Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My dry dishes usually only consists of bird seed and Rep-Cal pellets, and I've been meaning to add split peas and lentils to the mix, but how am I supposed to offer them? The lentils are way too big to eat whole, and I'm assuming I'm supposed to crush them. A while back when I had all my reptiles in my student apartment I got lentils and had to improvise by crushing them in a plastic bag with a hammer... All I succeeded in doing was leaving lentil-sized dents on the kitchen floor, lol.

Is there some easy way to crush them, or am I supposed to soak them and feed with the greens? I feel kind of stupid but these things have me puzzled, lol

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1.1 Brazilian rainbows Nico, Tally
1.0 Carpet X Diamond python, Steve
1.0 Ball python, Stan (Rescue)
1.0 Blood python, Porthos
1.0 Northern blue tongue, Jabbi
1.0.1 Mali Uromastyx, Ajani (rescue), Goober
0.0.1 Egyptian Uro, Ahktep
1.0 Leopard gecko, Frank (rescue)
1.0 Red eared slider, Spunky (rescue)
1.0 African mud turtle, Francois the Tortois (rescue)
0.0.1 African bullfrog, Grendel
1.0 Fiance (WC) who approves of my addiction

Use the coffee grinder. You can get one at Walmart. Hope this help!

Uros have shockingly strong jaws. If your uro is an adult with healthy teeth, he can likely crunch the dry lentils like popcorn. Some people do grind or soak/sprout lentils. I don't bother. Keep in mind, don't feed large amounts of dry foods unless he's also eating plenty of greens and veggies (not for you specifically, just a general caveat).
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Torey
Eugene, Oregon, USA
1.1 Saharan Uros (Joe and Arthur)
3.0 Mali Uros (Spike, Turtle, and Tank)
1.1 Ornate Uros (Scuttlebutt and Shazzbot)
1.1 Collared Lizard (Ripcord and Rorschach)
2.0 Green Anoles (Bowser and Sprocket)
1.1 Chubby Housecats (Roscolux and Jenny)

Aside from individual food preferences amongst every Uro, their age can also be a factor. Younger Uros may prefer a moistened seed whereas an adult may accept dried, or both. We've seen sporadic tastes for lentils across the board but nearly 100% acceptance of dried mung beans for juvies & older. Try them! Also consider buckwheat groats, oat groats, bulghur wheat, barley, rabbit pellets, canary food, etc. The list is long & I believe many Uro keepers keep their dietary offerings way too restricted & biased on the moist leafy side. I see these pictures posted with a "happy looking" Uro grazing on a bowl of luscious wet green salad all the time. This is NOT representative of their diet in the wild. Dry camel poop fulfills their nutritional needs more than Publix greens. Just nasty food for thought!
Dan.

Only problem with feeding a large dried diet and limiting the vitamin packed leafy greens is you can overload on food that isn't doing much more then filling up the stomach and not providing the necessary dietary items such as the proper amount of calcium, vitamins, and allow uro's to store fat. Overfeeding of dry foods MAY (I do not know for sure) lead to issues as the Uro ages, by not having the proper mix of necessities.