Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all,

I have had Water Dragons now for 5 years and have had an Argentine Red Tegu for one year. My Tegu eats mice and Ground Turkey with vitamins. My husband asked why we don't feed the Dragons Turkey and I said because the have never eaten anything but live prey before. Anything else they just walk away from. So to prove me wrong he rolled a little ball up and offered it to Zeus the male who just about took his finger off trying to get it! He offered another piece with the same reaction. At this point I told him not to give him anymore (Zeus was very sad!)

Does anyone know if this is bad for the Dragons if fed in moderation??

Thanks,
Donna and the zoo
Zeus, Venus and Athena-Chinese Water Dragons
Frodo- Green Iguana
Tijolo- Argentine Red Tegu
Nyssa and Kaa- Ball Pythons
Phoenix- Corn Snake
Treasure-Bull Snake

My 17 inch Sabu will eat the Eco-Therm Carnivore diet about 1 time a week.
I don't see why the turkey would hurt him in moderation.
Diana

Its very high in protein, very high in phosphorous (makes it difficult to reach overall ca/P ratios > 1,2 which are essential) and very low in dietary fibre.
Hence it increases the risk for the dragon (and thetgeu!) to develop gout or kidney failure and MDB
I would not feed it...nor to the tegu

Ci@o

Ingo

Its not just ground turkey.
It is the ground turkey recipe designed for monitors and tegus. It has added vits and bonemeal added. It is well balanced and good for all carnivore reptiles.
Fed in moderation it should not harm a WD.
Diana

I also have a dragon and a B/W Tegu, my dragon didn't care for the turkey, took one bite and looked at me funny, I think she thought it was a pinky. As for vits, the SDZ (San Diego Zoo) diet is how I prepair my ground turky. It's 10 lbs ground turkey, 2 centrum vitamins (ground up to a fine powder), and 90 grams of powdered bonemeal, and mix VERY well. Make sure the bone meal comes from a health food store, NOT a plant store, there are different grades. Highly recomended for Tegu's, not sure for dragons, but it is pretty much the equivelent of a rodent. Hope that helps.
Dan

I plan to use the SDZ diet for my Sav.Monitor when he gets a bit bigger.
Right now he is very cricket orientated.
He will go to pinkies soon as he is getting bigger daily!
Diana

..and its still missing dietary fibres and still is very high in phosphorous, proteins and thus nitrogen.
Sorry, even though obviously this recipe is widespread in the US, with my knowledge on lizard metabolism I would never use it for any insectivore.
To me the risk that the animals may develop gout or kidney problems after a few years is too high.
The sad thing is that it may take years till any effect may become obvious. But once you see symptoms, kidney problems in lizards are almost always irreversible.
Is there any insectivore lizard you know of, which has been fed this for more than 10 years and ist still healthy?
I do have lizards which are 10, 15 and even over 20 years old.
I doubt , theyd be still with me upon feeding such stuff.

Just my 2 cts

Ingo