Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My Argentine B&W refuses to take rodents! She's only 14 inches STL and is very picky. I've offered her pinkies, fuzzies, and hoppers but she refuses them all. She also refuses to eat fruits and veggies. I want to get her on a healthier diet since all she likes are eggs and turkey. Should I try live rodents? I've been giving her frozen/thawed up until now. Thanks for your help.
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Pray now baby, pray your life was just a dream. The world in my hands, there's no one left to hear you scream. There's no one left for you...

I see no harm in trying a live pinky or fuzzy. They're still pretty harmless at that size, and don't really move very fast (So they won't start to associate fast movements with food.)

You could try scenting the rodent too. Just smear it around in some turkey before you feed it to the Tegu. If he is a true Turkey lover he will probably bite it. This is what I did with mine and now he takes frozen/thawed small rats like candy.
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Peace!
KofSeattle
Reptile-Like
Here lizard lizard.........

I've only had my Tegu for 2 days but one thing I've learned is that he wont take f/t rodents off of the forceps, he won't take fruit either.

What I do is place is food dish outside his hide box with the f/t pinkies or fuzzies in it, and then he comes out and eats it when he feels like...give it a try, it may work.

Scenting is also a very good idea.

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0.0.1 Argentine Black and White Tegu
2.1 Bearded Dragon
0.0.4 Hatchling Bearded Dragons
1.1 Honduran Milksnake
1.0 Florida Brooksi Kingsnake
1.0 Blood Red Cornsnake
1.0 Jungle Carpet Python
0.1 Desert Kingsnake
1.0 Western Hognose Snake
1.0 Bull Mastiff

Try some ground turkey. You can mix chopped fruit into it. You will need to fortify it with calcium. Mardel makes a calcium pellet. They work well for big animals, and tegus have big calcium needs. They grow VERY fast and need to build a lot of bone. If you can not find it in stores try e-mailing New England Zoological Supply at .

Ground turkey is great because you can easily mix in fruits and suppliments but it is expensive. Chicken gizzards are cheaper but don't have the "mix-in" quality. You could alternate. I have also fed fruit mixed with eggs. I usually feed raw eggs. Some people only feed them cooked. Eggs should only be used as variety and not a staple. He has also eaten young chicks and quail. I bought them frozen from Rodent Pro. My Elvis loves frozen thawed mice. He's eaten 16 in the past three days. (He's ten pounds)

Good luck and DON'T FORGET THE CALCIUM,

Brian