>>Mice
>>Mealworms
>>Raw eggs
>>Waxworms
>>Raw ground turkey
>>Fresh fruits
>>


They do not have to eat crickets. Crickets are fed since they are convenient, available, and inexpensive.

Your list looks fine. If I may make a few suggestions?

If you get a hatchling, they usually start out eating pinky mice. As the tegu grows, I would switch it over to larger rodents as soon as possible so that it may consume whole prey with a complete skeleton.

There is a debate about feeding raw eggs containing avidin which binds biotin. Cooking the eggs denatures the avidin. If you choose to feed raw eggs, you can supplement the eggs with a multivitamin to replace the B vitamin lost to the animal. When I've about the issue, the conclusion by veterinarians seems to be that it would take a daily diet of raw eggs to see a biotin deficiency. At any rate, I always keep it in the back of my mind.

Superworms and waxworms will be a good choice, but there are other good insects choices, too. You can try silkworms and hornworms (messy if they are huge), both which can be ordered on-line. If the idea of live crickets turns you off, you can also purchase canned crickets, just for variety.

Some hatchlings won't eat fruits and veggies right away, but I've always kept offering it. I'm one that feeds plant matter to my tegus and seem to like to sample whatever is in season.

[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Show Entire Thread ]