A Dingoes Dinner
In the wild, healthy dingoes eat mammals (72%) like possums, bandicoots, rabbits, kangaroos, wallabies; birds (19%) like scrub turkeys, native doves, quails and waterhens; reptiles (2%) like goannas, water dragons and skinks; and 3% other matter, eg. insects, fish, or eggs. ***Jackson, S. (2007). Australian Mammals Biology and captive Management (CSIRO Publishing eBooks). Collingwood : Herndon: CSIRO Publishing Stylus Publishing, LLC [Distributor]. When feeding dingoes in captivity, it is important to replicate a diet they have evolved to eat. They are wonderfully hardy animals in most respects, they aren’t prone to genetic disease or health problems with the exception of digestive upset and pancreatitis.
One of the traits which differentiates dingoes as a unique species apart from dogs is their physical inability to digest starches. With the exception to huskies, all dog breeds have this amylase gene (AMY2B), including pariah dogs of which dingoes were previously thought to be descended from. This inability to process starches and vegetable matter, plus dingoes limited range of native prey being exceptionally low in fat, is why they do not thrive on food intended for dogs. Puppies can tolerate higher amounts of fat than mature animals, but most pancreatic issues go unnoticed until they are chronic in adult dingoes consistently fed dog food or meats with fat content. When taking behavioural considerations to feeding patterns, it should be noted that dingoes will eat considerably more or whatever is in front of them when around other dingoes or dogs, purely out of resource guarding anxiety. They will eat some foods which are bad for them if they are desperate, and most female dingoes will experience a spike in their appetite at whelping season (winter), even if they are desexed. That said, Aura would chew her own leg off before she ate lamb.
(these dingo pups are eating beef and pig fat, boiled rice and pasta and vegetables out of starvation and neglect)
Another aspect to maintaining a healthy dingoes diet is the people living with them and their influence. People can have inaccurate perceptions of what a ‘healthy’ dingo looks like. Dingoes (from 4 months+) are like greyhounds - they are very lean and muscular, but no fat build up anywhere, but especially not over the ribs or chest.
(Aura at 4 months) People may think they are skinny and feed them inappropriate food to 'help’.. I had a housemate feed Aura pigs ears and she was very sick for over a month, and her weight plummeted worse than ever. Other housemates have been careless with letting food drop on the floor, or left her alone with junk food at eye level. Even though Aura is unlikely to steal food, you shouldn’t tempt fate. There have been times of acute, prolonged stress when Aura has dramatically lost condition despite appropriate feeding, only to gain it right back when we’ve left the toxic environment.
I order kangaroo meat (10 kg), roo organs (2 kg), and chicken necks (2 kg) online. The meat is far fresher, more economical and intended for Prey Model Raw feeding (which is the method I use to make up the meals). I also buy a whole chicken, chicken hearts and liver, beef heart and tongue from the shops. We also get the odd (whole) rabbit, some deer meat or emu heart. I used to feed green tripe for the good bacteria to aid digestion and immune system, but it’s recently been banned… very annoying. So now I use some powdered probiotics (or coconut yoghurt) and an egg mixed in with the roo mince (one per week).
Aura is 16 kg, which is a good weight, so her food is calculated at 2.5% of that. Each meal is 400 g, made up of 80% meat (320 g), 10% digestible bone (0.40 g), 5% liver (0.20 g) and 5% other organs (0.20 g). Each week, she is given a total of 2.8 kg, though dingoes eat less than dogs and will likely have a fast day or two (if she chooses). The whole chicken is skinned and divided into quarters, and the rest of the meals are made of roo mince, chicken hearts and liver, with big ole chunks of meat, with two chicken necks.
The kangaroo organ meat is cleaned/ drained and I dehydrate the pieces on low heat as training treats, and the liquid is added to one of the meals per week. All the meals are frozen, and fed frozen because Aura much prefers them that way, and it’s even better for dental health to work a bit harder to chew. Dingoes are nocturnal, so I feed Aura at night, after her energy has peaked at dusk and she’s had a good run around.