Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i recieved my red tegu 3 weeks ago exactly and he is about 12-14 inches long so what do you think pre killed or live pinky's?

Well, it depends. MOst people only say to give pre-killed food, mostly because your pet could receive bites/scratches from live prey. I don't see that happening with pinkies The only thing I would say in favor of pre-killed is, the tegu will get used to pre-kill. I had a monitor that I fed live mice too at one time to get him to eat (that's the only way he wanted food) and now he'll eat pre-killed, but sometimes I guess if it doesn't "smell right" or something, he won't touch it. So it's better for them to get used to food that doesn't move now when he's young, then try to force it on him later in life. Just my 2 cents

Defintiely pre-killed, if you are chosing that route. Tegus can remain aggressive when fed live prey and will carry their attack nature into adulthood. This is and has been debated though.
Additionally, some think that mice do not have the total nutritional value needed by tegus, especially young ones.

Another alternative to the prey (either live or pre-killed) is to feed her/him the SDZ. The fruit in it will also be beneficial for reds in shedding. Other food sources could be boiled chicken, raw ground turkey (minus the other SDZ ingredients). These defintiely need to be sprinkled with a good
calcium Vit. D3 supplement though. The SDZ has this already mixed in. Ground turkey by itself may also make tegus sleepy, like it does in people. Chicken does not.

Good luck!!!

Greg

if you are gonna feed mice go prekilled i started feeding my tegu live pinkies and i noticed he started to get agressive almost instantly. he is starting to calm down now. jus thought i would give you my 2 cent