? I do have a problem with them picking it out of the salad, but by the next day the whole salad is gone, so I do not worry about it.

PS: If you make the DR trip, check out the bean trees ? They are all over the parking lot to the enterance of the park in Descubierta -- where you catch the boat to go to Isla Cabrita.

Read the ingredient list..... horrible