Lightning Bugs (Fireflies) will kill your scaly sweety, and never let him or her eat rhubarb! Avocados are toxic to many creatures! Lettuce has nearly no nutrition! These are just a few important things to learn of.
One sunny day, Copper (seen below) ate a bee! I never took my eyes off her. Instantly, a bee teleported itself directly in front of her. She ate it with hyperspeed! I grabbed her, held her tightly and cried like a baby! I thought, “Any minute now I’m going to lose her.” I raced inside to research what I can do or what will happen. I learned she should be fine to digest the bee (ech, & poor bee) & may very well not get stung!
Other things are surprisingly detrimental though!
Foods high in oxalates or oxalic acids are a good thing to know about. Please see the links below to learn more.
https://www.beardeddragoncare101.com/avoid-feeding-bearded-dragon/
http://www.moonvalleyreptiles.com/uromastyx/uromastyx-diet/oxalates-goitrogens-toxins
The following is an informative bit I found here: https://reptile-savvy.weebly.com/oxalates.html
Oxalates chiefly affects calcium but also has an affect with magnesium metabolism. Calcium Oxalic acid binds calcium and forms calcium oxalate which is insoluble, indigestible crystals. Therefore, calcium oxalate adversely effects the absorption and utilisation of calcium in the animals’ body.
Spinach, for example, contains a high level of calcium, but the oxalic acid it also contains binds up all but about 5% of it during the digestion process, working at a rate of 1 unit of oxalic acid binding up almost 100 units of calcium. Vitamin A can help reduce the effect a little. A positive feature of oxalic acid is that the crystals help clean the digestive system and may offer some other benefits in small amounts. Foods high in oxalic acid include spinach, kale, lettuce, broccoli, swiss chard and parsley. A varied diet can prevent any nutritional issue, as well as careful and moderate feeding of foods high in oxalic acid.
It’s easy to get bogged in the details of things scientific, metabolic, and more, in regards to proper lighting, their outputs and distances from different reptiles. All this, and the learning of diet do’s and don’ts can be overwhelming.
No lizard deserves being the victim of negligence in learning. We must try to not make a dreadful mistake! If you need to know more on lighting, my post Lighting for Lizards has some information.
A quick way to navigate through the rigmarole concerning their diets is to keep this in mind:
- DO RESEARCH ABOUT WHAT IS DANGEROUS TO DIGEST AND DON’T GIVE THEM THESE THINGS.
- MAKE A LIST OF WHAT MULTIPLE SOURCES CLAIM TO BE IDEAL FOR DAILY INTAKE (NEVER RELY ON ONLY ONE PERSON’S OPINION). THEN, DON’T HAVE WORRIES ABOUT THESE THINGS.
- IF A FOOD IS VERY NUTRITIOUS WITH NEEDED VITAMINS AND MINERALS, BUT THERE IS CONCERN PERTAINING TO IT’S HIGH OXALATES, FOR EXAMPLE, JUST BE MODERATE WHEN OFFERING IT TO YOUR REPTILE.
- KEEP THIS AS A LOG YOU CAN REFER TO LATER. IT’S ALSO GOOD FOR HOUSE-SITTERS AND CARE-GIVERS TO HAVE IN THEIR POSSESSION IF YOU TRAVEL.
- YOU COULD CATEGORIZE YOUR FINDINGS AS: “NEVER GIVE, WILL KILL”, “ALL THEY WANT”, AND “GIVE ONLY OCCASIONALLY IN SMALL AMOUNTS” Another something you may want to convey to your reptile care-givers is that it is not wise to not allow them to eat any insects found outdoors. They may have parasites or gotten into chemicals. If they are fed plants from outside that is known to be safe for them to eat, know first that they also have no chemical residue upon them. One could also leave the name and telephone number of an exotic animal veterinarian if the um, babysitter needs to get your sweety seen.
I will recommend organic food. These may be rinsed due to bacteria that can be found in soil and manure. If un-chemically treated produce isn’t accessible, rinse very well and pat dry. There’s some bad stuff in the water too. Personally, I’ve read much about effects of flouride (I don’t think it’s for our teeth) and the chemicals used to “clean” the water. There are some filtration systems that remove flouride along with the other stuff. If these cannot be obtained, any form of filtered water will have to do. Here’s just one thing about some of the water.
Pesticides kill things, so whatever that is, it’s not good for any of us. It also has been claimed they negatively effect the cancer-killing enzymes found naturally in what should be healthy food.
The FDA & others may state something is safe up to a certain dosage, that may or may not be so. I’m not trying to induce a sense of paranoia in the realms of food and drink. I’m simply stating we need to be cautious regarding a number of things to develop a balanced approach to the best choices possible for our loved ones, based on gathered information.
IF YOUR REPTILIAN DARLING NEEDS YOUR HELP BECAUSE THEY SEEM SICK OR TIRED, COLLECT A STOOL SAMPLE, IF YOU CAN, IN A ZIPLOCK BAG, YOU CAN SQUEEZE OUT SOME AIR AROUND THE FECAL MATTER. THIS HELPS THE DEPENDABILITY OF THE RESULTS (do not allow feces to contact anything & wash hands after handling).
LAY PITIFUL BABY ON A BLANKIE IN A BOX OR HAVE A RIDE – ALONG PAL TO HOLD HIM OR HER TO VISIT THE VETERINARIAN. SOME VETS WILL LET YOU DROP OFF THE SAMPLE WITH THE COST OF THE FECAL TEST. CALL AN EXOTIC ANIMAL VET TO GET DETAILS.
THEY’RE SO WORTH IT.
*If you want to know about Copper, she can be found here and here. These are sad stories folks. She was special to her family. Pain-of-loss aside, there’s a beautiful thing within.
