B&W Diet

Katt · Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 8:54 pm Post subject: B&W Diet

I understand tegu's are quite omnivourous, so I'm not asking if they will eat fruits and veggies, but really, what fruits and veggies? What would a T. merianae like to eat?

Squashes? How about lettuce? Fish? Raw ground meats? Pork? Raw turkey? Cooked chicken? Raw beef?

Easy enough for me to eat whole rodents to feed, and I have cockroaches feeders to feed too, but what about a strawberry? Snails? I was told, Mercedes, will eat kiwi, but should I cube it and put it into a dish?

Alejandro ate off a spoon. So I'm just relearning everything all over again!
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~Katt

charlene · Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2005 9:21 pm Post subject:

I feed mine feeder insects and mice as a staple. Raw and cooked chicken, beef, ect is a bad idea as it is very fatty. Some people feed there tegus lean ground turkey I have never tried it but plan to. I also give mine an egg occasional because he loves them...the egg should be fertilized if the tegu is going to get any benefit from consuming it.

Fruits are not overly important in T. merianae's diet (not like the reds) but its always worth a try. Some never take any fruits and veggies while others love them. Some of the fruits/veggies that I have experimented with include:
Blueberries
Strawberries
Banana
Pineapple

If your worried about a certain food give them a little bit and then see how they react to it...you know when it comes out again. Things that I know to avoid include apple seeds/core, romaine lettuce, pear seeds/core. There a lots of good lists on the net that are much more complete then mine and will give you a good idea for whats good and whats not so it is worth checking them out. Hope this helped.

Charlene

Katt · Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2005 2:06 pm Post subject:

I am trying some cucumber and apple today and she does not seem at all interested? She's just a young one.Is there a certain size/age that they become interested in fruit and veggies? What if she is never interested in eating the good stuff? Should I try baby food?
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~Katt

Brisamen · Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2005 4:04 pm Post subject:

With T.merianae fruit is not such a biggy. Our little one will on occasion eat a grape (well its still little so one grape is a whole mouth full

) and I think it also ate some banana.
But as I said its not a big deal with B&W's. They dont need fruit and veggies.
If he eats it its ok, if he dont...its ok too

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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

Katt · Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2005 6:09 pm Post subject: Fruits/Veggies

Well that's a relief! I hope she learns to accept some fruits and veggies. The fun thing about tegu's is watching them eat! Well, actually, the fun part is holding them and interacting, but feeding a reptile a berry is too neat for words!
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~Katt

drfish · Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 8:06 am Post subject:

Mine eats borccoli, lettuce, banana, kiwi fruit, apple, strawberries.

Staple meat diet is mainly tuna fish, salmon (high in fat tho), whitebait, chicken, mice, rat (fully grown), earthworms and for treats, he gets an egg once a month, and the occassional plate of chicken curry (tikka, bhuna, rogan josh manily). Gonna try him on beer soon, no curry can be complete without a beer.

(j/k by the way, I save the beer for my dogs)

Rick · Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 11:27 am Post subject:

My tegus are not overly interested in fruits and vegetables. Their staple diet is rodents, but they also eat fresh ground turkey (93% lean or better), cockroaches, crickets, egg, etc. They will take grapes or banana, which I cut to fit in their mouths. They will eat other fruits in veggies, but I generally have to mix them in with (calcium & vit D3 supplemented) raw ground turkey (93% lean or better). In the turkey mix I have put diced fruits and veggy greens; kiwi, strawberry, romaine lettuce, etc.. as well as occasionally a diced boiled egg mixed in.

Each tegu is different so may like different things. Feel free to try a variety, just ask here first to make sure it's not going to make your tegu sick.

Note: While my tegus love banana, I do not feel it more then a piece or two at a time because it does not settle right. They all get smelly and soft feces if feed too much banana.

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

Rick · Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 11:30 am Post subject:

drfish · Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 12:58 pm Post subject:

He's 2 and half - 3 years. bit hard to say because he is someone elses cast-off. More fool them really for buying a reptile they knew nothing about.

As for the beer thing, I will be living in a pub in 3 weeks anyway. Me and the missus have just got a tenancy so beer should be easily obtainable.

Also own 60+ tropical fish (45+ community, 11 Tank Busters) leo gecko, fischers chameleon and 2 staffies (soon to be many more as the bitch is expecting).

Animal farm my house is.

tupinambis · Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 10:12 pm Post subject:

Hey Rick, you might want to try giving them the WHOLE banana, see what that does. Down in Brazil, the wild and captive ones there seemed more interested in eating the peel than the flesh.

beardiedragon · Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 10:20 pm Post subject:

I used to peel them but no more. Now I cut them into 5 or 6 pieces with the skin. It makes it easier for them and less messy with the mulch. The only reason for cutting them up is because I feed more than one Tegu at a time and with smaller pieces, they don't fight over it.
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beardiedragon.com
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Rauf · Member Joined: Mar 10, 2005 Posts: 12

do gold tegu's require a lot of fruit in their diet? my tegus are only young, so If I give them a whole banana with the skin on, will they bite chunks off, or should I cut it up into mouthful pieces (which is what i do)

beardiedragon · Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2005 5:21 pm Post subject:

in order to rip food up, tegus thrash around and you may end up with banana everywhere if you let him tear it up instead of cutting it yourself
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Bennett

beardiedragon.com
Home of the Florida Orange

drfish · Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 2:33 pm Post subject:

Although it is fun to watch. I normally peel my banana's first, and offer them whole. I've heard the skin is very difficult to digest.

BLUETEGUS · Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 6:11 pm Post subject:

Wait, you fed your tegu the banana peel of the banana?
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Kevin
1.0.0 Blue Tegu