Pet reptiles require their owners to supply their food. It is difficult for a reptile to get the proper nutrients on their own when they live in captivity, unless you supply the right kind of food.
Your food choices range from live food to dry foods. General dry food products for reptiles are often pellets or freeze dried flakes that offer proper nutrients and supplements your pet reptile will need. Before choosing the dry food route you should compare the various products.
Dry food is easy to hand out. You can place it in the food bowl and allow your reptile to eat at its leisure. However, some pet reptiles are more discerning in their tastes. They do not prefer dry food, but live food. Research your reptile to know what foods they are used to eating, what they ate at the pet store, and what they may be willing to eat. When you first get a new pet reptile it can take a few days to figure out what they are willing to eat, especially if you are changing their diet from what the pet store offered them.
Some dry food on the market is made from actual animals, like the blood worms freeze dried pellets. This food has been made from blood worms, which can be highly nutritious. Fish, Cichlids, newts, frogs, amphibians, and reptiles will eat the dried food. It is best for enhancing natural colour, prior to spawning, and as a regular dietary supplement. Shrimp, crickets, and anoles are also used in freeze drying processes for flakes and pellets for reptile food.
Not all reptiles are going to eat other insects or animals. Some reptiles are more herbivores than others. For the herbivore you have a choice in vegetable medleys. This type of dry food is pellets or flakes that have been made from processing vegetables into dried food. You may offer this supplement to your omnivore reptiles also to provide more nutrients to your pet.
Dry reptile food may not sound like it is moist, but if you choose the right brand you can also offer moisture in the dry food. You will want to study the ingredients to determine what level of moisture the dry food has and if that is enough for your specific pet. Vegetables can also be combined with fruit meal. Some companies sell a fruit mix on its own. Again the fruit will be dried and a mixture of different fruits will be combined to make a great tasting meal for your pet reptile. Even hermit crabs appreciate the fruit mixture.
Among the other types of dry food are treats. You can purchase a variety of different treats that are a little less healthy in most cases for your pet reptile. Treats are better served on a once in a while basis rather than as the main meal. They have a few supplements in the dry food treats because they are made from animals and vegetables or fruit. However, it is not as much as the regular food.
