working for zoo need help!!!!

[lissa]

hi,

i am currently applying for a zoo keeper position in a zoo in New Zealand. At the moment i don't think their diets are complete but to prove my point i need to know the nutritional values of vitamins and minerals needed per day for the following reptiles: blue tongued lizards, bearded dragons, water dragons, cunningham skinks, leopard, box and star tortises, reeves, snake and red-eared turtles and geckos. If you could help that would be so great as i have been searching the net day and night with no success.

[darkdan99]

Ok, if you are applying for a job, then the best bit of advice i can give is not to piss them off on day one by telling them they are doing it wrong, especially if you have to ask how it should be done...

That said:

Blue tonged Skink (lizard)
Should be eating live food (crickets, locust, meal worms, morio worms, wax worms, some or all) dusted at least once a week with a multivitimin suppliemnt. Can also offer baby mice (thawed from frozen) an occasional egg, some lean meat etc but they are just "treats"

Bearded dragons should have the same live foods, dusted twice weekly and acess to mixed salad at all times.

Water dragons are usually only insectavores, but occasionally will eat salad, so same as bearded dragons, but if they dont eat salad then dont offer because it will just be wasted.

Cunninham skinks should be fed Live foods only, dusted twice weekly.

Leopard and start tortoise should be fed freshly picked weeds, from an area where no chemicals are used, and/or fresh salad.

What species of box tortoise is it? area?

All tortoise should be dusted on every feed and have acess to cuttle bone so they can use the calcium.

Havent got a clue what reeves are, do you have a scietific name?

Red eared Sliders should be fed pellet food, dried or live shrimp, bloodworm, meal worms, maggots, small fish (live or dead, or thawed from frozen) and have aquatic plants to nibble on in the enclosure.

Geckos should be fed live foods dusted every other feed.

TBH the information is on the net, if you type "xxx care" (replacing xxx with the animal") then you get all the information you need.

Dan

[PsyKoViggy]

Blue Tongued Skinks need a mix of veg, fruit and meat.
Detailed Blue Tongue Skink Caresheet - BlueTongueSkinks.NET <- this caresheet has a great diet chart which will tell you everything you could possibly want to know about their nutritional needs, aswell as anything else you want to know about them.

I don't keep any of the other species so i can't help with those, but i can promose you a BTS cannot live on just insects.

Hope this helps!

[Blueladybird]

Good luck getting the job? Which zoo is it? I was at Auckland zoo and their herp section was great (from what i could see as a visitor, don't know what it was like behind the scenes). All the keepers seemed really nice too.

[lissa]

hi thanks yes it is that zoo and just me i won't be pissing them off i have already worked there before and know what reptiles need diet wise as in crickets, etc. etc. but i wanted actual values so i can compare them to what they are eating now. Because how to do know they need things like tomato they don't exactly eat them in the wild.