# how often to feed my tegu?



## theonas (Aug 22, 2009)

just wondering how often you guys feed your gu's? i have had mine about 8 weeks,they were trying to keep his size down in the pet shop.....(not feeding him as much as they should have!) i feed mine everyday on diced turkey leg, diced steak,eggs and mice.....has grown so much in the 8 weeks,nearly doubled in size........although this week he seems to be having a problem pooing.going to try cod liver oil tomoz......have been trying warm baths.....thanks in advance for your input....will upload some updated pics soon.


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## rrcoolj (Aug 22, 2009)

Hey man, Feed them as much as they will eat every day. Some days they might not eat. Like yesterday I fed my little man a fuzzie and he was so fulll he opted not to eat today.


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## theonas (Aug 22, 2009)

he doesn't seem to like eating veg,although the other day there was a bacon sandwich and my tegu ate some of the bread and some of the bacon.he also likes fish.....


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## rrcoolj (Aug 22, 2009)

Well if he is only 8 weeks old than he probably won't be eating veggies. Baccon especially cooked isnt the best thing for him neither is bread. Fish is fine. Ground turkey is good as a "staple" and I use that that term loosly because they need a varied diet. There is alot of stuff they can eat including eggs(scrambled or boiled), ground, turkey, fish(tuna, salmon, etc), insects, and rodents from the top of my head. Check out the caresheet on the home page and that might help a little.


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## theonas (Aug 22, 2009)

he is nowwhere near 8 weeks,he/she was sold to me as 12 weeks old,i have posted pic 8 weeks ago when i got him(if you look up my threads you will see him)have been told since then from my pics on here he is at least 1 year old.thanks


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## rrcoolj (Aug 22, 2009)

Well its te same diet just in greater amounts. He may or may not eat fruit and veggies some tegus never do.


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## Bubblz Calhoun (Aug 22, 2009)

Ditto rrcoolj,...feed'em as much as they want when they want it. Depending on the size of you Gu, if he's at least a year old he should definitely be on rats by now. As for knowing when and how much to feed'em, its not an exact science. I use the skin fold method. Which is just checking out how prominent the skin fold on the side of their stomach is before and after they poo. With a nice full belly there is no fold. Depending on how much they have digested and after they poo, there will be. How much determines how hungry they may or may not be. Not much of a fold and I still offer food but its something light like fish or meat mash w/ fruits, veg and calcium mixed in. If the fold stands out more, then they have digested and can or will accept more. So I skip the mash all together and offer whole foods, rats, quail, chicks, baby rabbits, what ever.

If he doesn't accept fruits and veggies (if its not a red) don't worry about it. Some like'em some don't. Sometimes my Gu will pick what he likes out of his meat mash and leave the rest and then there are times when he wants nothing to do with it. :-D


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## KSTAR (Aug 23, 2009)

i fed my tegus as much as they wanted when they were small...i would feed them 2 times a day and put out a little more than usual so they can eat as much as they want....i would make sure to feed them a variety of foods through out the day aswell i never really fed them the same food all the time and never the same food for the whole day....and make sure you are adding the cod liver oil and calcium dust to the food theyre eating...and he/she should be plump in no time :-D


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## Toby_H (Aug 23, 2009)

theonas said:


> he is nowwhere near 8 weeks,he/she was sold to me as 12 weeks old,i have posted pic 8 weeks ago when i got him(if you look up my threads you will see him)have been told since then from my pics on here he is at least 1 year old.thanks




Just to make sure I've read this correct...

When you bought the Tegu you were told it was 12 weeks old...

You've had the Tegu for 8 weeks...

People have suggested to you the Tegu looks 1 year old...


FYI - I have a female who was born a little over a year ago ('08 Varnyard)... she hibernated for 5 months last winter... she is currently 31" long...

Tegus are generally born in one of two seasons... mid summer or mid winter... depending on which hemisphere they were born in. There is a good chance your was born in the Southern Hemisphere which would make it about 6 months old...


Anyway, my 14 month old girl eats daily, as much as she wants... and last year she was fed daily, as much as she wants... So regardless of the age of yours, I suggest you feed it daily, as much as it wants...


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## thestem07 (Oct 6, 2009)

I have heard it time and again to feed them everyday as much as they wont. Is it possible to over feed them?
I have read on another thread that they will get into a feeding mode and not stop and eat to much.
My 22" (should be 25 -30 as his tail is a re-growth) 9 month old, will eat crickets and super worms until he is about to explode. He also eats F/T fuzzies like crazy.
yesterday he ate 2 fuzzies and one pinkie, and like 10 crickets, then like 12 super worms. That just seems like a lot. At his peak so far he ate a spoon full of Ground turkey, (1 inch x 1 inch x 1 inch) probably 25 crickets and like 20 super worms. 
should I portion his meals out for him or just let him eat like crazy everyday?


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## Herplings (Oct 6, 2009)

Yeah, I think they all have a "shut off", but its just at what point the shut off is. I think some by the time they shut off is way beyond the point they should have stopped feeding.
This is natural for a lot of predators in the wild, to forge themselves, because most hunting attempts in the wild fail.
They don't know when they are going to eat again, so they eat as much as possible. I doubt in the wild any of these animals eat daily.

I feed mine daily, but I try to go by the weight of the animal vs the weight the animals food.
I feed by weight.

I also don't feed things like COD Liver oils, Ground processed and packaged foods, cooked foods, ext. ext.
I think this started because of cost of feeding and trying to "make" food for cheaper. I stopped doing this and I noticed great growth and over all animal stability.

I feed more of what the animals would feed on and eat in the wild. I feed Rats, insects and on once a week, or 10 days I will feed fruit and vegetables, that are found native to their area and put just a tiny amount of vit-powder in with it.

I feed mine like this.

2 days rats
1 day insects
2 days rats
1 day insects
1 day fruit and vegetables.
Repeat.


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