Feeding and Nutrition :: Omega Pellet Question

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Post Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2018 12:40 am   Omega Pellet Question

Hello! Shelldon Leo Kooper is back safe and sound in MN! She has been eating enthusiastically and basking at her normal times, her water and basking temperatures are all the same and she is in good health!

I have been changing up her diet a tad; she loves the green/red leaf lettuce in place of the romaine (in addition to the carrot slices, will likely offer romaine when it becomes safe to eat again without all the E.coli scares) and she eats her new pellet blend of Zoomed, Reptomin, and Omega Pellets enthusiastically (Mazuri Pellets will be added when they arrive in the mail), but I had a question in regards to the Omega Pellets. I heard they were a good staple pellet, and so my plan was to give her 3 of them, with one Zoo med, One Mazuri Pellet and One Reptomin Food Stick. When I received the Omega Pellets, they were smaller then I had anticipated. About four of them equaled the size of one zoo med pellet. By that logic, I should give her about 12 of the Omega Pellets, then One Zoo Med, Mazuri and Reptomin pellet. Is that too much? This should equate to about the same amount of food I gave her back when I was just feeding her 5-6 zoo med pellets/ afternoon (with the veggies in the morning), but serving size and nutritional input may not be the same thing. I tend to go by the rule of "One mouth's worth of food/day", and the food I give her is about a head's worth, Imagine a mini salad wrap with lettuce, carrots, and pellets. At any rate, this is just a change, and I prefer double checking these things.

Thank you,
David G.
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Post Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2018 1:53 am   Re: Omega Pellet Question

I would get rid of the Zoo Med in that equation and maybe up the veggies a little. Also consider some wheat-germ koi pellets as an alternative... it's supposed to promote shedding, but who really knows.
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Post Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2018 2:29 pm   Re: Omega Pellet Question

I am a tad confused by that response. To clarify, Shelldon's current diet is as follows:

Veggies (Mon-Sat; Morning)
Green/Red Leaf Lettuce: 6 Pieces/Day, Each about 1 In. Long
Carrot Slices: 2/Day
Plan: To replace one of the carrot slices with romaine once romaine is okay again.

Pellets: (Mon-Sat: Afternoon)
Omega: 12 Pellets
Zoomed: 2 Pellets
Reptomin: 1 Pellet
Plan: To replace one of the Zoomed pellets with one Mazuri Pellet once they arrive in the mail

Special Sundays: Alternating:

Calcium Sunday: Veggies in the morning, Calcium Block in the afternoon

Protein Sunday: Shrimp in the Morning, Pellets in the Afternoon

I'm a tad hesitant to cut out the Zoomed completely in her diet, as it was her usual for a long time. I have reduced the amount quite a bit in the new diet though.

I am also hesitant to increase or reduce the total amount of food that I give her/day, as her weight has remained quite stable with the amount I gave her under the "Veggie Wrap" visualization. I do believe she gets quite a large amount of veggies relative to pellets in total.

My main question involves the amount of Omega Pellets I give her; I use the size of the Zoomed pellets as a basis. I still want to give her about 6 Zoomed Pellets worth of total pellets in terms of size.

My goal was to make Omega the staple and the other 3 brands a sort of "dessert". To this end, my plan consisted of Omega being served three times as much as the other three brands, hence my original plan of serving her 3 Omega Pellets and 1 of each of the other three brands. But the Omega pellets are much smaller than I thought; 3 of them don't even add up to the size of one zoomed pellet. Hence my rework of the plan to serve 12 of them, and one of each of the other three brands. My concern lies in the nutritional change, if any, of doing this. She may be getting the same amount of food, but I don't know how much protein/calcium/etc. is in each Omega Pellet; if there is a lot packed in each pellet, even if they are tiny, then Shelldon might be getting too much. I am aware that the Omega pellets have a good balance of calcium and protein in mind (That, in addition to the vitamins and minerals and all that, is likely why they are considered a good staple). Tiny or no, I'm just not used to giving Shelldon 12 pieces of anything, so I'm just a tad worried/adjusting and wanting to double check.
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Post Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2018 10:56 pm   Re: Omega Pellet Question

Sorry for the confusion. I was saying to cut out the Zoo Med, but the rest sounds fine. I would use the calcium block and shrimps less frequently though. 12 Omega pellets sounds fine, my RES get almost twice that amount. Sometimes I mix it with other pellets, sometimes I just completely alternate. Your plan has a lot of balance, I don't think I would worry too much about it... who's to say it wasn't previously deficient?
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Post Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2018 11:40 pm   Re: Omega Pellet Question

Okay! Thank you!
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