Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So, I have a male blue tegu that is of adult age. My problem seems to be fattening him up!? He is not emaciated, has a round tail and overall a strong built body. However, I have seen some BIG tegus and I'm up in the air if he is appropriately sized for his length/age or if he should gain more weight?

This is my diet regime:
I feed adult mice sparingly... about 3 per feeding and every 10 days.
organic dog/cat food twice a week.
fruit/greens make up about 70% of his food when I serve him twice a week.
he will eat canned organic turkey chunks, cat/dog food from a spoon.

Does anyone use any other food matter beside what I have listed?

Lastly, all my research seems to show that the Argentines like more fruit/greens in their diet in the wild. However, all those BIG tegus I have seen fed mostly on rodents. My tegu almost never refuses rodents, but I know that a diet almost entirely on rodents leads to lethargy and overweight tegus. So, I'm up in the air. Any thoughts/information would be greatly appreciated!

- Justin

p.s. If needed I can try and figure out how to link photos!?

I don't feed my tegus cat or dog food, only meats and fruits. I also feed my adult Argentine about 4-5 times per week, as much as she will eat. She's a good weight, 30" and 6 lbs. She was a rescue when I got her, full-grown and only 3 lbs. She has a nice, fat tail, but has a longitudinal wrinkle and not a fat, bloated belly. Here's a sample of her diet:

Mon: 1 rodent and cantaloupe
Tues: Quail chick and peeled apple
Thurs: Fish, chicken, insects, or worms, and mango or berries
Sat: ground turkey meatballs with vitamins or organ meats, and grapes

She's a bit picky since waking up and hasn't hit her full appetite yet.

My little Arg seems to only want to eat meat and I feed him just about every day.

My Colombian eats a variety of meats, three times per week.

I meant to add, thetegu.com always has a thread going about feeding. You can get some ideas there.

Blue Tegus can be sustained on a purely rodent diet. That being said your tegu doesn't need as much of the fruits/veggies although if he will eat them by all means let him have them. BUT I don't think your feeding near enough meat. I'd leave out the mice and add rats to his meal. Dog/Cat food is for Dogs/Cats! These canned foods should not be given to reptiles, they aren't made for them! I'd love to see some pics if you can get them up. Get a photobucket account (www.photobucket.com) it's free and they give you a link to post in forums for the pics.
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John Light

O.K. thank you for you feedback! I will try and load a pic.

Just an F.Y.I., the dog/cat food I was using was either organic or not filled with filler and all natural. However, since posting this thread I went to the pet store and Merrick has a new line of dog food which is 100% pure meat: Turkey, Buffalo, Salmon and Beef.

Holy mother did my lizards go to town!!! Not only has my tegu ate this food 2 days in a row (instead of picking here and there and not finishing his entire plate), but, my emerald tree monitor that is picky beyond all belief and my blue-tongue scarfed the food down in minutes!

Additionally, I noticed that my tegu ate more veggies and fruit on his plate with this new food type. I will add more rats to his diet to beef him up... but, his body form is more like: not fat, but his belly spreads out when he basks and when he lifts his body up to walk... it streamlines to form a nice cylindrical shape. I will take a pic tomorrow and upload it to this thread so everyone may see his shape. Thank you again!

- Justin

Dude what's it going to take for you to realize DOG FOOD IS FOR DOGS! Ditch the Dog food and go with rats. People that use dog food are just plain lazy keepers!
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John Light

I agree with John get rid of the dog or cat food they are for cats and dogs. Only offer them dog or cat food as treats only not as their main diet. Dog and cat food lacks alot of things that rodents, ground turkey, fruits and veggies have for the tegu to grow properly. Would you eat dog and cat food because its 100 percent meat? No, because they are made for dogs and cats.

AHEM!....
The Tegu guru Bert Langerwerf has a post on his site saying:
"Important too is the fact that our Argentine tegus do not only eat meat as the Colombian tegus do, but also a lot of fruits, vegetables, cat-foods, and breads."
http://agamainternational.com/pages/tegus.html 'bout 1/3 the way down, for reference...

SO about lazy herpetoculturists feeding dog/cat food?
That's what I thought. In moderation, yes. They're lil pigs, they eat everything.
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