feeding diet

fitz · Member Joined: Mar 17, 2005 Posts: 22

hey im new to tegu's and i wanted to get an argintina b&w tegu as a hatchling or juvi. i was wondering if someone can give me a diet on what to feed him. should i always have fruits and veggies in his feeding dish for when he is hungry? money is not an issue. also what is a hopper?

thanks

charlene · Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 10:01 pm Post subject:

Most people choose mice and insects (like crickets and superworms) as a staple (a hopper is a young mouse..the stage when they first start to hop around). Fruits and veggies are not overly important in an argentine black and white tegus diet but if you can get them to eat it then go for it. Some people also feed there tegus lean ground turkey. Hope this helped.

Charlene

fitz · Member Joined: Mar 17, 2005 Posts: 22

thanks also i heard feeding live mice will make them aggresive is this true

thanls again

Brisamen · Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 6:38 am Post subject:

I think its more the other way around.
Feeding them death mice will make them more mellow

As they are agsressive feeders
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drfish · Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 9:29 am Post subject:

Live mice can also attack the Tegu. Although not causing much damage, it could lead to infection.

For the sake of ease, use dead mice.

John · Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 10:36 am Post subject:

I have yet to see a mouse puncture the hide of a tegu! I wouldn't worry about feeding them live mice. I fed my albinos live mice all the time without any problems! Death is usually very quick. Honestly I didn't see a difference when I fed f/t (frozen thawed) mice. They learn quick, when I open the door and tap the mulch they came running with their mouth open wide looking for food (Ricks B & W also does this!). Infact I had my female on her hind legs reaching up to pull mice out of my hand! It was all the same.
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Rick · Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 11:18 am Post subject:

I generally feed live rodents, but do on occasion use prekilled.

As far as a mouse biting a tegu, it's possible. Especially if the tegu is young. Being smaller it's easier for the mouse to get their mouth around something. Larger tegus make this harder, plus larger tegus have thicker hide.

The aggression question was answered, but let me go into a little detail.

Live mice run and jump away.. thus, the tegu needs to run and be quick to catch the mouse. This is great for exercise as well as keeping the feeding response higher.

Prekilled mice just lay in a bowl and the tegu can eat it at it's leisure. This lowers the feeding response.

High feeding response is generally good because a sick tegu can be fed easier when it has a high feeding response and a tegu with a lower feeding response can be much harder to feed when it is sick. Also note that feeding fruit to a tegu with a high feeding response is easier. Toss in a grape during feeding time and it's gone before the tegus even realize what they ate.

High feeding response could be dangerous if you try hand feeding. A tegu grabbing quickly for a mouse, that turns out to be a finger, not a mouse.. is in for a little surprize. So are you. Which is why you should never hand feed a tegu. I personally remove all chance of my hand being associated as food by feeding outside of the enclosure, food is placed down first and a 'clicker' is used to indicate feeding time. They only go into 'feeding mode' (where their high feeding response kicks in) when I start clicking the clicker.

Do not associate high feeding response with aggression though. There are a few things that most people get mixed up.. Feeding response vs aggression and timidness vs aggression.

Feeding response is how willing a tegu is to eat. This is generally good when it's high. Though if YOU are not careful and do not show respect for what you are doing, you could get bit because the tegu thinks you are food.

Timidness is when your tegu is scared of you or people in general. It's when the tegu has not been tamed yet and tries at all costs to avoid you. Though if YOU try to grab a timid tegu, you could get bit. This is a fear response. It's natural and not evil or aggressive. It was avoiding you. You grabbed it, thus you were being aggressive.

Aggression is when an animal is not properly socialized (tamed) it can grow up scared, as it gets larger it may even become so brave as to be aggressive. This means it no longer avoids you. It now attacks with the intent to bite you. If you know the animal is aggressive and try to force yourself on the animal and you get bit, whose fault is it really? If the animal is indeed aggressive, find a person who knows how to deal with these animals. It requires allot work.

Note: I have seen timid tegus, many of them. I have never seen a truly aggressive tegu. No tegu I have had or had the chance to see, has been aggressive.
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drfish · Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 11:50 am Post subject:

Not so much the hide of the Tegu, more the eyes, snout, and other vulnerable areas. I have seen an image of someone who left a rat in the enclosure with a Teg, and believe me, it wasn't a pretty site.

I'll try and find it now mate.

John · Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 4:11 pm Post subject:

Leaving any feeder in with an animal is pure stupidity on the owners part. Feeding live is fine, one must sit and watch or ensure the animal is dead before walking away.
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Rick · Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2005 12:15 am Post subject:

I agree 100% that you should never leave any live feeders in the enclosure with the tegu, especially ones with chewing/gnawing teeth.

I'll add that with my tegus and their high feeding response, any mouse getting close to their nose, eyes, etc.. would not have much of a chance to bite the tegus.

Though I am not saying it's not possible or true. Many tegus have a dulled or low feeding response. Tegus with a low feeding response would allow a mouse to walk right up to them if they were not hungry at that moment.

Rick
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