# feeding a tegu anoles?



## nessanicolle (Jul 19, 2012)

so today i fed a quite small anole to my tegu.. is that okay/safe? i know its too late now but he LOVED it. it was his first live food. i know i talked to someone about calcium in bones in mice and about how pinkies and fuzzies dont have much bone (more cartilage), would an anole supply more calcium? like because of the bone? has anyone else done this?


----------



## Rhetoric (Jul 19, 2012)

You can feed anoles. I would just make sure that they come from a reputable source and are healthy (if live). I've thought about it but it doesn't seem cost effective.


----------



## nessanicolle (Jul 19, 2012)

well i didnt want them and its too much of a burden to sell them. so i fed my baby a treat.


----------



## Rhetoric (Jul 19, 2012)

That's fine, I'm sure it was a good treat. I've fed fish, chicks, quail, mice, rats. Tegus will eat nearly anything you offer. I'm not sure about the calcium differences though. I would think that it's fine it seems more nutritionally complete than ground meats


----------



## nessanicolle (Jul 19, 2012)

alright thank you!


----------



## SnakeCharmr728 (Jul 20, 2012)

Rex got a hamster treat once... or twice?!


----------



## got10 (Jul 20, 2012)

I wouldnt do it only because my gu got parasites from feeding wild wall lizards i found behind the gardening shop. Things were full of parasites and it got my Magoo sick as a dog( no pun intended) and full of worms


----------



## nessanicolle (Jul 20, 2012)

Well they were from a pet store and I had them in my care for months. Not exactly wild.


----------



## Thelegendofcharlie (Jul 20, 2012)

Even coming from a pet store they are still wild caught.
Nothing wrong with feeding an anole though, they are healthy and natural food source, and yes an adequate source of calcium, but I would advise feeding wild caught because of parasites as well. But if you feel the need, just freeze them for about two weeks. this should take care of all/most parasites.



SnakeCharmr728 said:


> Rex got a hamster treat once... or twice?!



I gave my hamster a Tegu treat once - didnt have to buy hamster food for for like 9 months


----------



## nessanicolle (Jul 21, 2012)

thanks!


----------



## Aardbark (Jul 21, 2012)

Aww but Anoles are so cute. I would have set it free if I didnt want it anymore. IDK something about that story made me sad.


----------



## apocalypse910 (Jul 21, 2012)

Aardbark said:


> Aww but Anoles are so cute. I would have set it free if I didnt want it anymore. IDK something about that story made me sad.



It is so stupid - I have have zero issues with people feeding mice, chicks, etc but for some reason feeding lizards makes me cringe. Can't remotely fault OP for doing it though as it makes no logical sense. I just have an annoying soft spot for anything with scales.

Anoles are smarter than you'd think though-
http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0712-hance_smart_lizards.html

Although I would caution you that setting it free is way worse than feeding to something else - depending on where you live the reptiles would die anyway or get established which can cause huge issues.


----------



## Aardbark (Jul 21, 2012)

apocalypse910 said:


> Aardbark said:
> 
> 
> > Aww but Anoles are so cute. I would have set it free if I didnt want it anymore. IDK something about that story made me sad.
> ...



Yea if you live somewhere cold or something, thats a death sentance. Im exactly the same way, I would have no probles with mice (though I dont live feed zilla eats mostly ground turkey) but if its a reptile and espesualy a lizard, I got a huge soft spot for them. Funny how it works like that.


----------



## Neeko (Jul 21, 2012)

Having worked for a pet store... I wouldn't feed anything love from them. Parasites take a while to show up and I think someone mentioned the cost too.


----------



## DavidRosi (Jul 24, 2012)

Mice, Rats, fish... don't mind.

Thought of feeding a reptile a reptile makes me sad. Think it's that strange, uncommon love to reptiles that makes it that way.

And plus; I've got a lot of time for Anoles, jumpy little things... but, time none-the-less.


----------



## Bubblz Calhoun (Jul 24, 2012)

_Snakes, lizards, fish, rodents or what ever it doesn't matter much to the tegu. They're all apart of the food chain. If it's small enough to go down then it's going down. In some cases it doesn't have to be small enough they'll just tear pieces from it, they're scavengers it's what they do. If it wasn't for parasites I would let Natsuki eat any fence lizards and insects he catches in the back yard, it's just another source of food. 

But for not wanting to put him through taking meds for worms (and what ever else he might catch) every so often,.. I don't.

Like setting them free is any better, that's one reason why they're having so many issues in Florida now. The Op chose to feed them off[/size] which is more responsible then letting them go. If they didn't want to sell or rehome them for what ever reason that's her choice.

When my Bps start breeding any infertile eggs, deformities and hatchlings that don't make it will be added to my tegus food list. At some point I might even euthanize a healthy one instead of selling or rehoming it._[size=medium]


----------



## nessanicolle (Jul 24, 2012)

Thank you, although i am going to limit the about of lizards i feed it. I dont want to rist any parasites.


----------

