Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Otis, my B/W tegu, has finally settled in and has been eating pretty regularly. At first was only eating boiled eggs, thanks to a few of your suggestions. Then he'd eat crickets but only if he got really hungry. Today we tried a fuzzy and he ate it!!!! Now, how often do I feed him mice? He'd eat almost daily on other things...are mice to be fed that often too?
Also , Otis has had two sheds and seems to be growing fast!I noticed that recently he's gotten grumpier by tail slapping and sometimes trying to bite, but only when I first go to get him out of his home. After hes out he's as sweet as can be and loves to climb on top of my head.
I thank all of you who gave me new ideas and I hope one day to be able to return the favor. Thanks.

Hi there! I am "assuming" Otis is a baby or juvie? Some on here may disagree with my tegu diets, though.............
I have had numerous B/W's, reds, blues, and even a few golds and have never fed rodents to my tegus. All prospered extremely well. Even babies and juvies, I fed both mainly boiled chicken (cut off the bone) and the san diego zoo diet.
With the SDZ, the fruit content, or amount of fruit varied depending on species, with the reds needing more fruit content.
The blues and B/W's both would even eat veggies as they turn into adults (this was thanks to Bert at Agama Intl. quite a few years back) due to his research efforts with the B/W's. I would feed every day, unitl the fall whe nbeginning ot brumate, then reduced to every other, then every third day until ceasing all together, the nthe reverse order when coming out of brumation. A quick note..I would not attempt to brumate babies, or young juvies for it would be a bit risky to their health.

The best of luck!!!

Greg

If this is a baby or juvie Tegu feed it daily, but you can vary the foods that you feed (ie, mice 3 days a week, insects the other days). They grow so fast that they need the calories and nutrition. Whole foods, such as mice, should be the main staple in a Tegu's diet as it gets large enough to consume them. The St. Pierres made some awesome posts about Tegu diets last year. Search the archives for them.

The practice of not feeding whole prey items worries me a bit, especially after reading the above mentioned posts. If using the SDZ diet, you must use it exactly as it was intended with the included supplements added (bone meal and vitamins). Otherwise you are risking malnutrition and MBD. I'm a believer that UVB is important for baby and juvie Tegus. I've seen MBD in young Tegus that was quickly reversed by adding UVB and calcium supplementation.

Awesome points regarding the supplements! When feeding the SDZ diet and your worries are valid. The calcium with Vit-D3 and herpavite (or actual bone meal as you noted) are used as the zoologist designed it. The supplemtns are also of course added to the chicken etc. I've heard factors relating to the live prey (baby chicks, mice, rats, etc.) utilized for nutritional value, though these supplements do provide the needed nutrition to combat the MBD. It was funny a few years back, I had a difficult time locating the bone meal as prescribed by the vets/zoologists at San Diego Zoo. Looked in health food stores, you name it. This directed me to contact the zoo directly and they noted the herpavite and calcium Vit.w/ D-3 works as well, though the phosophurous free is better advised as in the
Rep-Cal. The bone meal they use for it's nutrional values of course and their added note was: "it's just cheaper than the comercial supplemnts." :0)

Awesome inputs Jane and I should have covered the supplement aspects a bit more thoroughly. :0)

Greg

Both posts make excellent points. Feeding is as controversial as substrate, UVB, and pretty much all aspects of husbandry. Plus the fact that these lizards are such individuals, the best thing to do (what I felt was best, and worked for me), is just make a big list of what is recommended, weed it down to what is feasable to you, then see how your tegu reacts to the different foods. I tried all the following: raw eggs, boiled eggs, hamburger (not recommended due to high fat, but I feed as a treat), ground turkey, mice/rats, dog/cat food (only WYSONG brand - no additives), crix, superworms, and various fruits/veggies (this may be most difficult, they seem to prefer meats). After experimenting, I keep a pretty simple diet. I feed everyday also, and will continue to do so until he reaches full size and stops shedding every month. I feed whole prey (rats and quail) for 2 days, then the 3rd day I feed ground turkey mixed with fruits. This is the only way mine will eat fruits, and I've narrowed it down to apples, grapes, and oranges. I only have 1 tegu, he is my first, and he is still growing and in excellent health. This way works for my tegu and myself, and that's pretty much my point, you just have to learn along with him what he likes most with respect to what you can provide. Hope this helps.

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-Bill

1.0.0 Albino California Kingsnake
0.1.0 Colombian Red Tail Boa
1.0.0 Jackson's Chameleon
1.0.0 Bearded Dragon
0.0.1 Argentine Black and White Tegu

redatoryLizard@Yahoo.com" target="_blank">PredatoryLizard@Yahoo.com

Great post! Each tegu is an individual and this factor needs to be taken into consideration when feeding. Let the tegu lead..... :0)