# Cooked Meat !



## Teg (Mar 8, 2013)

Is it acceptable to feed a Tegu cooked meat ?


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## chelvis (Mar 8, 2013)

You can, keep in mind cook meat is losing a lot of its nutritional value to it so you will have to make sure to supplement the meat more. I know some tegus will not eat cooked meat either so that is something else to look out for.


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## laurarfl (Mar 8, 2013)

It is better to feed raw.


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## chelvis (Mar 8, 2013)

Just wondering why you would want to cook the meat first?


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## Teg (Mar 8, 2013)

chelvis said:


> Just wondering why you would want to cook the meat first?


Bit of a long story ... ! He started having runny poos around 6 weeks ago and since has had a course of antibiotic of 10 days (Baytril) which finished a week ago ! On examination of the poo, they found salmonella which freeked my wife out !! 
So ... With Baytril supposedly having sorted out the Salmonella, I was adviced by the vet and my wife only to to feed cooked meats :huh:and have done so for 2 weeks now !! 
Teg is not the same, but then again he has enjoyed cooked chicken and turkey, but it could be that he was spoilt cause I was giving Baytril in a mouse and he had 2 every day for 10 days inc chicken and turkey etc .... and it could be that he's holding/hoping on to that !? :s
I do wonder though if the vet is right about Baytril killing off Salmonella outright, and due to feeding cooked meat he should be clear of it !!? 
I know I've started something here now, but i I'm being precautions because I've got a young family !


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## chelvis (Mar 8, 2013)

Most reptiles will some trace of Salmonella, there is no way around that. Feeding them cooked meat might help but then there is the issue of nutrition. The best way to avoid having Salmonella from hurting kids and adults is to always wash your hands after handling all reptiles and after cleaning cages. Its just one of those things with reptiles and its hard to avoid it.


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## Teg (Mar 8, 2013)

Do you know if the Baytril could of, or was intended to kill off the salmonella completely, can't see the point of giving it in the first place if it wasn't !? I agree with you though that raw meat is the way to go ... Thanks ! Very cute fella is Bosco ! How's his temperament ? He's got a permanent grin on there !! lol


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## chelvis (Mar 8, 2013)

To be honest I have never heard or used Baytril for a salmonella infection for two reasons; 1.) very few animals ever get salmonella bad enough to need it to be treated, most animals guts are strong enough to kill it on its own and 2.) everything I have read says that even after a few rounds of Baytril salmonella is still found in the fecal. 

I did end up reading your last few post and honestly the runny poop issue sounds more like too much fat in the diet. That would make a tegu sluggish and give you runny poo. Stay away from beef and pork just too much intermuscular fat and not enough fiber to make that a good meal. They vet most likely saw a high load of salmonella due to the runny poo (its got a way of flushing everything out) so the antibiotics didn't hurt but its not going to kill all the salmonella. 

Bosco is my buddy, he is like another dog at time. There have been a few times when he has even shared a bed with me, the dogs and cat. So he is very tame, only time his not is dinner time. 

Good luck with Teg. Tegus are hardy animals but its great to see an owner who is willing to take them to the vet to get looked at. Keep up the good work.


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## Dubya (Mar 8, 2013)

I agree with the other posters about raw food. Don't sweat the raw stuff. After a while feeding your tegu and not washing your hands, you will build up an immunity to it. I can make my tegus's food with one hand and eat a rare hamburger with the other, then wipe my mouth with the tegu food hand and never get sick. But then again, my parents let me grow up playing in the park sandbox with cat poo in it. Salmonella shmalmonella.


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## Roadkill (Mar 8, 2013)

First, there's _Salmonella_, and then there's _Salmonella_. Or, in other words, there are different types of _Salmonella_; they aren't all virulent and they don't all make us or our tegus sick. Unfortunately this is a field I am not versed in and therefore I can't really offer any insights in any potential health issues related to the various strains. There's a good chance that _Salmonella_ are possibly a common component of the GI fauna of tegus.

A study came out a couple years ago from Brasil, and at least in the animals they tested, _Salmonella_ was present in all individuals. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19968856
I can say I've been around thousands of tegus, I can also say I have experienced _Salmonella_ poisoning, and I would further claim I am not one of those people who obsesses over cleanliness or disinfectants. I have never gotten _Salmonella_ poisoning from tegus, and I can't say I've seen tegus suffer from _Salmonella_, despite feeding them stuff down in Brasil that most North Americans would object to having in their house, period. Just because your vet uncovered _Salmonella_ in your tegu I don't think it's any reason to be concerned, nor is it necessarily associated with the food they are fed.


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## Dubya (Mar 8, 2013)

Yeah. What he ^ said. My vet also told me that it is normal for reptiles to also have a small amount of parasites.


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## Deac77 (Mar 9, 2013)

Also I'd like to point out almost ANY animal feces is going to has traces of salmonella cat, dog, tegu, or kangaroo it still going to be there part of life


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## laurarfl (Mar 9, 2013)

<facepalm> I can't believe they reacted by finding _Salmonella_ in feces. Did they send a stool sample out to a lab? 

People have at least 27 varieties of _Salmonella_ in their GI tract. According to the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, "there are currently 2,463 serotypes (serovars) of Salmonella." They don't exactly classify them as species.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC86943/

Having _Salmonella_ is pretty common in most animals and people. Salmonellosis is when it reaches a point of being considered an infection. I don't think I have ever had Salmonellosis, but I did have a _C difficile_ intestinal infection and thought I was going to die (figuratively, not literally).


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## dragonkeeperblue (Mar 9, 2013)

Nice thread. I feed both my Tegu adults whole pray (rats), however I also feed boiled chicken with exo terra calcium and exo terra vitamins. Plus hissing cockroaches. My animals are very healthy I believe. No one is positively right we already know this. From my experience boiled chicken is fine.


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## Ripkabird98 (Mar 9, 2013)

I don't wash my hands after messing with my Reptiles or making food either. Because my disease makes my immune system go down the drain, my parents wanted me to build up immunity to everything. All I'm going to say is I'm 15, and haven't been sick in 4 and a half years. The doctors are "shocked" because since I have no immune system I should be sick all the time. People know a days are too worried and paranoid about germs. We lived for 2 thousand years before we learned about germs and go on fine. I'm not saying swim in synthesized germ goo, but like Dubya, I too make Tegu food and eat at the same time when I'm in a hurry and don't wash my hands, even after wiping my face with hands. We worry too much, and shelter the kids way to much. Kids with knives? "accident waiting to happen!" I started using knives unsupervised at age 5. Less than 50 years ago that was normal, and not much came of it. I have a few scars, but I'm no worse for the wear. "Kids and guns don't mix!" I just got my First rifle at 15, and unlike most kids, I can keep the gun and my ammo in my room. I'm fine. Mainly because I'm not ignorant and because I was taught safety. My parents don't even know where it is. It isn't hidden, but they would take a second to look to find it.

What I'm saying is that their is a point of safety- and paranoia.


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## Dana C (Mar 9, 2013)

I always fed raw meats and would again. Did I wash my hands?, yes. Did I wash and disinfect cutting boards? Yes. Have I ever had a food born illness? Yes.

Now, for all of you who live in fear of salmonella, e-coli, spoiled meat, mayo left out all night and so on, a couple of things you should know or remember;
I am 64 and I remember my mother cutting up whole chickens on the counter or on the wood cutting board. She would rinse the board and proceed to chop veggies immediately after. Guess what, no one ever got sick. Yes they could have but didn't as far as I know. We played outside with animals, caught snakes, lizards, admired dead birds which we picked up and so on. We ate candy bars with those same unwashed hands and maybe got little intestinal distress along the way. No one, including the family doctors thought much of it. Perhaps the clue was that we were exposed to animals in the cradle as it were. We slept with cats and kissed dogs as babies and they kissed us. It was just the way it was and unless someone had an allergy, which was fairly rare then, pets were part of the family life for babies on up. 

Was all that the smart thing to do?, likely not some of the time. Having said that, we are way too consumed with living sterile. We don't expose our selves or our children to anything other than hand santitizer, over cooked foods, processed and treated prepared foods. We all need to take a step back and not worry about so many things.

The next time you buy fresh fish, taste a little before you cook it if you have never eaten raw fish. If you buy a nice beef filet, taste a little raw slice with a little steak sauce, you may like it. Chicken needs to be cooked as does pork and shell fish with the exception of clams, mussels and oysters. 

All I trying to say is "don't worry, be happy..."

By the way, I NEVER catch colds and am very rarely ever sick with anything non fatal. I do have an incredible immune system which I attribute to very early exposure to the little bugs that surround us.....and guess what, research now confirms what I have thought all along.


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## Dubya (Mar 9, 2013)

Dana, I grew up exactly the same way. I remember eating sandwiches at the beach that were about 10% sand and 90% wich. The grit helps keep kids teeth clean.


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## Little Wise Owl (Mar 9, 2013)

Dana C said:


> Chicken needs to be cooked as does pork and shell fish with the exception of clams, mussels and oysters.



Chicken and pork do not need to be cooked. The only time pork should be cooked is if it were from a wild boar/pig or a local farmer. Trichinosis in commercial pork stock is practically non-existant as far as I know. Salmonella from chicken will not harm your tegu (or you if you're practicing proper hygiene and cleanliness).


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## Dubya (Mar 9, 2013)

Shannon, I think Dana meant that chicken and pork should be cooked before people eat it. He was talking about people taking a taste of raw meat.


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## Teg (Mar 10, 2013)

As far as ****, blood and guts go .... I've been up to my neck in it many a time ... as a kid and grown adult !! It says something about us Tegu owners/lovers doesn't it !!! lol I think we are all pretty much the same !? 
It's my wife and the fact that we've got a catering business is that what worries us .... I myself not
Worried but still take responsible precautions regardless ! But i do worry for other peoples health especially children and the elderly ! Thanks for the response very interesting all of you !!


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## Little Wise Owl (Mar 10, 2013)

Dubya said:


> Shannon, I think Dana meant that chicken and pork should be cooked before people eat it. He was talking about people taking a taste of raw meat.



My bad. Then I agree. lol


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## Dana C (Mar 10, 2013)

Thanks Dubya and yes I was speaking to human consumption of meats.


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## chelvis (Mar 10, 2013)

nom nom nom raw beef! Working at a slaughter house made me very keen on meat, even when raw.


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## laurarfl (Mar 10, 2013)

Studying carcasses at a slaughterhouse made me not so keen on meat.  But tartare is pretty good.


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## chelvis (Mar 10, 2013)

lol. I hunt, I slaughter, I butcher. I have learned a lot about meat production and am really picky about my cuts, unless I am at a restaurant I hate turning food back just because its the wrong cut. Oh how I wish I could live in an area with better hunting.


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