Reptile & Amphibian Forums

first off, diet

all my tegu will eat are eggs. ive tried changing his diet by mixing egg with other sources of food (dipping mice in egg yolk, mixing in vegetables/fruit, etc.) but i have failed in getting him to ingest anything else. he does a decent job of working around what i want him to eat and slurping up all the egg instead. Any hints or ideas on an effective way of changing his diet? or do i just have to be more patient?

other than that right now, just any information you can tell by the included photograph. He is roughly 17 inches head to tail. I rescued him (i say him like i know what sex it is, i heard its too early to tell) from a petstore plastic prison cell nearly 8 months ago.

what foods have you tried?
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Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com

Have you tryed crickets or king mealworms? A tegu that sizes hould be manly fed gut loaded dusted insects .good luck russ

ive tried superworms, large crickets, grapes, pear slices, peach slices, etc.

turkey has worked before... I just wasnt sure about how healthy that would be for a young tegu. I'l try it again unless anyone presents any information that says not to...

thanks for your help, il post back with some results, positive or negative.

Great looking Tegu!! I too rescued mine from a 10gal tank, in a pet store, he was about 17-18 inches too, I've only had him a few (maybe 2) months though.

Glad to hear of the rescue!!

I feed my guy, mostly mice, are you trying F/T or live? Live might do the trick to get him started, then try the F/T. My Tegu has a pretty good appetite, so far he has eaten Pinks, Fuzzies, both F/T, some corn, and Tuna out of the can. Haven't tried anything else yet. That might give you ideas on what else to try though.

Good Luck!
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0.0.1 Argentine Black and White Tegu
0.0.1 Baby Aru Green Tree Python R.I.P. 01/26/04
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

ive been dusting the eggs with calcium powder. when i first bought him i noticed the twitching in his legs so i upped his calcium intake. havent had a problem with that since.

ive tried both live and frozen mice. pinky to hopper size. a few times dippped in egg yolk in an attempt to spark his interest. he instead licked the mouse clean and let it lay there for a day (the frozen ones that is, cant imagine trying to smother a live one in egg yolk haha). gonna make a stop at the grocery store and the pet store for some of the food ideas you guys have gave me.

thanks alot guys, im pretty sure il be able fix this little problem, just gotta be patient i guess

That is a Colombian tegu and they do not normally eat any fruit , nor do they need to.

It is really hard to wean a tegu off of eggs once they start eating them . You might try not feeding him for a while and letting him get really hungry and then only offer crickets dusted with Miner Al and pinkies . Make sure clean water is available at all times.

Before taking him off food look carefully at his back legs to see if there are any signs of twitching/shaking . If you see any twitching at all take him to a vet asap before attempting to change his diet as twitching is usually the first visible sign of a calcium defficiency .

Once you get him to start eating other food do not offer him eggs ever again to avoid going through the same problem in the future.
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Stella St.Pierre
www.bluetegu.com

Hello,
He is 8 months old and only 17"? Mine is only 2 months and 16" already. Definitely try live mice, at 16", he is eating one adult mouse once a day.
Also, you can try to smother a mouse in ground beef or turkey, that always works with mine when i really want him to eat.
Thanks

It's 17 inches at 8 months of age because it is not eating solid foods which have the correct mineral ratio for proper growth .

Note to the original poster : Do NOT attempt to feed this animal and adult mouse ... it would most likely be way to hard for this animal to digest . Try feeding it crickets dusted with Miner Al and pinkies only (these are much easier to digest)Once you begin to notice active growth on the animal slowing start increasing the size of the mouse and never feed anything larger than 1/2 the size of the tegus head.
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Stella St.Pierre
www.bluetegu.com

Hello,
So you're saying its bad to feed my 17" tegu adult mice? They are bigger than his head, but he eats one a day.
Thanks

Yes , and adult mouse is way to large for that size tegu.
Meals that large take too long to digest and if he happens to get cold (which isn't uncommon this time of year) he will have a very hard time regurgitating something that large . Remember tegus do not chew their food . With meals that large you run the risk of having it rot in their gut or risk the animal choking should they try to regurgitate it .

You should not feed any lizard something that is larger than half the size of their head .

Best growth rates on tegu occur when feeding small meals often rather than larger meals less often .
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Stella St.Pierre
www.bluetegu.com