Saturday, May 22, 2010

Chinese Water Dragon, should i grind up its food before feeding. It's about 6 in.?

I know the rule is to not feed anything to a lizard that is bigger than the space between its eyes, so should i cut up the worms, greens, and fruit?
Answers:
With my lizzards I am always cautious with food, live worms etc. I will usually cut and get them into the enclosure as quickly as possible so there is still movement and it's more enticing for the lizzard but I generally find with fruit and veg that my guys will bite off portions to suit themselves. I'm not necessarily sure with chinese water dragons but I have eastern water dragons and one fo their favourites is mashed boiled egg with some grated carrot and greens. (One thing I do know is that lettuce is a green not recommended for most lizzards)!
I don't have a Chinese Water Dragon, but I have a bearded dragon and would assume much of their feeding requirements are pretty similar.
I've always heard that the rule of thumb is not to feed them anything bigger than half the size of their head. This is usually for live feed; veggies and fruits they can bite into smaller pieces. The other reason this applies to live feed is because it also usually reflects the lizard's ability to digest the insects' exoskeleton. Larger insects have harder exoskeletons, which is why they should be a certain size. If there is no danger of choking in the first place, which hardshelled worms like mealworms usually do not pose (I can only think of an earthworm posing a choking hazard :o), the exoskeleton is the only problem and won't really be avoided by making them smaller.
Leafy greens are not a problem; I feed mine huge pieces of collard greens. Since they're flat, they go down his throat like that rather than in such a way as to choke him. Since there also isn't the rush on fruits and veggies like there is on live feed, your lizard can take his time eating these. I know mine spends a lot more time chewing fruits and veggies than he does crickets!
I think grinding is a bit extreme either way, and probably doesn't make the food too appealing. (Also, I never see lizards scoop with their mouths; they use their tongues, so make sure they can grab pieces). I would chop veggies and fruits into managable sized pieces if that's what you're worried about, and mashing would be okay for such things as eggs.

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