Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi All,

Just have a question about feeding a juvenile B&W Arg. Is it possible to overfeed these guys as youngsters, or just let em eat all they want? My little guy is about 7-8 inches from snout to vent and is eating a minimum of 1 hopper mouse per day, plus a few crickets,dog food,eggs etc. The minute i go near the tank he's scratching the glass as if to say feed me. Just wanna make sure i'm on the right track. Seems good and healthy, very active and sheds well. Not alot of info on tegus on the net. Can anyone recommend any good books or websites?

Thanks Jason

Feed him as much as he wants while he's young and growing. Cut back once he gets full grown. Ditch the dog food and eggs all together. Neither is good for him. Instead add some fruit, ground turkey, more mice, roaches, meal worms, etc and you'll be good to go.

Except for the fact that rapid growth without proper calcium, phosphorous and vitD3 levels produces less structurally sound bones. Most captive animals show decreasing bone density with growth in comparison to wild animals, rapid growth only exacerbates the situation.

How did you come to the conclusion that his calcium, phosphorous and/or D3 levels are anything more or less than proper? On a daily basis I see many more cases of under fed herps than I do over fed. Under nourishment certainly is not going to increase bone density.

Ground turkey, mealworms, and roaches are all high protein, low calcium foods.

Mice tend to be more nutritionally balanced, but captive bred ones also tend to be obese, and therefore fat laden. Plus, they don't really make up a significant portion of wild tegu diets. Evidently there's growing evidence showing high rodent content diets can lead to blockage of the intestines under some conditions. The tegus apparently have troubles moving the fur through their intestines.

Captive tegus lack the variety in their diet they are most suited for, most people prefer to depend on rodents and/or ground meat substitutes. Undoubtedly, the natural variety meets their needs better than restricted diets do. Tegus kept indoors don't receive the benefits of full sunlight that promote the strong bone growth seen in those kept outdoors. Stuffing your tegus with high protein foods that are less than ideal in other attributes promotes rapid growth which places demands on the bones instead of promoting healthy bone growth. I don't promote undernourishing as you seem to be implying, just proper diet. Too many people think their tegus should go from hatchling to 4', 10lb animals in one year, and that simply isn't healthy.