Wednesday, May 5, 2021

alternative for collard greens as staple? & general help with diet needed

alternative for collard greens as staple? & general help with diet needed

hello, i need help finalizing a diet plan for a year and a half old male beardie named sushi, he's about 42 cm so 16'5 inches:

this is sushi in a recent expedition in my room

the problem is that i live in transylvania. this is in eastern europe. we do not have the same greens as the americas.

in fact, we have little variety beyond lettuce & green or red cabbage. i physically do not have access to most of the staple veggie diet recommended for beardies. collard greens are simply not sold here, they are not grown nor imported. they translate to romanian, as generic "cabbage", or "headless cabbage" (which overlaps with kale). the most "exotic" green i have been able to find was rucola, which i understand is different from arugula? haven't been able to determine if it woud be safe as a daily, staple feed. is it? would rucola be safe to feed him regularly?

i understand that collard greens are so good for beardies because they have a very high calcium to phosporous content. what other greens have a similar ratio & are thus good for daily feeding?

some context:

the best alternative i've been able to find has been, well, picking wild dandelions and thoroughly washing them, though they won't always be available. he hasn't eaten much of those. though it may also be relocation stress, i've adopted him less than a week ago (may 2nd), from a friend who needed to rehome him due to no longer having the time for proper care. he's been happily eating his bugs since day one, though. he has blatta lateralis roaches, dusted with calcium powder (not sure which kind, i'd have to ask the previous owner, they passed it on to me). he also has mealworms which i haven't fed him yet, as i've been instructed to feed them once a week only, and have decided to wait a full week after relocation before beginning to feed them.

he is otherwise doing quite well, he basks, he's ok with me touching him, taking him out of his terrarium, he likes window-watching (he did that a lot at his previous home), he's explored around. he's pretty chill, other than some stress-marks on his belly every now and then, and some glass surfing that has already gotten better, he seems to be adapting well. i've also placed a heated pillow (direct translation, it's a flat heating pad meant for humans to keep their backs warm or something), on my desk, kept at a warmth level that is comfortable for my hand and doesn't feel "hot", just "warm". he's enjoyed laying down on that one and hanging out with me, i figured it'd be a source of heat for when he wants to be out.

back on topic, so far, i have been able to find the following greens & veggies:

- lettuce & spinach (have heard they are bad, not going to feed him these, he was fed them before though, previous owner didn't know they're bad for him)

- rucola (have not tried), endive (hypothetical, haven't actually seen it, will have to check multiple stores), turnip (i could potentially find it but not year-round, hopefully with leaves still on), broccoli (haven't tried feeding him any yet, dunno if he has been fed it before), zucchini (ditto with broccoli)

- bell peppers (only veggies he's had so far), squash, apple, pear (will try to feed them today, how often are they safe to feed him and how much?), carrot (not sure how to feed this one), green sweet peas (canned or frozen)

i will give stores and farmer markets a thorough sweep tomorrow (orthodox easter had em closed recently) and note down what i can feasibly get, but it would help a lot to know what i should look for as well, that i could realistically find.

if there is any way i could learn to determine how good local greens and veggies are for a beardie, if i cannot find that info online, please let me know. or, i dunno, supplement even more calcium to offset the oxalates' effect?? maybe keep a rotating diet? i'm at a loss here.

any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

for reference, here are some sites where you can see the kind of greens and veggies we have, obviously all in romanian: https://www.aprozarulvirtual.ro/aprozar/categoria/legume https://www.auchan.ro/store/Legume/c/u2t2c0s0000

submitted by /u/malchure
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