I would substitute the Iams cat canned cat food for Iams/Science Diet [or other premium brand] dog food. Dog food is lower in fat than cat food and if you're going to use it more than once in a long while you should go for the lower fat option - they should eat it regardless. Instead of RepCal, I feed my Plateds [both G. validus and G. major], Ectotherm Forest Tortoise Yummies, which is a moist gel diet. The Forest Tortoise gel is composed solely of fruits and vegetables which help simulate the vegetation-eating portion of these omnivorous lizard's diets. You can also feed the Ectotherm Bearded Dragon Yummies, but since I already feed superworms, crickets, and South American wood roaches along with the occasional nightcrawler, I don't see the need to feed the Beardie gel since it is basically the same as the Forest Tort gel but with crickets added in. I would steer away from feeding roaches from your garage unless you're absolutely certain they aren't poisoned with something - even then you can't be 100 percent sure they didn't come from a neighbors house where they could have ingested toxic baits. The other suggestions mentioned were all spot on. In particular, many of the European sites you may find will have good information. Finally, I've found that my G. validus tends to be more skittish and not as amenable to being held as my G. major.
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Matt Campbell

Animal Keeper, Small Mammal/Reptile House

Lincoln Park Zoo Chicago, Illinois



Assistant Curator

Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm

Lake Forest, Illinois

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