# do your tegus like to eat chicks?



## preston897 (Apr 16, 2010)

im going to be getting my first gu soon. and i want good variety. i will have rats to feed them. and eventually i will have hissers to feed him. i will also be feeding him ground turkey and fruit and fish. but does anyone feed their tegu chicks or quail?


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## reptastic (Apr 16, 2010)

i want feed nero chicks and quail but i cant find a store nearby i may get some from rodentpro, btw i highly doubt he will eat any bugs seems like once they get a certain size they loose interest


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## preston897 (Apr 16, 2010)

they are hissers so they are pretty big. and i was visiting the one im probably going to get today and he saw a roach run across his enclosure (its outdoors) and he took off and ate it. he grabbed it and started rubbing it all over the ground killing it. it was about the size of an adult male dubia. i think it was just a normal nasty american cockroach. this tegu is abut 2.5-3 feet.


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## preston897 (Apr 16, 2010)

sorry for the double post but i forgot to adress what i was asking about haha. i have looked and rodent pro and another place called mice direct. i figure rodent pro would be better. i just dont know what size to get.


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## Bubblz Calhoun (Apr 16, 2010)

_My boys LOVE chicks, baby blue also (still no name yet :roll: ) its one of the few things Dino will actually chase me down :shock: and jump for when he's outside. But I don't recommend feeding chicks often because they tend to soften the stool and or give them diarrhea. Idk why but my BPs took chicks once and it caused the same thing. Different type of chicks from a different place with the same results. So for me, chicks are more of a treat than anything else

When I do feed chicks I add something else with it like a medium rat, turkey or surf and turf with fish. To keep their stool consistent _


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## preston897 (Apr 17, 2010)

what about quail?


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## Bubblz Calhoun (Apr 17, 2010)

_They ate'em but they didn't like'em as much, there was quite a few times they refused the quail. Didn't matter how or what I prepared with it, more often than not they would eat everything else and leave the quail. 

I have a pic of Dino eating, the one time he actually went for the quail first. Even though there was a rat and fruit on his plate. But that was the first and only time it happened. I refused to waste what I had so they eventually ate all of them but I won't purchase any more. 







Every tegu is different, yours might actually like them. Maybe there's someone or somewhere near you that you can purchase a few from. With out actually buying bulk first, to see how they take to chicks and quail._


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## preston897 (Apr 18, 2010)

yea i will have to do some searching and see. and as far as the chicks go it only looking at them for an occasional thing. just to get more variety. i understand they love having tons of choices of food. the tegu ill be getting currently does not have huge variety. he only eats rats and a couple of fruits. thats all he is offered. so im going to change that when i get him.


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## Toby_H (Apr 18, 2010)

Great thread...

Last year I bought 750 7~10 gram hairless mice... when they are gone I plan to restock with hairless mice and wanted to also get some frozen chicks. This thread has helped confirm that idea...

I also plan to try locally hatched chicks before buying frozen. I know frozen is less nutrious, but the huge convenience makes it too inviting for me to pass up...


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## Bubblz Calhoun (Apr 18, 2010)

_Where do you get your hairless from? Every time I find a site that ships their sold out. Can't seem to catch'em in stock  ._


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## preston897 (Apr 18, 2010)

why is it that you use hairless over regular?


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## fireimp141 (Apr 20, 2010)

Because the hair is harder to digest. Basically. And I can't wait to get some food for Tyson. He eats anything and everything. Last night I tried crab with blackberries and some beef liver. Loves it. I can put calcium and cod liver oil on anything and he gobbles it down. He's a little eater. He actually eats the dry cat food when I let him free roam. Are chicks and quail nutricious cause of the bones or something?


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## preston897 (Apr 20, 2010)

well because of the bones there is the calcium. just like mice and rats. but i was curious about it simply for variety.


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## preston897 (Apr 20, 2010)

well because of the bones there is the calcium. just like mice and rats. but i was curious about it simply for variety.


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## preston897 (Apr 20, 2010)

well because of the bones there is the calcium. just like mice and rats. but i was curious about it simply for variety.


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## cornking4 (Apr 20, 2010)

Day old chicks or quail typically make a poor staple because their bones are still largely cartilage and contain little calcium. It's much better to buy older chickens, chop them up, and feed them bones and all, but if rodents are also available, you shouldn't have to worry about feeding them except for reasons mentioned earlier.


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## preston897 (Apr 20, 2010)

yea like i said its just for a treat.


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## Toby_H (Apr 21, 2010)

Bubblz Calhoun said:


> _Where do you get your hairless from? Every time I find a site that ships their sold out. Can't seem to catch'em in stock  ._



I got mine from American Roedent Supply, but it does seem they are currently sold out...

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.americanrodent.com/mice.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.americanrodent.com/mice.html</a><!-- m -->

Last year I met a guy on this forum from the same city as me and we split a large order in half. I got 750 7~10 gram hairless mice for $55...


While I agree that newly hatched chicks have underdeveloped bones that are not a sufficient calcium source for an adult Tegu... a lot of what we commonly offer is not a sufficient calcium source for adult Tegus. 

Fortunately for us there are quality calcium suppliments available...


Besides the lack of calcium, is there any other reason chicks should be used "as a treat" only? When I restock my frozen supply I was considering purchasing half chicks and half hairless mice.

In addition to these frozen foods he will be fed Ground Turkey, random fruits, live fish, prepared fish and random other meat products. But when life gets busy it's awesome havign a freezer full of food he can eat...


PS - As mentioned, I refer to feed hairless mice as the hair is hard to digest and ofers no benefits to the animal eating it...


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