# whats your feeding schedule??



## Hippo (May 14, 2011)

Whats up peoples i was just wondering whats your feeding schedule im pretty sure someones asked this before but im just curious so that way when i get mine ill have a good idea on when to feed him


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## reptastic (May 14, 2011)

Do you want to know what we feed and how often, for me my tegus staple is a mix i prepare that consist of 3lbs ground turkey, 1 lb chicken gizzards/hearts/liver, 10 chicken necks, 1lb.beef kidneys, and 1lb lean ground beef, everything is thourghly chopped up and the necks are chopped up and smashed to smitherenes with a hammer, everything is mixed up and seperated into 2day feeding bags and frozen they eat this 5 days out the week and every other day i will add some finely chopped squash and mango or strawberries, they get 2 treat days which includes chicken breast, eggs(2 per month) fish(salmon or telapia) shrimp and beef liver, 1-2 x's a week they get a whole prey (mice or rat depending on tegu size) and
supplements such as reptical and reptivites are given 3-4 x's a week and cod liver oil 3x's, i've kept this same feeding regime since i had my first tegus and they did well on this diet and so are rayne and storm


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## Toby_H (May 14, 2011)

Hatchlings and Yearlings should be fed daily in the summer months... less/none in winter depending on brumation details...

As they become adults they need to eat less frequently, or less per day/meal.


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## Rhetoric (May 14, 2011)

My 2 older but smaller tegus are eating daily, they are eating A TON. They'll each eat like 4 mice and STILL be hungry.. Guru, my 11mo 3.5ft male has recently only been eating every other day. I was a bit worried at first when he was less consistent but maybe hes just decided thats all he needs to eat.. No complaints from me!
I give them mice/rats once a week, the amount varies depending on the size I have. I was giving the 2 smaller tegus mice 2-3 times a week but they are at a healthy weight so I've cut back.
They eat a variety of fish, talapia, rockfish, flounder, tuna, salmon. Ground turkey, scallops, shrimp, eggs, chicken breasts, chicken liver. Banana, strawberries, carrots, various berries. 
I've been adding a multi vitamin to their meals 2x a week, I was doing 1x a day with the smaller tegus but again, they're now a healthy weight. I've recently started doing the calcium to every meal besides whole prey. Before I was doing it every other day. 

I think that variety is a huge... um.... I don't know the word I'm looking for but its great! lol. The more varied you can offer the better.


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## Gandolf38 (May 16, 2011)

My older tegu, a Colombian, will never eat every day of the week. Sometimes he'll go for 3-4 days in a row, and then skip a day or 2. I offer him food every day he gets up-there are some days that he sleeps all day. 
My baby red won't eat every day either, but he does have a bigger appetite; dont know if that's because he's an Argentine, and will get bigger than the Colombian , or what


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## Bubblz Calhoun (May 16, 2011)

_I don't feed everyday,.. right now I have a Colombian but the same goes for the other 3 that I had. Mine are kept on a primarily whole food diet and depending on what you give them they don't have to or need to eat every day. Whole foods take longer to process than meaty meals and by meaty I mean chopped or ground meats.

I don't have a set day or schedule for feeding because it changes,.. sometimes they're hungry and sometimes they're not. I use a skin fold or flap method that helps me decide when and how much to prepare and feed. Which pretty much goes along with their digestion. After a meal their stomachs full and their skin is tight around their abdomen. About a day or two later after they have digested some of it and relieved them selves then a fold or flap starts to develop along the sides of the abdomen. Which lets me know if I should feed and if so,.. how much to.

Not much of a flap then I feed something light like a little bit of a meaty meal or nothing at all. When it's more prominent and the abdomens not as full then I feed a larger meal. Since in captivity they can be over fed just as easily and often as under fed._


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## lirillcriss (May 17, 2011)

Feeding schedule should be at the basic interval of time as it is necessary for the animal or for the person to perform various activity at a particular time.


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## azz123 (May 17, 2011)

wots best for baby b&w about 7inches long, wot do i feed them, wen do i feed them it, and how often etc? i was gonna feed them, crickets, pinkys, fruit, locusts, to start. also was gonna feed him in a tub out of viv?


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## Gandolf38 (May 18, 2011)

Bubblz Calhoun said:


> _I don't feed everyday,.. right now I have a Colombian but the same goes for the other 3 that I had. Mine are kept on a primarily whole food diet and depending on what you give them they don't have to or need to eat every day. Whole foods take longer to process than meaty meals and by meaty I mean chopped or ground meats.
> 
> I don't have a set day or schedule for feeding because it changes,.. sometimes they're hungry and sometimes they're not. I use a skin fold or flap method that helps me decide when and how much to prepare and feed. Which pretty much goes along with their digestion. After a meal their stomachs full and their skin is tight around their abdomen. About a day or two later after they have digested some of it and relieved them selves then a fold or flap starts to develop along the sides of the abdomen. Which lets me know if I should feed and if so,.. how much to.
> 
> Not much of a flap then I feed something light like a little bit of a meaty meal or nothing at all. When it's more prominent and the abdomens not as full then I feed a larger meal. Since in captivity they can be over fed just as easily and often as under fed._



Oh WoW!! I didn't realize it, but I've been feeding my Colombian on the "skin flap/fold method" too! I judge how much food to offer him based on his abdomen, and how many times he's relieved himself! Haha, that's funny! It's easy with him, because he won't go to the bathroom in his cage--first thing when I take him out, I put him in his "potty tub". After he goes, I put him in his "bathtub", and he stays in there as long as he wants; (sometimes a few minutes and sometimes as long as 1-2 hours.) We have had a couple accidents on the carpet here and there, of course, and there is the occasional time when he goes in his cage. But it is very rare. I didn't realize how good I had it with our bathroom and bathing schedule until I got my baby red...he doesn't really care for water at all. Of course, he likes being misted, but he is not one to want to soak in water. And as of yet, he hasn't wanted to relieve himself in water, either. I just have to spot clean his cage. Can't wait to see if I can get him on a similar schedule as Gabriel, the Colombian.


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## Tensleep (May 18, 2011)

azz123 said:


> wots best for baby b&w about 7inches long, wot do i feed them, wen do i feed them it, and how often etc? i was gonna feed them, crickets, pinkys, fruit, locusts, to start. also was gonna feed him in a tub out of viv?


Definitely feed out of enclosure to start. Some tegus do fine with feeding in their enclosure, but you wont know at first so put the odds in your favor and feed out of the enclosure. Tub is good idea as it is easy to clean. As far as what to feed, check out Bobby's recommendation on Tegu care


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## Walter1 (Mar 18, 2017)

Bob A said:


> My Argentinian Red Tegu only eats once every 2 or 3 days because he spends two or more days burrowed before he comes out to eat.
> I dont feel its wise to forcibly remove him from his burrow, and let him,come out on his own when its ready to eat.
> Hes not burrowing due to any temperature issues, since the temps are where they need to be. And hes in a low stress environment, so im assuming burrowing is just what he would normally do.


An ild thread but good to add info wher it belings. Mine are adult and eat a few days/wk.


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## Walter1 (Mar 18, 2017)

I don't know how long you've had him. This species will/must sleep to some extent during the winter. The duration and even the intensity varies amonf individuals and ages. Could sleep 1-3 months solid or could sleep 1-3 monthes coming out once or twice each week for an hour or two.


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## Walter1 (Mar 19, 2017)

Bob A said:


> Ive only had him approx. 3 weeks.
> Im guessing he is not brumating since there are no temperature extremes within his environment.
> The hottest spot is on a rock for basking directly under a dome light which measures 105 F.
> And the coolest spot during the day is the other end of the tank where his food and water are at about 80F.
> ...


Seems typical new and winter to me.


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## nepoez (Apr 5, 2017)

I have set up a doorbell that I trained my tegu to use when it's hungry. When he's hungry and reaches up the ramp and presses the doorbell, it's feeding time.


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## Walter1 (Apr 5, 2017)

nepoez said:


> I have set up a doorbell that I trained my tegu to use when it's hungry. When he's hungry and reaches up the ramp and presses the doorbell, it's feeding time.


That's pretty neat.
BTW- I like the reddish contrasts on the tegu. He looks like a FL WC. Is he?


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## nepoez (Apr 5, 2017)

Walter1 said:


> That's pretty neat.
> BTW- I like the reddish contrasts on the tegu. He looks like a FL WC. Is he?


I have no idea. I got him when he was still small and green so probably not a wild Florida caught? But the guy who I got it from, at a pet show had 20 of them. He said they are crossed b/t red and b&w. I had to give him away though because I left to another country for 2 years. Now that I'm back I have to start from scratch again so I'm waiting for some new babies right now. So anxious!


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