Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i would like to start my tegu on the sdz diet, ive read about people mixing fruits with it, will that be a good enough diet to feed every day or should i feed other things to him, also what are the best fruits to put in and what other foods would be benificial to add to it? thanks

You can search the old forum here for the diet ingredients, etc.
I have had a challenge finding the appropirate bone meal to mix with it, thus have subsituted it with the proper ratio of herpevite and rep-cal D3 (both rep cal products) I've used strawberries, mangos, peaches, some apple and banana as well. Both the strawberries, mango and peaches were frozen then thawed before dicing/mashing them up. I do feed my four this diet everyday along with a plate of other fruit that is not in the SDZ mix separate from the turkey/fruit mix. Reds need more fruit than B&W's though may not eat it by itself. The fruit in the diet is very crucial and is needed to help the tegus with shedding and nail strength/development. Reds, especially can have a difficult time shedding if the proper diet is not given.

The one aspect with this diet is the possibility for the tegus to gain excess weight in a hurry, so monitor this. Too much fat on them, or any reptile can increase the risk for kidney and liver problems down the road. Another aspect to the proper diet in the proper heat. The 2 must go hand-in-hand. Without
the proper temps tegus will have a hard time properly digesting their food. I have also fed mine high-quality canned cat food
(it must have real turkey or chicken in it!)

Good luck!!!

Greg