MissLissa
Avid Member
So, I have a scheltopusik (legless lizard) who flatly refuses to eat live food. I'm not sure why, but she eats pretty much anything else so it's not really a problem. One of her rotation foods are those smelly canned insects from ZooMed (crickets, grasshoppers, silkworms, etc). They are crazy expensive, but I mix them up with her other foods so it's not too bad.
Well, today I wondered if my other lizards would like them so I opened a can of crickets. Now, if you haven't smelled canned crickets, I can't really explain it to you. It's sort of like a sweet barbecue smell, but one that makes you think maybe the chef used cheap dog food instead of meat. As soon as I open the can in the lizard room, a half dozen lizard faces ere sticking out of their holes, staring at me. Every one ate them! The fire skinks, the red eye crocodile skinks, even the New Guinnea crocodile skinks are them happily- even greedily- off the tongs. I mean, I was pretty sure the fire skinks would eat them (they will eat anything, including things that aren't food- thanks, Gleep, for the $700 vet bill you bark-eating pigglet) but I was shocked that the T. novaeguineae would even touch the, as they are quite fussy.
So I thought "Huh. Wonder if Vladislav would like them". He doesn't mind the Grub Pie gel diet I make for my other lizards on occasion, though he'd honestly prefer something else. And... yup! I wiggled the first one for him, and as soon as it was in his mouth his colours fired up like the first time he ever had a silkworm. He gulped it down and was immediately ready for the next! After that, he ate an even dozen like they were candy- I just put them in his dish and he shot them up by the tongue-full. He didn't even need them to move. I cut him off at that point, but he is still begging for more.
While I don't think I'll be giving him canned crickets- or canned anything- on the regular, it's nice to know there is an emergency source of food out there if I need. They might make a handy way to get medication into him if necessary too- they'd be easier to inject than a live feeder, that's for sure. Same goes for the Grub Pie- I don't feed it to him very often (less than once a month) but it's nice to know there is something else out there that he will eat.
Has anyone else tried canned insects with their chams? What did they think?
Well, today I wondered if my other lizards would like them so I opened a can of crickets. Now, if you haven't smelled canned crickets, I can't really explain it to you. It's sort of like a sweet barbecue smell, but one that makes you think maybe the chef used cheap dog food instead of meat. As soon as I open the can in the lizard room, a half dozen lizard faces ere sticking out of their holes, staring at me. Every one ate them! The fire skinks, the red eye crocodile skinks, even the New Guinnea crocodile skinks are them happily- even greedily- off the tongs. I mean, I was pretty sure the fire skinks would eat them (they will eat anything, including things that aren't food- thanks, Gleep, for the $700 vet bill you bark-eating pigglet) but I was shocked that the T. novaeguineae would even touch the, as they are quite fussy.
So I thought "Huh. Wonder if Vladislav would like them". He doesn't mind the Grub Pie gel diet I make for my other lizards on occasion, though he'd honestly prefer something else. And... yup! I wiggled the first one for him, and as soon as it was in his mouth his colours fired up like the first time he ever had a silkworm. He gulped it down and was immediately ready for the next! After that, he ate an even dozen like they were candy- I just put them in his dish and he shot them up by the tongue-full. He didn't even need them to move. I cut him off at that point, but he is still begging for more.
While I don't think I'll be giving him canned crickets- or canned anything- on the regular, it's nice to know there is an emergency source of food out there if I need. They might make a handy way to get medication into him if necessary too- they'd be easier to inject than a live feeder, that's for sure. Same goes for the Grub Pie- I don't feed it to him very often (less than once a month) but it's nice to know there is something else out there that he will eat.
Has anyone else tried canned insects with their chams? What did they think?
