# Whole prey for tegus - how much?



## Ivyna J Spyder (Jun 7, 2010)

Are there many people here who have fed their tegus mostly whole prey, like mice, rats, quail, etc? I'd prefer to do something like that vs messing with adding supplements to ground meat or something.

I'm getting ready for a tegu hatchling this summer, so I'm trying to figure out how much and what sizes to order in bulk.

So just how much does a growing tegu typically eat per day/week as they grow?


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## VARNYARD (Jun 7, 2010)

Your tegu will need a varied diet, you cannot feed just whole prey items. As for how much, it depends on the size of the tegu, I feed mine all they care to eat as long as they are in the growing process.


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## rmzsuzuki89 (Jun 7, 2010)

I don't mean to jack your thread, but since it's a similar topic I figured that I'd post here instead of a new thread.

At what size should whole prey, such as mice and chick, be offered? I wouldn't think that as a hatchling I should be offering mice. I was thinking of offering ground meats, insects (roaches and various worms), and fruits until it's big enough for mice and chicks.

Thanks for any opinions on this.


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## Herplings (Jun 7, 2010)

I will have to disagree on with this one.

These animals don't have a supermarket with foods they can buy in the wild. Mixed food and pre-made foods simply came about because people with 100s of animals can not afford to feed whole prey items every day, or every 2 days for that matter. People needed to find a cheaper and more cost effective means of feeding their mass amount of animals. 

I mean whats not "whole prey" about what these animals eat in the wild? In the wild these animals are eating rodents, birds, fish, other reptiles/amphibians and some fruits (possibly). Oh, and water.
Most of what, is stuff that they can effectively hunt and eat whole, or in a few pieces. 
They are also scavengers. But, scavaging is not a very effective way to life and thrive, meaning that they would be eating stuff that is already dead and going throw the decaying process, or eating off a prey item that was previously killed by another predator and the Tegu at that point would be eating scraps that was not wanted by the other predator. This would technically still be a whole prey item though.

There is no more of a verity needed then this.

I normally dont feed to many insects to my hatchling Monitors or Tegus. I pretty much start feeding them 1-2 pinky mice every day, or every 2 days from the start. 
I feed them salmon too. I will also throw in some eggs and ground beef/turkey once every 7-10 days. 

As they grow they get larger mice and then rats, smaller sized rabbits, birds and larger portions on fish, eggs and ground meats.

I also make sure their UV lights and temps are right. I don't supplement with anything "over the counter" because its just not needed.

As far as how much to feed them goes. They are all different, some eat a lot some don't. I offer them food, if they eat, they eat. If they don't they don't. How much they eat in a sitting is up to their discloser.

Remember the number one reason for captive Monitor and Tegu death is still and has always been obesity. It don't take much looking around to see why. Lol.
This is largely in part to their predatory behavior and instincts. But, I can get into that another time I guess. 

I offer food to them once a day, or once every two days. Sometimes they eat, sometimes they don't. Most of the time they do eat, but there is some left over food in the bowl. That only tells me they ate until they were full and that the animal is sure enough that it is going to see food again that it did not have to stay at its food and eat until it was all gone. Just encase food might not come around for a while. 
If the animal ate all of its food and is still hungry, or displaying signs that it might still be hungry. If the animal is not to bloated or full of food. I will at times offer more that same day.
Just read the animal and look at it. The animal will tell you what it needs and don't once you get used to a particular animals behavioral patterns.

Hope this helped.


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## themedic (Jun 7, 2010)

They are scavenger by nature, thus can live on pretty much anything we as humans can consume.

If your worried about what prey to feed to your tegu, i'd start with mice/rats/roaches/small lizards.

ive found that they love hard boiled eggs, tuna, canned foods and ofcourse mice/rats.

good luck!


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## Herplings (Jun 7, 2010)

Actually they are predators by nature. But, like most things predator and even more things reptile, they are lazy and opportunists. Also, like most parts of the world they live in place where at particular times of the year food is scares.

Scavenging, or necrophagy, is a carnivorous feeding behavior in which a predator consumes corpses or carrion that were not killed to be eaten by the predator or others of its species.
A volcher is a scavenger by nature. A Tegu, like a lion, while scaveging at times for food are still carnivorous predators by nature.

They also can not consume pretty much anything we can as humans. The problem with feeding can foods to Tegus or any thing really , or tuna from a can is that a lot of these things while going throw the canning process have been preserved for shelf life. They all almost always have salt in them. Salt and preservatives are not acceptable foods for human consumption, let alone a reptiles consumption. 

I know that Tegus eat fish in the wild. That is why I feed fish to my Tegus. I feed Salmon and some Tuna. But its always fresh cuts from the meat market. I also feed eggs. I go across town and get fresh farm eggs here locally.

Also like I said, I will feed ground turkey and beef, a few times a month. But, that is more to keep them from getting picky about foods then it is as a staple to their diets.


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## JohnMatthew (Jun 7, 2010)

Tegu's are opportunistic feeders like so many animals are in the wild. They don't eat rodents every day, they might go months without coming across a rodent meal. We offer varied diets to try our best to mimic their naturally diverse food intake. With a good diet and proper lighting you don't really need to supplement anything but I'd still suggest throwing in a bit of cod liver oil.

Here is some good diet info:
<!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.tegutalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=1353" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">viewtopic.php?f=19&t=1353</a><!-- l -->

<!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.tegutalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=1835" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">viewtopic.php?f=24&t=1835</a><!-- l -->

There's a ton of great info on Bobby's site as well:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://twoteals.webs.com/careandbreedingtegus.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://twoteals.webs.com/careandbreedingtegus.htm</a><!-- m -->


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## DMBizeau (Jun 7, 2010)

I feed whole prey 1-2 times a week because I feel they are the most nutritous thing I can give them and then I feed turkey, chicken, fish and scrambled eggs on off days. Feeding whole prey at least once a week also gives them all the calcium they need that would have to be added as a supplement which isn't as effective. Since I let them eat till they are full every meal I also let them go a day or two without eating a week, they might not grow as fast but I feel it keeps my tegus a little healthier.


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## carcharios (Jun 8, 2010)

I won't lie to you guys. I know it's frowned upon to feed canned foods but I do a day or two a week so long as i mix up their meals with other items. My tegus have been eating the following: whole shrimp (shell on) - they seem to love these!, raw eggs (which they break themselves and lick up the yolks), Ol Roy Canned Dog Food (the chunk kind (they won't touch cat foods that are ground up and fall apart too easily in the bowl) - they like the lamb flavor or beef and liver), Turkey balls that have been supplemented with Reptivite and Calcium. On the rare occassions where I can get whole animals, I'll feed them mice but this only happens about twice a month due to the distance of the pet store from my house.

As for the salt argument, this is an interesting debate because I know we used to put out salt licks for deer and they'd lick them down to nothing. I know that some salt is needed in the diet. I've also heard that blood contains the equivalent salt concentration as found in seawater (about 30 - 35 ppt) so that would also seem to be a natural source for salt for tegus since they're feeding on animals. This pretty much means that tegus would be consuming salt in their natural diet, would it not?


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## Ivyna J Spyder (Jun 8, 2010)

VARNYARD said:


> Your tegu will need a varied diet, you cannot feed just whole prey items. As for how much, it depends on the size of the tegu, I feed mine all they care to eat as long as they are in the growing process.



Well, of course. I'm going to offer greens and fruit and eggs and all that too, but for the meat portion of the diet I'm planning to offer mostly whole prey (insects, rodents, chicks, whatever) or ground up whole prey, etc. (Hare-today.com has a good selection of that sort of stuff)

But I need to figure out how much I can expect to need to budget for food, and that's difficult without an estimate of how much I can expect a tegu to eat. 

Maybe a better question to ask is how much people SPEND on food for the average tegu per month? Rough estimate? Just something to give me an idea of what to expect.

Thanks for the info so far otherwise


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## JohnMatthew (Jun 8, 2010)

Here's some info on Ol Roy dog food for your reading pleasure:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://dogfoodchat.com/ol-roy-dog-food-review-recall/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://dogfoodchat.com/ol-roy-dog-food-review-recall/</a><!-- m -->
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.rateitall.com/i-849722-ol-roy.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.rateitall.com/i-849722-ol-roy.aspx</a><!-- m -->
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://hubpages.com/hub/Ol_Roy_Dog_Food_Recall_Information" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://hubpages.com/hub/Ol_Roy_Dog_Food ... nformation</a><!-- m -->


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## carcharios (Jun 8, 2010)

Yeah, I saw some of those reviews after I purchased it. The problem with some of the other brands is that they don't come in large chunks (well, at least I haven't discovered one that does yet). I noticed that my tegus prefer the chunks much more than the ground up kinds. 

Ok, I KNOW this is taboo here but for those willing to admit they occasionally feed their tegus canned dog food, what kind do you use?


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## DMBizeau (Jun 8, 2010)

The problem with dog food is the red coloring they use in many cheaper brands is bad for reptiles. I don't remember the exact name of the coloring but maybe someone else does. Wet dog foods are also super high in fat as well. If you are looking for something shelf stable and easy to use I would go with canned tuna as long as it is packed in water. It's alot better for your tegu and very easy and affordable.


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## carcharios (Jun 8, 2010)

I'll try canned tuna. Haven't tried this before. I know with the cat food, it fell apart in their bowl and they didn't seem to each much of it. Hopefully, this will not be the case with tuna. 

On another note, I tried strawberries today and no luck so far. Anyone have any luck with these?


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## themedic (Jun 8, 2010)

i know they like bannanas


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## reptastic (Jun 8, 2010)

ill throw in my .02, the problems with feeding to many rodents and chicks isnt a money issue its a health issue, rodents fur can cause impactions if fed too much, also rodent have a high amount of fat, to much fat in a reptiles diet can lead to other complications. the same is true in birds as well , chicks dont have as much muscle mass as an adult, they may be goodfor calcium but feeding them as a main staple is not a good idea, in fact wild tegus have been reported to eat more veggies than the captive ones, i feed my tegus rodents but only 1 maybe 2x a week and other meats and fruit rest of the week, and all of my tegus have grown very fast and are healthy. why on earth anyone would feed a lizard dog or cat food is beyond me, these foods have been processed so much they arent even recognizible anymore, i dont even feed my dogs that crap, beside its formulated for a dog not a reptile,besides if you look at the ingredients were in a tegu or monitors diet do you see corn, wheat, rice, or soymeal? i have followed my feeding regime as directed by bobby hill and it has worked extremely well, no mbd or other ailements that could result from a poor diet!


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## Rudd (Jun 8, 2010)

Impaction is more of a hydration problem than whole prey problems.


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## reptastic (Jun 8, 2010)

not exactly, fur isnt digest well in reptiles and if it sticks to the walls of the intestines and builds up that can cause an impaction! i have 2 tegus who i have rarely seen drink water and one that will drink readily guess which one ended up with the impaction issues, the one that drinks alot of water everyday!


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## DMBizeau (Jun 8, 2010)

reptastic said:


> not exactly, fur isnt digest well in reptiles and if it sticks to the walls of the intestines and builds up that can cause an impaction! i have 2 tegus who i have rarely seen drink water and one that will drink readily guess which one ended up with the impaction issues, the one that drinks alot of water everyday!



I would like to know the source of your information for the generalized statement of "fur isnt digest well in reptiles" considering pretty much every snake in captivity is fed a staple diet of rodents and or rabbits with little to no issues. There are even reptiles that have evolved to become more efficient at hunting mammals. I guess I need an explanation as to what you meant?


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## Herplings (Jun 8, 2010)

I don't feed dog and cat food, but I do feed ground up rats. Its some gross crap, but my Tegus and monitors love it. It is just hard to come by.

Basically the company takes rodents, shaves them so there is no hair on them and then grinds up whole rodents into a cat food type consistency. 
I have never seen my Tegus and Monitors grow like they do on this stuff. I have also never seen them eat so much in a sitting and get so aggressive over food. LOL

But, one can does not go very far and pound for pound it costs a lot.


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## themedic (Jun 8, 2010)

Herplings, mine show that aggression with canned foods, its like they smell it and go crazy over it, they never attack each other and hopefully never will but dang do they tear it up.


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## lazyjr52 (Jun 9, 2010)

Here is a couple of links that I found about impaction in reptiles if this helps any. 
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impaction" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impaction</a><!-- m -->

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://hubpages.com/hub/Reptile-Digestive-Health-1-Constipation-Impaction-and-Obstipation" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://hubpages.com/hub/Reptile-Digesti ... bstipation</a><!-- m -->

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://hubpages.com/hub/Impaction" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://hubpages.com/hub/Impaction</a><!-- m -->

AlsoI have to agree with Bobby that giving your gu a varied diet is better health wise. But that is just my personal opinion.


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## carcharios (Jun 9, 2010)

Just put out some canned bumblebee tuna. It was really flaky though so I hope they'll eat it.


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## Toby_H (Jun 10, 2010)

DMBizeau said:


> I would like to know the source of your information for the generalized statement of "fur isnt digest well in reptiles" considering pretty much every snake in captivity is fed a staple diet of rodents and or rabbits with little to no issues. There are even reptiles that have evolved to become more efficient at hunting mammals. I guess I need an explanation as to what you meant?



I do not know of an 'authoritive source' to site, but I have heard this (fur is hard to digest) as a 'common knowledge' in the reptile industry/hobby for many many years...

I know I've seen undigested fur balls in the stool of a few of my animals over the years...


It may be less critical with snakes as they are likely to eat one large prey item per week which has less square inches of hair per ounce, and they have more time to digest it.

Adult Tegus are more likely to be fed a small pile of smaller prey resulting in more square inches of hair per ounce, plus eat such things on a daily basis.

Thus the weekly furn intake of a Tegu would be far greater than the weekly fur intake of a snake. 


Personally, I feed my Tegu hairless mice and do not worry at all about fur one way or the other. I just ordered 300 of the available 1,000 20 gram hairless mice from American Rodent. I've bought from them before and was very happy with my purchase.


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