# Ground Turkey



## Zooman_bw (Jul 14, 2009)

Does any one have a recipe for what all they add to ground turkey, Ive read that some of you make a bunch before hand and then freeze it. I know that you add cod liver oil, calcium and vitamins. Which suppliment is the best, I know that most are just crushed oyster shells. Also why is Cod liver Oil so good for them, what does it do?

Thanks for all of your help.


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## DaveDragon (Jul 15, 2009)

I buy 3 lbs of raw ground turkey at Wal-Mart, divide it into (6) gallon freezer bags, mash it flat in the bag, add about 1 tablespoon of cod liver oil, mix well, add Zoo-Med calcium without D3 (the good stuff!), mix well, mash into rectangular 1/4" thick bricks and freeze. Being so thin it thaws quickly.

The cod liver oil helps with shedding and pooping and is a good source of vitamins A, D & E along with omega-3 fatty acids.


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## Jefroka (Jul 15, 2009)

This is straight from Bobby Hill's site ( <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.varnyard-herps-inc.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.varnyard-herps-inc.com/</a><!-- m --> ) This should answer all of your questions.

Written By: Varnyard Herps Inc.

Care sheet for the Tegu or (Tupinambis). Note some species will differ some on requirements. This care sheet will be for four of the common species available in the pet trade. 

Hatchling tegus will all take the same food up until about one year in age. Of these the Tupinambis merianae, Common name (Argentine Black and White), (Giant Tegu) And the Tupinambis rufescens, Common name (Argentine red Tegu), (Red tegu) will change feeding habits. The Blue Tegu is also a form of the Tupinambis merianae, but the Tupinambis teguixin, Common name (Colombian Black and White), or (Gold Tegu) Will stay on a carnivorous diet throughout their life. 

Food: 
All Tegus are carnivores as hatchlings, which means they only eat meat. I do allow baby tegus to eat as much as they want to, except rodents. I feed them one once or twice a week, and also make sure they are the size that can swallow without too much trouble. Crickets dusted with vitamins dust, Captive raised roaches, Mealworms, Super mealworms, ground turkey dusted with vitamin dust, Pinkie mice and cooked egg (Not raw) scrambled or hard-boiled. The only reptile supplement I have any faith in is Zoo-Med Repti Calcium without D3. Most other products are made from crushed oyster shells, and are not able to be absorbed. Therefore, being a poor product for a good healthy tegu.
As for my adults, I feed them everyday, as in the babies, the get one whole rodent, chick or duckling once or twice a week. However, my tegus do hibernate up to 7 months out of the year. If you have a tegu that does not hibernate, you can cut back on feeding him as much, or as frequent. Judged by the animal keeping good body weight, and a fat round tail base. If he starts to look like he might be loosing body mass, you can always add more to the diet.
Please remember to remove any food that is not eaten right after your tegu has eaten his/her fill. Insects are well known for stressing reptiles. This also will help keep their cage cleaner. 
Adult tegus, for the Argentine Black and White and the Argentine red Tegu, the Blue Tegu and as well as the Extreme Giant tegus, they will take ground turkey; cooked egg (Not raw) scrambled or hard-boiled, rodents, fresh fish (Not from a pet shop, due to the chemicals used in these tanks), baby chickens, grapes, tomatoes, strawberries, melons, and just about any other soft fruits. Bananas can be given as well, but not as a staple diet, only in moderation. This is due to the high content of potassium (Known for not binding with calcium). Not more than once every couple of weeks. They also tend to have very high phosphorous levels. Some of my Argentine tegus will not eat fruit. They are just as healthy as any tegus that have fruit in the diet; they also have no shedding problems at all. The more I look into this, the more I see feeding fruit as being a waste of time and money. There are many things out there to feed your tegu that is much better than fruit. The Colombian Black and White, or (Gold Tegu) will take all of the above, except fruit. Also I suggest feeding only killed rodents. Live rodents can bite your animal. Dead do not; it is just not worth the chance. My choice of vitamin dust is Zoo-Med Repti Calcium without D3; it is made with calcium carbonate and not crushed oyster shell.

A side note on feeding: Tegus can get cage aggressive. They can get to where they will associate their keeper with food. There are a couple of ways to keep this from happening. The first is to feed your tegu in a separate cage or area than his home. Have the food there when you put him with it. 
Another way, would be to feed him at night or when he is in his hide. Then he will not see you with food. The first suggestion is the best for a few reasons. One you handle him every day, which helps with the taming process. Another reason would be to remove all chances of him ingesting substrate. And last, but not least, the food would be fresher than feeding at night. 

In my opinion, feeding fruit for skin problems has no solid ground to back the claims of some keepers. There is nothing in most fruits to promote good sheds but moisture, all though some fruits do contain some vitamins that are good for skin. There are other sources of these vitamins in much higher concentrations, these are found in meats. Feeding fruit seems to be nothing more than a wasted meal, and is not needed to have and keep a healthy tegu. There are other things that do contain the right vitamins, such as beef liver and cod liver oil. These need to be fed in conjunction with each other. Another words feed both of them once a week as a meal. 

The way I mix my beef liver into the ground turkey: 

I use one part of beef liver to three parts ground turkey, just mince the liver, or you can use a food processor. You can mix it together and then portion pack them into meal size zip-lock bags, freeze them and then thaw them as needed to feed. As in the little stamp zip-locks for hatchlings, up to sandwich bags for adults. You can make up a bunch of them and freeze them. Also this is fed raw, I do not cook anything for tegus but eggs. 
Raw beef liver contains:
Vitamin A iu (ug * 5) 35346.000 10020.591 39940.98 706.9% 
Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) mg 0.260 0.07371 0.2938 17.3% 
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) mg 2.780 0.78813 3.1414 163.5% 
Vitamin B3 (Niacin) mg 12.780 3.62313 14.4414 63.9% 
Vitamin B5 (Pantotheic Acid) mg 7.620 2.16027 8.6106 76.2% 
Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) mg 0.940 0.26649 1.0622 47% 
Vitamin C mg 22.000 6.237 24.86 36.6% 
Vitamin E mg 0.670 0.189945 0.7571 4.4% 
Water g 68.990 19.558665 77.9587 0 
Zinc mg 3.920 1.11132 4.4296 26.1% 

The way I mix my cod liver oil into the ground turkey: 

I use one tablespoon of cod liver oil to one pound of ground turkey. You can mix it together and then portion pack them into meal size zip-lock bags, freeze them and then thaw them as needed to feed. As in the little stamp zip-locks for hatchlings, up to sandwich bags for adults.

Cod liver oil contains more vitamin A and more vitamin D per unit weight than any other common food. One hundred grams of regular cod liver oil provides 100,000 IU of vitamin A, almost three times more than beef liver, the next richest source; and 10,000 IU vitamin D, almost four times more than lard, the next richest source. Of course, cod liver oil is only consumed used in small amounts, but even a tablespoon (about 15 grams) provides well over the recommended daily allowance for both nutrients in humans. Cod liver oil is a natural source of vitamin D3.

In addition, cod liver oil contains 7 percent each of the elongated omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA. EPA is the precursor of important prostaglandin, localized tissue hormones that help the body deal with inflammation; and DHA is extremely important for the development and function of the brain and nervous system. So it's no surprise that in numerous studies cod liver oil has proven to be a powerhouse in fighting disease. 

They both must be fed in conjunction with each other, the Cod liver oil is needed to metabolite the vitamin A in the beef liver. 

This diet is the best way to promote good sheds in tegus, if you have a tegu with shedding issues, or even impactions, the combination above will be the best solution.

Water: 
Tegus require fresh water on a daily basis. It also would be recommended that their water dishes/bowls be big enough to soak in.

Housing:
Hatchlings will do great in a 20 long tank, but they will outgrow these fast. As an adult they require a much larger enclosure. I house mine outside in a 8 ft x 8 ft enclosure. Inside I use a 400 gallon showcase. If building your own cage, remember that these lizards are terrestrial (ground dwelling), So height would not be a necessity. I recommend at least a 6 feet long, 3 feet wide and 3 feet high.

Humidity:
Tegus require high humidity level 60%-70% or more for proper shedding as well as proper health. Misting on a daily basis is required. If you have another way to raise the humidity, that is fine. Remember not to have the substrate tacky as to stick to the feet.

Substrate:
I recommend using cypress mulch, orchid bark, Lizard litter, Repti-bark or eucalyptus mulch. These should not be dusty dry or wet. You can mist them a little to keep the dust down, this will also raise the humidity. Make sure it is not tacky, as to stick to their feet. Also your tegu needs to be fed where he will not ingest these substrates. You do not want him to have a intestinal blockage. 

Lighting:
Ultravtegu. It is much better to invest in the proper UV lighting. I recommend using Power-Suns 100 watt or 160 watt, another great bulb is the Repti-Sun 7.5 or 10.0. Both of these types of bulbs can be found anywhere Zoo-Med products are sold.


Hibernation:
Tegus hibernate up to seven months in the wild. They will also do this in captivity if given the chance. However, tegus do not have to hibernate. If they do not hibernate, they may still slow down on feeding during the normal hibernating season.

It has been said that tegus can handle a few days at 35*F, however I do not like to see my temps drop below the lower 50s. Note the Argentine species are the only ones to do this that I know of. The Colombians are not known to hibernate.

I will also say that it is not just about temperatures. Tegus doiolet light with a full-spectrum of light is recommended. Lights that emit UVB is a must for this species of reptile. Ultraviolet lighting is important in the production of vitamin D3, which is necessary for calcium metabolism. There are some people that claim added vitamins of D3 would be a good substitute, however I do not. I do use multi-vitamin dust. But I do not depend on it for a substitute for UV lighting. Too much added D3 in the form of a supplement can be deadly to your not start hibernating because of weather conditions, but it is also based lighting and their internal clock. My tegus start hibernating long before the weather even starts to turn cool. It is still summer weather here in August-September when mine start going underground. 

In the wild, burrows are usually around two feet deep and up to four feet long. They often times take over other animalÃ?Â¢Ã¢â??Â¬Ã¢â??Â¢s burrows. Tegus will line these burrows with grasses and leaves. They will also plug the entrance with this as well. It is strongly recommended, by some that Argentine tegus hibernate if they are intended to breed. Bert Langerwerf claims that if these tegus miss hibernation, they will be infertile and unable to produce viable young. Yet others claim they will breed regardless. However I have heard both sides on this and there are other thoughts as well. I cannot say, as I always hibernate mine.

There are a lot of people asking for some information on hibernating tegus. So, I will try to cover this entire here. I have found that tegus just about do everything themselves. When the time comes for them to start hibernating they will stop eating. They will go a few weeks before they go into full hibernation. Around two to three weeks of coming out less and basking very little. 

If kept outside they will refuse to eat at all during this period. They will start spending less and less time above ground. The same thing happens inside as well. Tegus will start refusing food and spend less time out of their hides. When they start this process I stop feeding them all together. 



This is also the time I start reducing the lighting times. 


I keep my lights on my tegus for 12 hours a day in spring and summer; the lights are on 12 hours and off 12 hours. When the tegus start to slow down on feeding and start spending more time in their hides. I reduce the lighting to 10 hours a day, I also stop feeding them all together. I do this for about a week to two weeks. Then I start turning them on for 8 hours for a week. At this point most tegus are usually in their hides for the duration of hibernation. I usually leave the lights on for 6 hours after this point for a week or so. If the tegus do not come out at all, then the lights are turned off for the rest of the winter. If you do see your tegu come out in winter, as this does sometimes happen. Then you can turn the lights on, however these periods usually do not last long. Some might come out for an hour or two and then go right back to hibernating. Most often times they will not come out at all. When and if this happens it is fine to turn the lights back on. But turn them off when they return to their hide. Also, do not feed them. They will not require any food if this happens. I do keep fresh water in the enclosures for about the first six weeks. However I have not seen them drink water either during this time.


Also, I purchased my repti-calcium w/out d3 which Bobby recommends from Cody of pro geckos. My order got here quickly and was very affordable and great quality. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.progeckos.com/supplies/repcal_nod3.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.progeckos.com/supplies/repcal_nod3.htm</a><!-- m -->

...Jefroka


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## mikecrowder23 (Jul 15, 2009)

so if i read that correct, you only feed a baby twice a week. and how warm does the turkey need to be?


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## Tux (Jul 15, 2009)

No you feed rodents once or twice a week, the tegu is fed daily be it egg, beef liver, ground turkey, fish etc.


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## Jefroka (Jul 15, 2009)

Tux said:


> No you feed rodents once or twice a week, the tegu is fed daily be it egg, beef liver, ground turkey, fish etc.




I put my tegu's basking light on usually around 6am, then I put his food portion of turkey/liver w/ cod liver oil on a small saucer and place it in his feed bin. I place him in the feeding bin about two hrs later and he eats his food eagerly. No need to warm the food etc... Room temperature is just fine.


...Jefroka


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