FEEDING REGIMES FOR PYTHONS AND LIZARDS COMMONLY KEPT IN THE CANBERRA DISTRICT
Ron Dencio
Animal Technologist
Monaro Amphibian & Reptile Keepers
Canberra ACT
13 Sept. 2000
PYTHON DIET
- Ascertaining the correct identification and age of an individual animal is essential to the provision of an appropriate feeding regime for the animal.
- Size of predator & prey is important as most juvenile Australian
pythons are programmed to initially feed on small skinks, geckos or
frogs only switching to larger (and more formidable) mammals when
their size permits. Smaller species as found in the Antaresia
(Children's Python) genera are prone to feed exclusively on small
skinks and geckos in the wild owing to the limited maximum size the
pythons reach.
- Prey switching is therefore required for most juvenile pythons
bred in captivity. This can be accomplished using various methods
to trick the snake into a feeding response to take dead newborn mice
or rats depending on the size of the snake. The python must be supplied
with the appropriate day and night temperatures to prevent stomach
shrinkage and provoke a hunger/feeding response. The prey item should
be offered held with a pair of long blunt tipped forceps and the snake
may be teased into striking by jiggling the food in front of and to
each side of the snakes head. If there is no feeding response leave
the food with the snake in a quiet warm undisturbed environment for
up to one hour. Further interest may be attracted by the use of scent
application to the prey item such as rubbing it with fish mucus (eg.,
White-bait) or applying liquid lizard scent from the pet shop.
- Force-feeding may be required if the above methods are unsuccessful
but should only be carried out by a person experienced in force feeding
methods for juvenile pythons.
- Whole animals are required for the snake to obtain the essential
nutritional balance for ongoing health. Freshly killed animals are
preferable for the active vitamins their bodies contain. If thawed
out pre-frozen animals are used they will need multivitamin supplementation
on a regular basis.
- Variety of diet should be applied wherever possible by offering
your python mice, rats, young rabbits, guinea pigs, quail or chickens
(food item relevant to snake size). This kind of variety results in
a healthier animal with good muscle tone, excellent skin condition
and good appetite.
- Bad dietary provision habits by a keeper will produce chronic
or acute illness leading to the death of the snake. The employment
of inadequate freezing methods for food storage is a problem often
overlooked. Prey items should be spread on racks or trays and frozen
immediately after culling, while still warm and not be left to "cool
down". Plastic bags full of warm animals should not be placed in the
freezer as the heat held at the core of the bundle will promote bacterial
growth and putrefaction of the visceral parts of the animals before
freezing is accomplished. Frozen animals should be thawed and fed
as quickly as possible for the same reason. This may be accomplished
by putting the frozen item into a plastic bag and hanging the bag
in a bucket of bath temperature water (add hot water as required to
maintain temperature). This method keeps the food item dry while speeding
the thawing process (bring to at least 25 deg. C).
- Water quality is extremely important for all reptiles but
is regularly ignored by keepers to the detriment of their reptile.
Faeces will often be found contaminating the python's drinking water
and will require immediate removal and the decontamination of the
drinking container and a re-supply of fresh (preferably pre-boiled)
water. Contaminated water soon becomes a toxic bacterial and parasitic
soup impacting heavily on the health of any reptile required to drink
it.
LIZARD DIET
- Correct species identification is essential for the provision
of an appropriate healthy captive diet. Australian lizard species
cover a wide spectrum of environments and habitats and have therefore
adapted to living on the food items available in their wild environment.
Some species are specialised and only feed on one or two prey while
others are omnivorous taking a wide range of animal as well as vegetable
food items.
- Neonatal lizards will usually refuse food for one week or
more after birth owing to yolk reserves present in the peritoneal
cavity in the case of oviparous species or alternatively the consumption
of remaining yolk immediately after parturition (birth) by ovoviviparous
species.
- Juvenile lizards will usually need to be encouraged to eat
by the offering of small prey items such as small ants, small moths
and caterpillars, hatchling crickets, grasshoppers or cockroaches
in the case of dragons, small skink species & geckos. For larger juveniles
such as Blue-tongues, Bob-tails, Goannas etc., a variety of larger
food items such as medium sized beetles and moths, grubs, grasshoppers,
small snails and new born mice (mice should only be 5% of total food
intake for skinks owing to their saturated fat content). The larger
skinks referred to will also require soft fruit and vegetables as
well as flowers such as dandelion, clover and rose petals (be sure
flowers are non-toxic).
- Toxic plants: Do not feed your lizards flowers from
the lily family such as Daffodils. Many garden flower varieties are
toxic and should not be used until certified as safe for consumption.
- Food variety is essential for the ongoing health and growth
of all captive lizards and you, the keeper, are responsible for supplying
the appropriate variety for the species you keep. Therefore you will
need to establish the kind of food the animal would normally acquire
in the wild and then duplicate this as near as possible in the captive
situation. Unfortunately many keepers are ignorant and/or slack and
feed their animal only that which is convenient to obtain, i.e., one
or two food varieties, finally losing the lizard owing to malnutrition.
People with a lack of commitment to an animal's welfare and the responsibility
required should not even contemplate keeping one in captivity.
- Supplements of vitamins and minerals are recommended for
all lizard-feeding regimes and can be acquired from local pet shops,
usually in powder form for dusting onto food immediately before consumption.
- Fresh food and fresh clean water (preferably pre-boiled)
are essential for the ongoing health of captive lizards.
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