Food & Essential Supplies

The food and supplies required can vary greatly depending on the species you are caring for. If your pet comes from the dessert, it won't survive long if you provide it a humid tropical climate. Likewise if your pet is a carnivore and you feed it leafy greens. It is important to do your research before buying any pet. There is a plethora of information available on the internet today, but careful to trust the first thing you read. It is wise to read several different sources or opinions before reaching your own conclusions.

Snakes

All snakes are carnivorous, and all snakes swallow their prey whole. Aside from that, a snake’s diet will depend on its species and size. Some snakes feed on warm-blooded prey like mice or rabbits, while others prefer cold-blooded prey like fish, lizards, insects or worms. Most of the snakes kept as pets eat warm-blooded animals like mice or gerbils.

It is generally not a good idea to feed live prey to a snake, for the prey could hurt the snake while trying to fight back. Feeding a live animal to a snake is also cruel to that animal. Most pet stores accordingly sell frozen animals to feed snakes.

Older and bigger snakes eat once a week, while smaller and younger snakes eat twice a week.

Iguanas

Iguanas are among the more popular pet reptiles – and they can grow to up to six feet long. They are also herbivores. Most of their diet should consist of dark leafy vegetables like parsley, collard greens, spinach, dandelion greens and kale. Lettuce provides little nutrition and is therefore not recommended. Other vegetables that can be fed to an iguana include sweet peppers, green beans, grated squash and sweet peas. Iguanas also like fruit, but it should be treated as a supplement or treat. Fruits that iguanas like include mangos, apples, papayas, and bananas. Iguanas should not be given anything that contains animal protein like dog food or meat.

Iguanas are active for reptiles and should be fed once a day. They should be given their food in the daytime after they have had a chance to warm up.

Salamanders

Salamanders are also always carnivorous, and their exact diet will depend on their species and age. Juvenile salamanders are aquatic and feed on water creatures like the following:

• Live baby brine shrimp
• Tubifex worms
• Daphnia

When salamanders reach adulthood, they shed their gills and spend most or all of their time on land. Adult salamanders feed on insects, worms, slugs or a combination thereof. The bugs worms from the backyard may be coated with pesticide residue, which can make the salamander ill. It is therefore more prudent to either buy the bugs from a pet store or raise them.

Salamanders need to be fed once every one or two days. Many people recommend coating the prey with calcium powder or reptile vitamins every few feedings. The salamander should be given only what they will eat during a single meal, and leftovers should be cleaned out of their cage.

Frogs

There are 4,810 species of frog, and they make up about 88 percent of the world’s amphibians. A pet owner will therefore have to know the species of their frog in order to feed it properly. On the other hand, all frogs are carnivores and predators. Most frogs will happily eat crickets. Other possible items for a frog’s diet can include locusts, meal worms, grasshopper, fish or pinkie (newborn) mice. The food items should be “gut loaded” or fed nutritious and vitamin-rich food themselves for at least 24 hours. That will insure that frog gets all the necessary nutrients from its diet.

A frog’s species and age will determine how often it gets fed. Some frogs, like dwarf frogs, are very lively and should be fed every day. Others are not so lively and can go as long as two weeks between meals. Froglets or juvenile frogs, which are 16 weeks or under, should be fed every day.

Frogs are opportunistic feeders, which means they will keep eating if allowed to do so. Like humans, frogs can become overweight. Most adult frogs need only five to seven crickets, or the equivalent, per meal.