Blue-tongue Lizard – nutrition and water
Water
Clean water must be provided at all times. A shallow water dish that lizards can easily get out of if they were to get in should be provided. Water must be checked twice daily and should be replaced once per day. Water dishes must be cleaned regularly. Juvenile lizards should be provided with a very small, shallow water dish to prevent drowning.
Nutrition
Blue-tongue lizards are omnivorous animals and eat a mix of vegetables and protein. A Blue-tongue lizard’s diet in the wild typically includes insects, snails and slugs, vegetation and flowers.
In captivity this species should be fed a variety of food items to achieve a high level of health and nutrition as not one single food item provides complete nutrition.
Suitable food items that can be included in the diet include:
- Insects
- Crickets
- Wood cockroaches
- Boiled egg whites
- Alfalfa
- Salad mix
- Greens + vegetables.
Blue-tongue lizards do not require a large amount of insects and their nutritional needs can be met by providing a mix of vegetables items and egg whites for protein however insects can be fed occasionally. Crickets and wood roaches are the most commercially available insect that can be purchased for reptiles and are available at most pet stores.
The diet should also be supplemented with calcium and multivitamins to ensure good health. Suitable multivitamin and calcium powders can also be purchased from pet and reptile stores and these should be incorporated into the diet by mixing the powder into the salad mix or dusting insects in multivitamin and calcium powder prior to feeding at the suggested ratio.
Juvenile lizards should be fed every day and adult lizards should be fed 3 times per week.
An example of an amount and type of food to feed an adult Blue-tongue lizard weekly is:
- 50 grams of ‘Salad mix’ three times per week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
- Occasionally (once per week) a small number of insects, five crickets or wood roaches dusted with multivitamin and calcium powder. It is recommended to hand feed off forceps most of the insects to the lizards and also to release some into the enclosure for the animals to feed on naturally.
This diet is an example only. Individual animals may require more or less depending on their body condition and age.
Any uneaten food or insects should be removed from the enclosure daily.
Food dishes that are used for salad mix and vegetables should be cleaned with detergent after every use and any food left in dishes should be removed daily.
Salad mix recipe
The mix should include the following:
1. Chopped into bite-sized pieces:
- Chicory
- Kale
- Parsley
- Endive
- Bok choy
- Cos lettuce.
2. Diced into very fine pieces:
- Carrots
- Sweet potatoes
- Squash
- Zucchini
- Tomatoes.
Add alfalfa sprouts, mung beans and chopped hard-boiled egg and dust with calcium and multivitamin powder as per the product directions.