feeding 3 1/2 foot argentine b/w

tessysoo · New Member Joined: Apr 11, 2005 Posts: 2

Hi! First if I acquire an animal I always do thorough research before they come home with me. That is not possible in the rescue I work with. Sometimes an animal shows up on the doorstep they are not familiar with and they have to do research after the fact. This is what happened with this tegu. We have done research and have files on tegus (before this one arrived). We know what types of foods to feed them. We work with other reptiles. We specialize in iguanas, but also work with beardies, snakes, anoles, tortoises, etc. This is the first tegu to arrive.

We are sure of the type we did research that and knew when it arrived. It has the two scales instead of one and the "stripe" down the side although I would call it more white then yellow. It is a female and has been checke by the vet. Like us he is more used to the other species of reptiles he usually works with and has only rarely worked with tegus, he deals with a lot more iguana, snakes, beardies and turtles or tortoises. We finally got her away from eating pinkies and she is eating frozen/warmed adult mice. She will on occassion eat squash, greens, carrots, snap green beans, and a little fruit she also eats superworms for a snack but doesn't seem real interested in them.

My main questions are any other suggestions for additions to her diet? Also how much and how often for one this size both on veggies and on mice. I know on babies to let them eat until they stop like on most species but have read that adults can get too fat and be unhealthy. THis of course isn't a worry on the iguanas as they stop when full. So any suggestions are appreciated.

Tessa

Rick · Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 4:34 pm Post subject:

tessasoo,

Welcome to the tegu community. Glad to see another reptile rescuer check in.

Tegus will eat until they are full. Just make sure not to feed them a fatty diet and they will be fine. Adult mice are nutritional for your tegu so they are a great source for a tegu diet. Fruits and veggies are fine as long as your tegu will take them. You can also feed lean (93% or better) ground turkey. This was suggested by beardiedragon and I have been doing it since then as part of my tegus varied diet. Insects are a fine addition as long as they are supplemented with vitamins and calcium supplements.

Tegus can get obese if fed fatty foods (pinky rodents, ground beef and turkey that is not lean, etc) and will get obese fast if not given lots of room to move and plenty of exercise. Keep them on a lean diet and let them get lots of exercise and they can eat until they are full.

It was not asked or mentioned, but like iguanas, tegus should have regular exposure to UVB.

I hope that answers you questions. Feel free to make an album in the tegu gallery and one in the 'Other Photos' gallery for your other rescued herps. We all love to see pictures.

Rick
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Sisco Reptiles - Proud Breeder of the Tamest & Most Social Tegus. See www.SiscoReptiles.com

tessysoo · New Member Joined: Apr 11, 2005 Posts: 2

Little more specific on diet. Just to make sure if she is eating less than ???? mice (full grown frozen thawed) she is probably not eating enough or if she is eating more than ?????? she may be eating too many. I just want to make sure her diet is full enough and she is getting enough I realize if healthy that they will eat as much as they want etc but that is what I am checking on to make sure she is healthy. Yes the vet said she is healthy so I am not real worried just wanted a little range on how much this size tegu should be eating. Also she was malnourished when she arrived and quite thin but she has filled out and I want to make sure since she had been underfed before that she is not trying to overeat now. We have had that happen on other animals before so we like to monitor their diets within a range so we know the least or most that is healthy. I don't need anything exact just an estimate. Also we usually feed her mice daily if she will eat them is this what you guys usually do or every other day etc.

Thanks again
Tessa

Brisamen · Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 3:22 am Post subject:

How large is the tegu (or did I mis reading that?)? And how active?
My red(almost 3 ft) isnt all that active...he is just a plain old lazy*** laying about all day on his fav spot. So he gets one sub adult rat every other day. And gets boiled eggs once a month and inbetween dinner he gets some fruit (reds need this for a good shedding) and some insects such as grasshoppers and superworms. And sometimes in between he'll get what our young B&W doesnt want anymore...acting like a nice red garbage can

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1.0.0 T.rufescens
0.1.0 T.merianae
1.0.0 Testudo horsfieldii
1.0.0 Stenodactylus sthenodactylus
0.0.1 Ceratophrys ornata
0.0.1 Geocholone elegans
0.0.1 Python regius
2.0.0 Mustela Putorius Furo
0.1.0 Bouvier des flandres

drfish · Posted: Thu Apr 14, 2005 7:17 am Post subject:

If you can stomach it, and the Teg is big enough, try adult rats, chopped up. Much more calcium than mice. Bit gross chopping them up tho.