Tegu diet

[Dastoten]

O.K., so I am looking into getting a black and white Tegu. I know a fair amount about their care and their care. The one issue I keep stumbling on is the diet. I get huge varying numbers for the amounts and the numbers for days. Also I have heard of a "turkey diet" but I have no one with an actual solid answer for what that consist of, like the amount of turkey per-meal, the number of times offered a week, or if it needs a mineral or calcium additive.

Thanks guys, I hope to hear a lot of feed back.

[shimmer]

All right, first thing is how old the tegu is when you buy it. Babies-1 year olds have a diet of meat and insects, when the tegu turns 1 then they need to start having fruit and veggies added in to their meals. I feed mine 60%fruit and veggies and 40% meat and insect. I can't remember the name of the site but a video was made on Arg B&Ws and they had info on the diet from what they found in the stomachs of several tegus. Go to tegutalk.com they have a massive food list.
I feed mine rats, tilapia, turkey, juv iguana diet, blueberries, adult iguana diet, ground crix and superworms, and different baby foods.
I often make tegu meat balls by mixing most of that up except the fish and rats. The rats are prefect for getting your tegu to start eating plant material. Just cut a hole that can still close in the stomach and stuff the rat with fruits and veggies. I mix the fish with the babyfood and add fruit. Also switch your tegu's diet around, like 1 week meat balls next week fish.
My tegu is a full grown male and he eats twice a week and usually eats 1 1/2 to 2 lbs of food every meal. A baby needs to eat everyday and juvies vary.
I use calcium with vitamin D3 mixed with every meal and the Reptical juv iguana diet and adult iguana diet provide the multi vitamin. And don't be afraid to be generous with it.
The turkey diet is great and much cheaper then rats but I like to add fuzzy-hopper mice with the meat every 2 weeks too ensure he is getting everything.
*Get a food bin!! These guys are monsters with food aggression! If they see your hand with food they think your hand is food all the time, feed them in the enclosure you get sever cage aggresstion.
*Get a good pair of leather welding gloves! I have been bit before by my male during breeding season and it hurts like hell!!! Welding gloves are pretty cheap and work better then anything else. Just go to a Lowes, Home Depot, Atwoods, etc and get a pair.
If you get a baby I suggest you ensure it is getting calcuim by adding calcium powder to every meal and that includes mice. These guys grow fast and can easily get MBD.
The best breeder to get these guys from is Varnard Herps, my male is from them and he is just awsome.
Spend at least an hour - 2 hous playing with your tegu everyday! If you want them to be very tolerant and trusting it takes time and a lot of effort. I use my male for educational presentations and that took me a year after he matured!
I hope this helped you! Think alittle more about getting one because they can be a real dangerous pain in the ass at times (especially males) and can do it without warning. 1 bite can take a huge chunk out of you and the infection from naturally produced bacteria can give you a massive infection. Even though they act like cats and dogs, if you don't know the warning signs they can literally take your hand off.

[Dastoten]

that is fantastic. Thank you so much. The one I am about to get is not a neonate but is still very young. He is already puppy dog tame and I have 2 containment areas for him one of which is for feeding. I cant wait to get him home.