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.
← All Reptiles & Amphibians topics
387 answers in Feeding & Nutrition — page 15 of 17
Make tongs the only way food arrives from now on: offer every insect by tong, set the greens dish in place before the dragon starts watching for a meal, and never present anything from your fingers, not even as a treat. Wash feeder scent off your hands afterward, then rebuild hands as a handling signal by approaching…
Shift gradually: keep the familiar pellets but shrink the portion on a schedule, and make leafy greens and aquatic plants available in the water every day so the slider learns they are simply what is there. Offer the greens first and the smaller pellet portion afterwards, rotating dandelion and other substantial…
Rinse each earthworm clean first, then cut it into pieces the width of the axolotl's head or a little smaller, so every piece goes down in one smooth gulp. Present a piece with tongs directly in front of the axolotl's face, low and slow, and wait for the quick snap before offering the next piece. Remove any piece that…
Build the week as a rotation rather than a repeat: cycle the protein across lean cooked turkey or chicken, boiled or scrambled egg, snails, earthworms, and suitable insects, served alongside the daily base of greens and vegetables. Keep fruit to a small treat share, offered after the staple food rather than as a meal,…
Feed the two babies apart so the meal stops being a race: lift the faster eater into a separate feeding tub for its meal, or divide the tank, while the slower baby feeds undisturbed in the main tank. Weigh both babies weekly on the same day, because steady growth in the slower one is the real proof the split is…
Look from directly above: a healthy axolotl's body is about as wide as its head, with a gently rounded belly. The overfed signs are a body much wider than the head and refusing food at usual times, as if still full; the underfed signs are different: a body clearly narrower than the head and a thin tail base. Offer…
Keep the colony warm and dry with strong ventilation, stacked egg crates for surface area, and the bin sited away from the reptile room's cleaning chemicals and sprays. Gut load the crickets on nutritious food before they are fed off, give water as gel or a piece of fruit or vegetable rather than an open dish they…
Feed the insects themselves for 24 to 48 hours before they are offered, because a bearded dragon eats whatever the feeder ate most recently. Give crickets or roaches a spread of nutritious plain foods, leafy greens, squash, and carrot, with a safe source of moisture, in a ventilated holding container, and keep that…
Offer the vegetables in the water, because baby sliders eat in the water, chopped into small leafy pieces a baby can tear and swallow, and replace the pieces fresh each day. Keep offering daily alongside the protein a growing baby still needs, even while the vegetables are ignored at first, since acceptance often…
Mount a fixed, opaque cup at one consistent spot among the branches, at a height where the chameleon can look down into it and shoot comfortably, and fix it firmly so it cannot tip. Count the feeders in each morning, then count what remains at the end of the day, because the difference is exactly what the chameleon…
Use the shake method: tip the feeders into a smooth cup or bag with a small pinch of powder, swirl them gently until they come out dusted rather than coated, and shake off the excess before they go in. A finished feeder looks faintly pale and still moves freely, ready for a clean strike, with no loose drifts left in…
Choose prey about as wide as the widest part of the snake's body, so the meal slides down and leaves a modest, even bulge rather than a hard stretch. As the python thickens through its first years, step the prey size up with its body, moving from the small prey a hatchling starts on toward larger rats once its width…
Build the routine around the snake's shape, not the calendar alone: offer prey sized to the snake, about as wide as its widest point, and set the interval by body condition, aiming for a gently rounded cross-section with no bulging sides. Check its weight and shape monthly, and let that monthly check lengthen or…
Expect the dip and feed around it: offer meals on a slightly wider spacing, accept refusals without pushing, and never force-feed a healthy snake that is simply eating seasonally less. Before worrying, check that the warm end of the enclosure is holding its temperature, since a cool warm end suppresses appetite more…
Work in gradual distance steps, because a shy skink gains confidence when food appears a little farther from cover each week while everything else about the room stays predictable. Start by placing food just outside its hide at a quiet, consistent feeding time, then move the dish outward in small steps, and later…
Pellets win because they are made to be tempting: concentrated, strongly scented and rich in protein and fat, while plain greens taste bland by comparison. That preference suits a young slider, whose diet is naturally more protein-heavy, but an adult slider's diet should be mostly leafy greens and vegetables, with…
Work with a young skink's instincts instead of against them: a juvenile blue-tongue's diet is naturally protein-forward and shifts toward vegetables as it matures, so refusal of plain vegetables at this age is common and rarely a verdict. Chop vegetables fine and mix them through the favored protein so both arrive…
Feed a measured staple of quality turtle pellets, leafy greens every day, and animal protein in amounts that shrink as the slider grows. Young sliders thrive with protein offered daily and a small daily pellet portion, because they are growing fast; adults are plant-leaning omnivores, so they get greens daily, pellets…
A crested gecko's staple is a complete commercial crested gecko diet powder, mixed with water to a smooth paste and offered in a small dish in the evening, when this nocturnal species wakes to feed. Live insects such as small crickets or roaches, appropriately dusted, make occasional enrichment rather than the base…
For an insect-eating reptile such as a leopard gecko, a young bearded dragon or a chameleon, dust feeder insects with calcium powder at nearly every feeding. Growing juveniles, which eat daily, should have calcium on every feeding except the feeding where a multivitamin is used instead; adults eating less often should…
A young tortoise should have a light dusting of plain calcium powder on its food on most days, because a growing shell and skeleton draw on calcium constantly. Sprinkle the powder thinly over damp leafy greens so it sticks, aiming for a faint coating rather than a heavy crust that puts the tortoise off eating. The…
Check the enclosure first: a snake that is too cool will not feed, so confirm the warm side matches your species' range before offering anything. Thaw the prey fully, warm it to about 100°F (38°C) in warm water, then present it at dusk with tongs, wiggling it gently to mimic movement. If your snake refuses, try…
Yes — dandelions are one of the best garden foods for most tortoises, as long as they come from ground you know has not been sprayed. Dandelion leaves and flowers are a traditional staple for Mediterranean and other grazing tortoises: fibrous, relatively calcium-rich, and eagerly eaten. KinsLe's Care Teams lets you…
Ball pythons are famous for fasting, and context decides whether it matters. Healthy adults — especially males in the cooler breeding season — commonly refuse food for weeks or even months without harm; juveniles should eat far more regularly. Assignments for the python sit in KinsLe's Care Teams, where a named helper…
Can't find your question? Ask it here. We answer reader questions in KinsLe Answers — and we'll email you when yours is published.
KinsLe is launching soon — and the waitlist hears the date first. Join for launch updates and first access when the app opens.
We email you about the launch. Unsubscribe anytime.