Reptile & Amphibian Forums

has anyone thought about using cereal as part of a tegu diet. i wouldn't imagine that the carbohydrates and fiber would be harmful. specifically, i was thinking of total cereal. it is packed with calcium and vitamins. it could be crushed up and mixed with sdz diet. it has 100 percent daily value (for a human with human portions) of calcium and a ton of other vitamins. what do you think?

the texture may not be right for tegus. I thought they would go for dried bananas and fruit in trail mix but mine prefer to have fresh fruit that has sat out for a while(fermented). Let us know.

Mike B

I understand your line of reasoning, however, did you consider what happens to carbohydrates when they are absorbed into the body of any animal?
They are converted into sugars which for an animal that eats a fairly sizeable amount of protein like a Tegu could pose a health risk. I guess I'm confused: Why all this stuff about processed foods? What's wrong with Whole Food, Whole Prey items?

Just Curious,

-Kit

point taken, but i am always looking for easy ways to provide variety. while whole foods are probably best, they tend to be quite expensive so i try to mix it up a bit with sdz, fruits, veggies, and cut meats (such as chicken).

Just speaking for myself, I'm starting to question this notion of "variety".
It is a foregone conclusion we cannot re-create the natural habitat of any Tegu in North America, everything we feed them is alien or nearly so. With that said, it is true Tegus do reproduce in captivity and on varied diets.
So for Argentine Tegus has anyone fed them exclusively whole rodents and fruits? What kind of results did you get?
For the Columbian Tegus, does anyone feed them exclusively rodents? If so, what kind of results did you get?

Results meaning breeding, longevity etc. My Tegu "seems happy" I can't (for myself) consider that as a result really.

Please share your thoughts, I am curious as to what others think about variety and food for their Tegus.

-Kit

I have found that my colombian actually doesn't prefer a whole lot of variety in his diet. He likes his canned tegu diet and he likes his rodents/meat. Anything else that I offer he ignores. The only way that I can get him to eat fruits and veggies is by mixing them up into a smoothy with eggs to mask the flavor. Of course he hasn't lived out a "normal" life span so I don't know what the effects of this diet are on him. What I do know is that he's quite active and growing like a weed on what he's eating. The vet says he's looking good and also recommends the prey diet.

Lindsay