# Tegu growth rate



## kschlunegger (Oct 12, 2009)

I just got a baby (hatchling) a couple of weeks ago. For those of you interested, I will post his size over time so new Tegu owners can know what to expect.

When I got him he measured 10.5 inches. He ate 1 pinky, egg, some shredded vegetables, hamburger, turkey burger, ham, and salmon.

Exactly one week later, after eating about the same things, he was a little over 11 inches. That week he had no pinky though.

Today I measured him again and he is almost 13 inches. Same general food, but he ate a pinky again. At this age, it looks like he is averaging 1 inch a week. He has shed twice and is starting to lose his green head color. He is fat and happy. I'll check back in next week.


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## Quijibo (Oct 13, 2009)

You'll find that Gu growth rate can vary greatly from one to the next. My Gu Jango is over 30" and only 3 1/2 months old. A few of his clutchmates are pretty close to that also, but many of them are much smaller. Some eat like pigs and grow accordingly, other take their time and grow much slower. Hibernating them will have a huge impact on their growth also, they will be much smaller after their first year than a non-hibed Gu. I'm not going to hibe Jango so He(or she) will probably be close to full grown by his first B-Day.
Good luck with the new "Baby". :cheers


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## reptastic (Oct 13, 2009)

Quijibo said:


> You'll find that Gu growth rate can vary greatly from one to the next. My Gu Jango is over 30" and only 3 1/2 months old. A few of his clutchmates are pretty close to that also, but many of them are much smaller. Some eat like pigs and grow accordingly, other take their time and grow much slower. Hibernating them will have a huge impact on their growth also, they will be much smaller after their first year than a non-hibed Gu. I'm not going to hibe Jango so He(or she) will probably be close to full grown by his first B-Day.
> Good luck with the new "Baby". :cheers



he is absolutly right like jango, nero is pretty big (now 28 1/2 ") and they are clutch mates but nero is slightly smaller and there growth rate can change ive seen weeks were nero grew an inch and then there were weeks wen he grew like 4" like quibo im not going to hibernate nero so they could very well be 4' by june


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## rrcoolj (Oct 13, 2009)

Plus it is that time of year when gus start slowing down. I bet he will hit his growth spurt in the spring...


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## Terry (Oct 14, 2009)

Growth rate is some thing I love with monitors and now tegu's, they grow so fast. I keep records on my animals growth. I got my tegu on september 19 and I weighed him the first time on september 25, he weighed in at 217 grams, I weighed him again on october 2 and he weighed 272 grams, I weighed him last night, october 13, he weighed in at 331 grams. He was kinda skinny when I got him and now hes at a nice plumped size. I've been feeding him pinkie mice, super worms, crickets, apples, carrot, rase berry, straw berry, and watermelon.


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## reptastic (Oct 14, 2009)

sounds like tegu to me; when i first got nero on 8/11/09 he about 10" and tiny now he is 28 1/2" almost triple his size in 2 mos. i havnt weighed him but i guesstimate him to be about 2-3 lbs and since he is still coming out and eating i expect him to keep growing


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## reptileszz (Oct 20, 2009)

Jasper was almost 4 feet long at a year. They can grow FAST. But he didnt hibernate either. If they hibernate they will grow slower theoretically. We found ourselved building a new cage 6 months before we thought we would have to LOL.

Carole


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## kschlunegger (Oct 20, 2009)

Well another week has gone by. Measured him this morning and he is now 14 inches long. Still very healthy and happy. Ate 5 pinkies this week (he really likes those things). Also got him some "100% canned Duck", and rabbit. It is meant for dogs, but has nothing added......just ground up animal. He like the rabbit best. He ate a cricket too (I need to get him some more bugs to mix it up a bit).

His girth has increased a lot this week also.....must be the pinkies. 

Out, Kyle


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## Terry (Oct 21, 2009)

I wouldn't feed any thing out of a can or that is for dog's. No matter what it is it will be procesed and will have additives for the dog's. Stick with whole prey.


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## kschlunegger (Oct 21, 2009)

It says no additives "100% rabbit". Quite frankly I would rather just feed him pinkies.....he love them. But everyone says not to feed him too many. Seems like the perfect food to me. Can I get away with just pinkies and crickets, because that would make him so happy. 

Seems silly that pinkies are bad, but turkey meat is good. Who decided this? In the wild they probably eat pinkies and bugs. Never seen a Tegu in the wild with a frying pan, cooking up turkey meat or eggs. LOL


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## herper9 (Oct 21, 2009)

Pinky mice are bad just for the shear fact that they are mostly fat. They don't have the bone density that even a rat pup has. Kind of like eating potato chips compared to a steak. One has a lot more nutrients than the other. The same is true with turkey. It has more protein, and vitamins than a pinky will. And you don't cook the turkey, LOL.  This keeps the protein and vitamins intact. Beef liver is another high concentration of vitamins.


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## Meg90 (Oct 21, 2009)

Turkey shouldn't be cooked, its fed raw. Eggs should be undercooked as well. I find the best way to do this is to soft boil. Feed the shell as well.

Pinkies have almost no nutritional value. They have very minimal bone mass and their organs are minuscule.

Turkeys, are fed grains etc etc. The meat of the turkey actually gets its nutrients from whatever its diet was. That's why plant based foods provide more energy (for people even). Basically, with protein, you are getting a secondary form of plant nutrients, because they have already been processed and stored.

But can you see why turkey and ground beef are healthier? I just did a nutrition unit in my college Biology class. Sorry if my explanation is crappy. I'm sick AGAIN....hard to think through a head full of cotton. I can post some chapter excerpts if you'd like.

But no, don't feed just pinkies and crickets.

When he's two pounds, think of how many you will have to feed him to keep him sated, especially if he refuses other foods because you didn't offer variety.


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## kschlunegger (Oct 29, 2009)

I agree that variety is good. However, plants do not provide more energy than fat. Remember that everything that is needed to live is in that pinky. Once you cook it then the proteins and nutrients change form and some vital building blocks are destroyed. If carnivores eat plants alone, then they will die. This is a simple fact. This is why vegetarians need to supplement their diets with vitamins. This is also why vegetarian children are so sloth like. Ever see a huge vegetarian body builder? I know many people will disagree, but fat is a great source of energy. Eskimos live on whale fat.

A growing Tegu should have all the fat you can give him. I have never seen an over weight baby Tegu. They just get bigger quicker. I agree that once he gets bigger, then he will need to watch what he eats (like us). But for now, he needs fat.....fat is good.

Back to my measuring. He ate 5 pinkys this week, 40 crickets, some canned rabbit, spoonful of canned tuna (in oil not water), and some grape slices.
He has not grown much this week. He is about 14.5 inches. He is getting more muscular and is incredibly fast. 

We feed him only in a red bowl now and take him out of the cage to do so. He knows the bowl now and comes running when you put it in his sight. We are now trying to get him to poop in a paint roller pan filled with paper towels. He does it about every other poop now. He just shed, so I think next week should be a nice growth week


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