4,660 answers about reptiles & amphibians
Keeping reptiles and amphibians well comes down to environment — heat, light, humidity and the right enclosure — plus feeding and health basics that differ by species. This page gathers the reptile and amphibian library of KinsLe Answers in one place, organized by topic. Every answer is original, written by KinsLe, and tied to a real KinsLe feature.
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387 answers in Feeding & Nutrition — page 12 of 17
A king snake's week usually contains just one meal: a single frozen-thawed mouse or rat pup matched to the snake's build — about as wide as the widest part of his body, or a little less. Hatchlings and juveniles eat weekly, while a fully grown adult often does better on one appropriately sized meal every week to ten…
A Hermann's tortoise should spend the week eating weeds and leafy greens — dandelion, plantain, clover, chicory, and endive as the backbone — offered fresh every day in a pile roughly the size of his shell. This Mediterranean species is built for a high-fibre, low-protein diet, so fruit is a rare treat rather than a…
A green tree frog's week should revolve around live insects offered in the evening, when this nocturnal hunter is actually awake and looking up for movement. Crickets make the best staple, sized no wider than the gap between his eyes, with small dubia roaches, black soldier fly larvae, and the occasional waxworm…
A crested gecko's week centres on its powdered diet, mixed with water to a smoothie consistency and set out fresh most evenings, with anything uneaten replaced rather than left to sour. Live insects — small crickets or roach nymphs, lightly dusted — go in a few times a week for protein and hunting enrichment, and…
In a feeding week, a corn snake gets one mouse matched to its body — about as wide as the snake's widest point, a little wider at most — offered frozen-thawed rather than live. Young corn snakes eat every five to seven days, so most weeks hold one feed, while adults stretch to one feed every week or two. Leave the…
A box turtle's week should alternate live protein — earthworms, crickets and other insects — with leafy greens, chopped vegetables and a small amount of fruit, offered on a flat stone so feeding helps keep the beak worn. Adults eat well on a meal every other day, while young box turtles need protein more often as the…
A blue tongue skink's week mixes leafy greens and vegetables with animal protein — insects, snails, a little cooked egg or lean meat — aiming for roughly half and half across its meals. Adults do best with two or three proper feeding days a week rather than daily bowls, because this species gains weight easily, while…
A bearded dragon's week is built on a daily salad of leafy greens — collard, mustard and dandelion greens with chopped squash or pepper — with live insects offered on several days rather than daily for an adult. Dubia roaches, black soldier fly larvae or crickets dusted with calcium make up the protein side, while…
In a feeding week, a ball python gets one whole rodent — a rat is the usual long-term choice — about as wide as the widest part of the snake's body, offered frozen-thawed and warmed. Young ball pythons eat roughly weekly, while adults do better on a feed every two to three weeks, so the honest weekly answer is a…
An African dwarf frog's week should rotate small, soft, meaty foods: thawed bloodworms on some days, daphnia or brine shrimp on others, with frog pellets or mysis shrimp filling the rest. Feed one small portion a day — roughly what disappears within a couple of minutes — because these fully aquatic frogs hunt along…
Start with a liquid test of the water: ammonia and nitrite should both read zero, and even a small spike of either is the commonest reason an axolotl abruptly refuses food. Check the temperature too, because water that has crept too warm stresses axolotls and suppresses appetite. Then review recent changes — a missed…
Ask whether the food is truly complete for your reptile's species and life stage, or only a supplement, and what its main ingredients and protein source are. Ask how its calcium and vitamin content changes your dusting routine, what else should still be fed alongside it, and what evidence — feeding trials or published…
Plant the enclosure with the weeds and grasses tortoises graze in the wild: dandelion, plantain, clover, sow thistle and mallow underfoot, with hibiscus, mulberry and grape leaves as browse above. Grow everything from seed or trusted cuttings, never use sprays or fertiliser on it, and check each plant against a…
A crested gecko's routine can start before yours ends: offer its powdered diet early in the evening, around your own dinner time, so the dish is fresh and waiting when the gecko wakes at dusk. Replace the dish each evening rather than leaving food sitting for days, offer live insects on a few evenings a week as a…
For small frogs, skip adult mealworms and superworms, whose thick chitin shells are hard for a little stomach to break down, and avoid leaving live crickets loose in the enclosure overnight, because hungry crickets will nibble a sleeping frog's skin. Hard-shelled beetle larvae and large roaches with spiny legs are…
Young veiled chameleons need insects twice a day, but adults should be fed every other day — and adult females especially do best on a deliberately measured ration. Overfed, warm females produce large clutches of eggs that shorten their lives, so for girls the feeding schedule is genuinely a health decision, not just…
A Russian tortoise should be offered food daily — a fresh pile of weeds and leafy greens about the size of its shell — but daily offering is not the same as unlimited eating. This steppe species evolved where forage is scarce and seasonal, so a captive Russian will cheerfully overeat rich food and grow far too fast.…
A red-eared slider eats in the water, and how often depends on age: juveniles need a protein-rich meal daily, while adults do best with pellets every other day and leafy greens available every day. Offer only what your turtle finishes in about fifteen minutes, then remove the rest so it does not foul the tank. Many…
A panther chameleon eats insects every day: babies and fast-growing juveniles do best with two smaller feedings daily, and adults manage well on one daily meal — some keepers shift settled adults to every other day. Every feeder should be gut-loaded and dusted, and variety matters as much as frequency, so rotate…
A young pacman frog can eat every day or every other day, but an adult settles to a proper meal every two to three days. Offer earthworms as the staple, with crickets and other feeders rotated in, all dusted with calcium, and feed from tongs over a bare dish so no substrate gets swallowed. The frog itself sets the…
A young king snake eats every five to seven days, while a full-grown adult stretches to one meal every seven to fourteen days — snakes run on a far slower clock than mammals. Each meal is a single prey item about as wide as the widest part of the snake's body, or slightly wider, offered warm and on tongs. Afterwards…
A Hermann's tortoise should have food every day — this is a grazing animal built to wander and nibble, not to gorge at set meals. Offer a fresh pile of weeds and leafy greens roughly the size of the tortoise's shell each morning: dandelion, plantain, clover, and mixed salad leaves, with edible flowers when available,…
Feed your green tree frog in the evening, when it wakes and starts hunting: adults do well every two to three days, and young frogs still growing should be fed daily. Offer several crickets or small roaches at a sitting, sized no wider than the frog's head, and dust the insects with calcium before they go in. Watch…
An adult crested gecko eats on an every-other-night rhythm: fresh prepared gecko diet offered in the evening, left overnight, and removed the next day, while young geckos still growing do better with the mix offered nightly. Add live insects — small crickets or roaches — two or three evenings a week as a supplement…
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