Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Since this forum is usually RIP I've decided to try and liven it up with a little discussion. I've heard that jeweled lacertas will eat a variety of things ranging from insects to fruits and I was wondering if a good low-fat senior canned dog food would be a good supplement. Many organic/natural brands have decent ingredients including chicken and a variety of vegetables. Would jeweled lacertas do well on a diet of insects supplemented with a high quality canned dog food once or twice a week? Discuss!

Adult JL-s (aswell as most other lacertids) will certainly eat dog and cat food, but I don't think it's good for them in the long run. I've been keeping various lacertid lizards for almost 15 years (mostly larger species), and from time to time I had trouble finding enough live insects to satisfy the needs of my collection. That was times I offered "alternative" foods to lizards - pinky to hopper mice, strips of lean meat (turkey and chicken breasts) and canned dog or cat food. On such foods all lizards were gaining weight rapidly, which must be because of the much higher fat-to-protein ratio than in insect food. I noticed very poor viability of eggs deposited by females that were fed predominantly such fatty foods during gestation period. Also, hatchlings were often weak and underdeveloped with yolk sacs only partialy absorbed at the time of hatching.
I gues that lacertas can survive on such food for some (short) time, but it's unnatural and I wouldn't recomend it.

Regards

Nino

Well, Iim sure it's a good "just woke up from hibernation" starter. I know there are some really good canned dog for overweight/senior dogs that would make a decent supplement for underweight animals. In any case if you do decide to give them a little dog food make sure it is high quality. Wellness senior and Innova weight management come to mind...

I would just stick with what they are suppose to eat.
Foot Hill Reptiles

mine likes baby food meat sticks from the grocery store. He usaully bites my fingers cause they look the same color and width. I don't offer that often. Usually when I don't have any thing else to give him. He loves it though.