Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Recently purchased young argentine..think he is about 8mths old approx 18" long total length.Keep reading that they like fruit but mine won't touch it..tried all sorts apple,mango,banana and grapes but to no avail.I am feeding him locusts and crickets dusted with vitamins and occasional pinkie mice.He also loves egg(only the yolk as i was told the white can bind their guts???)Also takes cat food(very Small amount only!)and tinned tegu food.Any tips on getting him to eat fruit or will his diet naturally change as he gets older?Is it a case of just offering it regularly until he develops a taste for it?Many thanks in advance

i've never heard about egg whites binding their guts. where did you get that from?
and its 8 months old at 18 inches? mine are around 4 months and they're at 20 inches. are you sure it's eight months old? does it have any green left?
anyhow... as for the fruit, i can't help you yet. i haven't given my boys plant matter yet.
-----
if nothing else, i at least amuse myself!

Thats what I got told by the owner of the shop where i got him.He has got a very good reputation here in uk and breeds lots of snakes and lizards although he didn't breed the tegu himself so the age may not be correct..although reptiles like humans don't all hatch the same size and grow at the same rate.Got to bare in mind most shop keepers and breeders don't feed the amounts that a pet owner would lavish upon them.Anyway thanks for reply.

My tegu definately prefers meats. He eats mice and ground turkey (with lots of added vitamins) mainly. He will occationaly show an interest in kiwi. We first introduced this to him before is regular meal at time before offering him other things (like a kid he has his favorites and will eat those first if offered) However he didn't even start showing an interest in fruits until he was roughly 3 ft long, I've read they become more interested in other foods as they grow older. My vet says the protein & calcium from whole prey is best, and the older the animal the better ie grown mice are better then fuzzies, fuzzies are better than pinkies etc (but don't offer him anything to big for him to swallow whole - made that mistake once, what a mess). Also, we offered him the occational gold fish to change likes up some. If you want him to eat fruits offer different items until you find one he likes (we tried apples, oranges, papiya, banana, thes list goes on, before he started in on kiwi)
Well, I think I rambled enough, hope I helped.

Thanks Tattoo
I also heard that they prefer fruit and veg as they mature.My beardies were the same for the first year or so not interested but kept offering it until one day they took to it.Thanks again,