Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hiya fellow tegu owners:

I'm curious about diet for the tegus. I have ben reading everyone feeds turkey and whole rodents. So far the only things my teguswill eat is eggs and lamb-chicken cat food. They will not eat anything that moves and the rat pups go untouched along with the ground turkey/chicken....is there a reason why no one feeds other meats? Is there a way to start them on better foods?

Thanks
Nicole

What kind of tegus do you have? How big are they? Try Mice instead of rat pups. Also Try senting the rodent with what ever there eating . If there sub adutls or smaller try Insectes( crickets, kingmeal worms , cockroaches, silkworms). Good Luck Russ

I have two argentine b/w tegus (Nico & Rocko). They are last years tegus so I'm guessing they are about a year old. One is male and the other female (they have boy names though...long story).
I thought mice would be too small because my WD's are much smaller and they eat rats (pinkie mice were getting silly with each WD eating 2 or 3)...they (tegus)won't even look at crickets or worms (I have everything in this house you can imagine....bug and worm wise)...they like to smell something that attracts them and then they eat it like a dog would...they are no hunters
They like this canned food a little too much...it's good quality food but I realize it's not the best thing for tegus.
I am really impressed with your tegu,was his name Santiago? VERY nice tegu...can't wait for mine to get that big...I was thinking bearded dragon soooo glad I got the tegus instead!

Nicole

try senting the other foods with the eggs or the can food. This is what i do to get Santiego to eat fruit. Also Have you tryed thawed out warmed up frozen rodents? Good luck Russ

I think Russ has a good idea. Smear some of the canned food on some weanlings to small adult mice and see what they do. You could also try that with the rat pups you already have. Good luck, and keep us posted.
Take care,
Karen

After 3 or 4 weeks of not eating I'd take her to a vet with a stool sample. But you shouldn't have a prob just try and think of it from her point of view being totally up rooted and ploped into a strange place and having someone pick you up...it's very stressfull one your new animal so just let her settle in and she should be fine.

I didn't say they weren't eating...just not eating what I want them to eat
They seem to have good appetites as long as I give them what they want...and what they want seems to be canned food and eggs....period...*sigh*