Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am thinking about getting a Black and White Argentine Tegu in the near future and was curious about their diet. I have been doing some research and have read mixed readings about them eating insects.

Is it possible to NOT feed a young Tegu crickets?
Diet look like:

Mice
Mealworms
Raw eggs
Waxworms
Raw ground turkey
Fresh fruits

and have a multivitamin once a week and Calcium/Vitamin D supplement on each meal.

I know as adults they wouldn't really eat crickets but as young do they HAVE TO or is other foods just as good for them?

Thanks

>>Mice
>>Mealworms
>>Raw eggs
>>Waxworms
>>Raw ground turkey
>>Fresh fruits
>>

They do not have to eat crickets. Crickets are fed since they are convenient, available, and inexpensive.

Your list looks fine. If I may make a few suggestions?

If you get a hatchling, they usually start out eating pinky mice. As the tegu grows, I would switch it over to larger rodents as soon as possible so that it may consume whole prey with a complete skeleton.

There is a debate about feeding raw eggs containing avidin which binds biotin. Cooking the eggs denatures the avidin. If you choose to feed raw eggs, you can supplement the eggs with a multivitamin to replace the B vitamin lost to the animal. When I've about the issue, the conclusion by veterinarians seems to be that it would take a daily diet of raw eggs to see a biotin deficiency. At any rate, I always keep it in the back of my mind.

Superworms and waxworms will be a good choice, but there are other good insects choices, too. You can try silkworms and hornworms (messy if they are huge), both which can be ordered on-line. If the idea of live crickets turns you off, you can also purchase canned crickets, just for variety.

Some hatchlings won't eat fruits and veggies right away, but I've always kept offering it. I'm one that feeds plant matter to my tegus and seem to like to sample whatever is in season.

Thanks! Perfect I'm happy about not having live crickets in my house Another question pertaining to UVB, I know they need it but how much of it do they need? Would a 5.0 UVB 13W bulb be okay? What would be best a: 2.0, 5.0 or 10.0 and a 13W or 26W, I'm talking about the "Exo Terra Repti Glo Compact Fluorescent Bulb". Unless another bulb is more beneficial to them? Also 100W zoo med bulb for heat as long as I can get the temperature up to 110F in the hot spot.

I am not a fan of the compacts since they can cause eye problems. I prefer to use either a ZooMed Power Sun (100watt usually works fine for me) at a distance of 18" or a 10.0 linear bulb hung inside of the cage within 8-10" of the lizard's basking spot.

Repti Glo coils are a hot pile of flaming crap. They do cause eye burns and I have seen it many times over and over, get the powersuns or mega rays.

>>Repti Glo coils are a hot pile of flaming crap. They do cause eye burns and I have seen it many times over and over, get the powersuns or mega rays.

Yep, I've seen it with beardies, box turtles, chams, and I've heard of people having issues with their tegus.