# Red Tegu Diet?



## ColoradoRedTeguLover (Apr 23, 2013)

Im getting a tegu after the summer or late july if i find a breeder who will save one for me, and was wondering what is a good diet for a Red tegu baby i was thinking Cricket's, and Mealworm's(I have looked at care sheet's but they usally talk about lighting and caging and taming ect..)


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## SnakeCharmr728 (Apr 23, 2013)

You will need to feed much more than crickets and mealworms. Hatchlings and juvies are daily eaters, as they get older you can begin to skip a day but they eat a lot so be prepared! Small mice like fuzzies or rat pinks, ground turkey, chopped fish, roaches... anything that you can cut up small enough for them, they will eat. if you only offer crickets and mealworms then you will have a tegu that does not grow properly and will result in other health issues. 

Heres a food chart:
*Tegu Food List​*




Whole prey 
Captive raised insects
Crickets Roaches 
Mealworms
Super worms 
Wax worms 
Silk worms 
Horn worms
Earth worms 
Snails Crayfish
Pinkie mice 
Quail hatchlings 
Baby chickens 
Mice
Rats
Hamster
Gerbil
Feeder frogs/toads/lizards 


Meat 
Soft-boiled or scrambled eggs
Raw meats:
turkey,
Chicken,
lamb,
venison,
fowl,
beef in moderation 
Fresh fish filets 
Organ meats: liver, hearts, gizzards
Sea food: Crab, Scallops, Shrimp 


Fruits Tropical fruits:
Mango,
PapayaMelons:
cantaloupe,
honeydew,
casaba,
watermelon 
Bananas- in moderation, peels can be fed if grown organic
Apples- in moderation
Cherries 
Grapes- Thompson seedless; green and red Concord grapes higher in oxalates 
Tomatoes- high in oxalates** 
Berries: Strawberries- high in oxalates** and goitrogens* so in moderation 
blueberries,
raspberries, & blackberries
Figs -fresh or dried Dates
Kiw
iPeaches- high in goitrogens* 
Pears- high in oxalates**
Pumpkin 



Veggies
Acorn squash,
butternut squash 
Kabocha squash 
Parsnip
Alfalfa
Okra
Green beans
Green peas,
snap peas Leeks 
Prickly pear cactus
Dark leafy greens like:
Chicory greens (Escarole)
Collard greens Dandelion
greens Endive
Mustard greens Turnip greens
Spaghetti squash
Bell peppers
Rapini Zucchini
Yellow squash
Radish Yucca root- cassava- tough, should be shredded
Asparagus Broccoli in moderation, high in oxalates**
Beets and Beet greens in moderation, high in oxalates**
Carrots and tops in moderation, high in oxalates**
Bok choy - in moderation, high in goitrogens* 
Brussels sprouts- high in goitrogens* 
Parsley- good source of calcium 
Cabbage- in moderation, high in goitrogens* 
Cauliflower- in moderation, high in goitrogens* 
Coriander- in moderation, high in oxalates**
Rutabaga Sweet potato-
feed rarely Corn- feed rarely or never, low in Ca and high in Phosphorus Spinach- feed rarely or never, high in oxalates and goitrogens 
Swiss chard- feed rarely or never, high in oxalates** 
Lettuces -low in nutrition 
Celery- low in nutrition
Cucumber- low in nutrition


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## ColoradoRedTeguLover (Apr 23, 2013)

It Was a idea So a Good constant diet for a red tegu would be Cricket's and meal worm's as a snack pinkie's until he's full is is smart to order a thousand pinkie's? and how long would they last some soft boiled Egg's and some fruit?


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## ColoradoRedTeguLover (Apr 23, 2013)

What do you feed your's?


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## ColoradoRedTeguLover (Apr 23, 2013)

Do you have to feed them live?


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## SnakeCharmr728 (Apr 23, 2013)

No, crickets and mealworms are not a good constant diet. That is not enough and the tegu will quickly out grow that. Your main diet should consist of a variety of meats, seafood, whole prey, and fruit. Insects can be part of the diet but not the bulk part of it. Hatchlings will eat more bugs than older ones simply because of the size factor but if you can get roaches, that would be better than crickets/mealworms. You want to feed frozen/thawed or prekilled, not live. You can feed live pinky or fuzzy mice because they cannot harm or bite the tegu but frozen is easier to store and cheaper too.


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## Deac77 (Apr 23, 2013)

I feed, get ready for it,...

Mice
Rats
Day old Quail
Day old chicks
Ground rabbit (with bones and organs)
Ground turkey (with bones and organs)
Tilapia
Cod
Salmon
Whole (small) sardines
Soft shelled crab
Mango
Grapes
Papaya
Cantaloupe
Honey dew Melon
Raspberries
Blue berries
Black berries

And any fish I can get at the market 

All this has been fed since day 1 at 4 months old


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## ColoradoRedTeguLover (Apr 23, 2013)

Snake Chamr I think you misread i said Cricket's and meal worm's as a snack and thank's deac How much does this usally cost you and were do you get your frozen?


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## Deac77 (Apr 23, 2013)

Im lucky I have a friend that breeds rodents so I get them for 0.50 a piece but the other food is pretty expensive they are not cheap to feed, Kirby can eat 6-10 adult mice in one sitting


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## ColoradoRedTeguLover (Apr 23, 2013)

So should i order by the thousands?


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## Deac77 (Apr 24, 2013)

lol if you can afford it


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## Odonata (Apr 24, 2013)

I would not order by the 1000's. I made that mistake and ended up with a lot of various size mice that were not eaten. Assuming you are not going to feed mice excessively I would order a selection based on the size of your tegu. One bag of pinkies (50-100) will be way more than you need before your tegu has grown sufficiently to eat fuzzies, then hoppers, weanlings, etc. The reason you don't want to order too many of just one size is that the nutritional value increases the older the mice are due to the development of the mice (more fully formed bones, etc). If anything I would order bigger and chop up if you are concerned about them being too large. Also there is the issue of how fresh they will remain frozen for a long period of time. I think up to 6 months is fine, but particularly with pinkies you will start to see freezer burn if they are frozen too long.

See if you can go in with someone locally to order a few bags from Mice Direct or RodentPro in order to share the shipping costs.


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## Deac77 (Apr 24, 2013)

Big cheese and rat deli are good too.


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## ColoradoRedTeguLover (Apr 24, 2013)

Ok that's more efficient thank's Odanata you've actually helped me alot so thank's! how long do you think a bag of a hundred will last or it just depend on the tegu?


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## ColoradoRedTeguLover (Apr 24, 2013)

Well this suck's i guess im not getting a Tegu since i cannot support it's right feeding with the ammount of money have.


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## ColoradoRedTeguLover (Apr 24, 2013)

Depending if i can not find a good a well cheaper than 90 some on dollar's diet for it?


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## Deac77 (Apr 25, 2013)

Not really they eat a ton!! Maybe you can find some local breeders? Check on Facebook there is almost always a local herp group for every town it seems lol


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## ColoradoRedTeguLover (Apr 25, 2013)

Well i plan on feeding them rodent's once a week and making a diet of Ground Turkey Beef liver and salmon with calcuim diet and it will last 3 month's or 2 or even 1 depending on my tegu. I actully thought of getting a iguana but i dont have the matirial's or stuff to take care of a iguana i want a healthy pet so ive red ALOT on both animal's and it comes down that a tegu will be a alot better first lizard pet and do you know if a 7x3x3 cage could hold the tegu for it's life or well at least a couple years


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## KritterKeeper (Apr 25, 2013)

Im just curious..what makes a tegu easier to take care of than an iguana?


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## ColoradoRedTeguLover (Apr 25, 2013)

A Iguana Need's alot more then people put out there *Hint's why there the most abused or rescued animal people think iguana's can be fine in a 20 gallon tank you need to build at the mim a 6 feet tall 3 feet wide 3 feet long for a baby a Adult iguana will out grow that there tree climber's they need alot more care than people put out there


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## ColoradoRedTeguLover (Apr 25, 2013)

IT hard to explain


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## KritterKeeper (Apr 25, 2013)

Ok.. i just wondered why you thought they were harder to care for than a tegu..cage might need to be taller but i would think an iguana would be easier(and cheaper) as far as feeding..tegus eat a varied meat based and fairly expensive diet..if youre going for something more friendly id go with the tegu too as long as you know youll be able to afford the food bill along with meeting the rest of its specific needs.


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## ColoradoRedTeguLover (Apr 25, 2013)

Yeah It's still a debate in my head


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## ColoradoRedTeguLover (Apr 25, 2013)

I really want a tegu but there diet dam it would be expensive i was wondering do they need rodent's or can they have rodent's weakly Ive heard that you could feed them 3-4 rodent's a month but on a another side it said it should be a main diet...


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## KritterKeeper (Apr 25, 2013)

It can be a tough decision. Im going back and forth in my head about a few reptiles i want too. Above anything else you need to be absolutely sure you can take care of it properly. I believe there are a couple people on here who feed mostly rodents but i think the majority feed mostly ground meats with fruits/veggies and a rodent once a week or maybe a couple times a week.


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## KritterKeeper (Apr 25, 2013)

The food list that SnakeCharmr posted is a great list to follow.


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## TheTeguGurl (Apr 25, 2013)

Yes that food list is a great one to follow alot of keepers do. I believe Varnyard did the food list


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## ColoradoRedTeguLover (Apr 25, 2013)

Yeh It's a tough decision for my first big lizard i love Lizard's not really snake guy or a gecko guy just love big lizard's something about them just make me love them and i know if i find a right diet i can take good care of a tegu and or a iguana it's been a debate in my head and all i can think of is wich one i want ill say i want a iguana then a tegu video or something tegu pop's up then ill say i want a tegu then a iguana will pop up it's like OMG


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## herpgirl2510 (May 11, 2013)

I think tegus make much better pets than iguanas they can be much more temperamental. However it is much cheaper to feed an iguana that however is not a reason to get one.


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## Deac77 (May 11, 2013)

I dont agree with the ground meat but look into www.hare-today.com i DO agree with that website and for 100$ or so you can get a good 1-3 month supply of food.


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## Skeetzy (May 12, 2013)

If you have an adult tegu, get their coarse ground. I got it for my baby, thinking the meat would be in chunks. But the only difference I noticed is the bone chunks are a little bigger.


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## laurarfl (May 15, 2013)

I have an iguana that I rescued in 2008. I have worked with him for so long with minimal results. This summer he is going to a new home in S FL because he has become dangerous to us and it is not fair for him to just sit in his enclosure here.  There are so many igs that need homes; they are truly the disposable pet of the reptile industry.


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## Deac77 (May 15, 2013)

I rescued 2 last summer that I still have and 4 the summer before I rehoused to homes k could trust, it's awful, not counting the ones I didn't have the space for


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## ColoradoRedTeguLover (May 17, 2013)

Well now im debating Cause ive heard that Green Or Red iguana's can get very agressive even if tamed, but now i want a Rhino I know i can take care of all of these ive read so many books on them and rhino's dont have that breeding season agression like Greens do but it is also harder to tame rhino's


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