Rice as staple food?

[wilddragons16]

Hi! in my house we always have a ton of rice leftovers, just plain old basmati. I was wondering if thats ok to feed Ares? Not all the time, but another thing to add to his food rotation. Thanks! ps, are tomatos bad for dragons. Cant believe i dont know that, but there it is

 

[Taterbug]

Rice wouldn't make a good frequent food. Occasional bites of grains arn't bad but not a good part of the diet. Tomatoes are also an occasional or infrequent food, they can cause some digestive upset in some dragons.

 

[wilddragons16]

Thanks! Would you mind explaining to me why rice isnt the best food? I always thought it was pretty healthy for humans

 

[Taterbug]

Rice and grains (also legumes like beans) are typically high in phosphorus and also contain phytates (a storage form of phosphorus plants use). Both of which (if too much or too often) can cause imbalances of other nutrients. White Rice has a Ca ratio of 0.08:1, for example.

Personally I don't like to include much grain - it doesn't seem like it would be a natural part of the diet and I haven't seen evidence that dragons have the necessary enzymes to properly digest it.

Again, a bite or two here and there I doubt would be harmful. I'm all about variety, but wouldn't use it frequently.

 

[wilddragons16]

Thanks for the explanation! I appreciate your patience. I will adjust. Its it economical to ship hornworms this time of year? Also is it a good idea to breed them? Their food is so expensive

 

[Taterbug]

Shipping on hornworms is about the same year round, winter maybe a few $ more for heat packs... But if your area is really cold it may not be a good time to ship them.

I've not bred hornworms, it can be done but I thinm requires quite a bit of space and patience. (It's been a while since I looked into it but here is a guide - it's very similar to what I do with my silkworms except the dirt) I'm not sure if there are safe leaves you can feed them so you might still be stuck buying Chow. Maybe some day I'll get into it but it seems like a lot of work. I think there are recipes for chow, but some of the ingredients are expencive anyway.

I do breed silkworms, and recomend it for folks with the patience. They are low maintnence but mine have been slow to get big - probably from low temperatures. Depending on what time of year they lay the eggs they will hatch in a few days or they go dormant and you can keep them in the fridge and hatch a few at a time. If you buy the chow powdered it's a little cheaper but still kind of expensive. If you have a mulberry tree, in the spring/summer you wouldn't need to buy chow.