Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Please let me know what you all think.

Here is an ingredient list on the can of dog food that I am feeding my Tegu. Let me know what you think:

Turkey, Chicken, Spring Water, Potatoes, Brown Rice, Chicken Fat, Apples, Carrots, Cottage Cheese, Garlic, Sunflower Oil, Alfalfa Sprouts, Herring, Locust Bean Gum, Dicalcium Phosphate, Sodium Ascorbate, DL-Alphalfa Tocopherol, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Beta Carotene, Niacin, Calcium Pantotheneate, Copper Proteinate, Magnanese Proteinate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrocloride, Riboflavin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid Calcium Iodate, Biotin.

He is also give an adult mouse, or a weaned rat every other day. No supplement is added to the food. Should I be adding one? Any and all feed back is appreiciated.

Thanks

I don't think it's so much as what the ingredients are, but how much fat it contains versus the minerals the tegu requires. There's an awful lot of salts in the dog food, not enough calcium. Tegu's can eat a wide varity of foods, I dont' see much of a problem if you are only giving it some dog food once a week. If you set on giving it dog food, it is a good idea to use some Miner-al or reptivite/reptical.
Just my 2 cents worth

It is not that I am set on giving it dog food. I am just asking because the place where I got it said that this is what he was eating. I will be more than happy to switch up the diet if need be. I will go ahead an add some vitamins to the food. I know they will eat just about anything, as I have had mine for only 3 days and he is eating me outta house and home already. I don't care though he is a beautiful red.

the problem with canned dog/cat foods is the D3 content..it's way too high to feed as anything except a rare treat.
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Yours,

NiCoLE

"Trying to save someone from their own stupidity is like trying to teach a pig how to dance: it wastes your time, and annoys the pig."

- Robert
Heinlein

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I only feed my tegus Rodents, fruit ,and Insects. I do dip my fruit in blend hard boiled eggs to sent the fruit. I would not use cat or dog food. I dont even feed my dogs canned dog food .Its not good for them. Good luck Russ

Like the others have said, it'll be best for your tegu to wean him off the dog food altogether. Dog food is for dogs. A better alternative would be a lean ground turkey mix like the SDZ diet along with insects, rodents and lots of fruit. I use a variation of the SDZ diet but instead of the bone meal and Centrum, I use Herptivite and RepCal (1/2 tablespoon per pound of lean,ground turkey). I also cut up a bunch of strawberries, mix the whole thing up and make meatballs out of it. Then they go in the freezer and she gets one per day 3-4 days per week. The other days she gets either f/t mice (right now she will eat 3 adult mice at one feeding) or just plain fruit (usually bananas, mangos or nectarines). Crickets are still given just for fun sometimes too. As a testament to how this has been working for her, she has grown approximately 20" in three months and all her sheds have been picture perfect. Good luck with your red!

Billy

You should not chang the formula for Sdz.Both my vet and Stella St. Pierre have told me that Mineral all- herpitive - and REp cal Do not have no ware near the same calcium amounts as bone meal. By do this you do not give the tegu The the amount of calcium they need.Mineral Ect. Is only good for dusting Insects and Putting on veggies as a suppliment.Adding fruit to SDZ is fine but thats it.This could posibly led to MBD .I also Think the San Deigo Zoo Used the bone meal for a reason .Bone meal is ground up bone and those other supplients are not . You have to think in terms of a rodent . Sdz is exactly what the nutrient contance as a rodent . Changing it this way makes it different . Take care Russ

Thank Russ. Yeah, what you say makes sense, and I guess I really should switch over to the bone meal. I did notice that on the labels of both Herptivite and RepCal, they give a formula for supplementing meat products at 1/2 tablespoon per pound of meat, so I assumed that at least some research had been done to determine proper ratios. So far so good with her current diet though, as she seems to be doing exceptionally well with no signs of malnutrition. But there's always room for improvement in their care.

Billy

>>You should not chang the formula for Sdz.Both my vet and Stella St. Pierre have told me that Mineral all- herpitive - and REp cal Do not have no ware near the same calcium amounts as bone meal. By do this you do not give the tegu The the amount of calcium they need.Mineral Ect. Is only good for dusting Insects and Putting on veggies as a suppliment.Adding fruit to SDZ is fine but thats it.This could posibly led to MBD .I also Think the San Deigo Zoo Used the bone meal for a reason .Bone meal is ground up bone and those other supplients are not . You have to think in terms of a rodent . Sdz is exactly what the nutrient contance as a rodent . Changing it this way makes it different . Take care Russ

Im always looking for good sources of herp products.
E-mail me pretty please with the info.

Best regards,
Michelle