Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know a lot of people are having trouble with thier tegus appetite. I am also having trouble with my columbian b&w he will not eat but every other day yet my blue who is housed with him eats everything in site and she will eat anytime. I rotate between ground turky,crickets, and egg. however the b&w will not touch the crickets so I break down and give him the turky just so he will eat. I just want to know if there are some other things I could try with him to get him to eat. But in the meantime here is a pic of one fat happy little blue.

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Beau W.

Hi Beau! Great Pic!!!

So the Colombian won't eat too much? What did the previous owner/dealer feed him before coming under your care? That could be a good place to start. Since your blue is eating fine, your cage temps must be okay then.......

Another factor could be any size differences between your blue and the B&W. Does their size differentiate substantially? This commonly happens to smaller ones housed with larger tegus. The feel intimidated, will hide most often, thus hindering their appetite as well.

If the above are non-factors, you may want to try chicken. We boil it until almost fully cooked. Doesn't matter if it is wings, legs, etc. Sprinkle with Vit D3 and calcium supplemnt first. This hopefully will trigger his appetite. I have also found that is a tegu was previously fed live prey, such as pinkies, it will take them a while to acclimate to non-live prey.

We will feed our Arg & Paraguayans the SDZ as their main staple, then change up with chicken, eggs (very little). Colombians may not like the SDZ too well because of the fruit content, though each one is different. Even our new little gold devoured his SDZ, so this will be a test with each tegu, primairly the colombians.

You may want to attmept to soak him as well, if you have/do not already. I have found that tegu appetites can also deter if they are slightly dehydrate. They should always though be supplied with a shallow water bowl.:0) The last factor would be to get his fecal tested for potential parasites, if not done already.

My best wishes!!!

Greg

Thank you very much the little guy is somewhat smaller but not a whole lot. I have pics posted in the gallery of the two of them side by side. he did start eating crickets this morning though. I take my blue out and feed her in a diff. tank since she is blind in the one eye the smaller tank allows her to catch easier. so far today it is going well maybe it was just an adjustment period from going into the new tank. thank you all again.
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Beau W.

here is the pic of the two of them together

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Beau W.

I have one that's a picky eater she won't hardly touch mice. Like you I always break down and give her turkey or something. I like to try mice first though just to give her variety if she does go for it. Have you tried superworm (king mealworms), sardines, pinky mice, ham, mussles (clams), cooked fish, etc...