Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i got a new baby columbian tegu that is only 13 inches long. all he will eat is grapes and hot dogs. any suggestions on new foods? also is aspen shavings as a substrate ok? thanks in advance for your help

also, my tegu wont eat out of a bowl, he will only eat right out of my hand.

I think the aspen is too dry. I like cypress bark. As far as food try crickets and fuzzy mice. Give your tegu something to chase. Try pineapple chunks (cheap can), eggs (soft boiled or poached), mashed potatos, add melted cheese to mashed potatos and french fries, apples (no seeds) raw and cooked.

Hope this helps.

Mike B

Hotdogs???? I wouldn’t feed a dog hotdogs let alone my Tegu I would recommend not continuing with the hotdogs. Fuzzy mice are way to big for a 13” Tegu you nay try pinkies. You should really be feeding dusted crickets. Sticky Tongue calcium indo formula is the best. Get your crickets from a good source. Get rid of aspen shavings they will not hold the humidity your Tegu will need for a proper shed. Cyprus bark or mulch will do much better. If you keep hand feeding you will eventually get bitten and if it is when he is 3ft you could loose the end of a finger.

To wean your tegu off hand feeding, put the bowl in the enclosure and your hand with the food in the bowl. As he eats, slide the rest ot the food off into the bowl. He'll get the idea. You really are in danger of a bad bite eventually, as fingers and pinkies are both pink!

I also agree with the previous posts about 'no hot dogs' and the mulch. Baby tegus seem to be hard wired to chase small insects. Feed the Minerall (indoor formula, with the vitamin D) dusted crickets. LOTS of dusted crickets! Eventually your tegu will accept other tegu friendly food, but my babies still prefer their crickets.

Good luck!

Leslie

aspen is DEADLY to herps!

i thought that was cedar

Cedar causes respitory problems... I dont know is aspen is actually deadly... But you never know!

I use cypress mulch and I wet it down everyone other day to try to keep 50/60% humidity
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0.0.3 Whites tree frogs
0.0.1 Blizzard leopard gecko
0.0.1 Argentine Black and White tegu
0.1 Tremper leopard gecko
0.1 Het. tremper leopard gecko

oh yeah, my bad! i can get names mixed up alot! hehehehehe

Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches are one of the best feeder insects out there. Get yourself a stable colony of maybe a 100 or more and let them breed. Here is a good site that sells them.
Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches as Feeders

gee, might that be your site?
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0.0.3 Whites tree frogs
0.0.1 Blizzard leopard gecko
0.0.1 Argentine Black and White tegu
0.1 Tremper leopard gecko
0.1 Het. tremper leopard gecko