# Calcium Supplements ?



## tupinambisaurus (May 29, 2010)

3 questions on diet for Argentine B n W s


1) Is bone meal considered OK to use as a calcium source ?

2 ) Can regular calcium pills be used as a calcium source ? ( if they are from calcium carbonate )

3 ) Anyone for raw chicken wings to be included in the diet for tegus. Is chicken wings considered a proper ratio of phosphorous to calcium ratio?


----------



## VARNYARD (May 29, 2010)

The best thing is to feed is mice, rats, quail, or chicks once or twice a week. Proper diet is the way to go, I am not a big fan of supplements. Chicken wings will not work, the large bone in the wing is very hard to digest.


----------



## tupinambisaurus (May 29, 2010)

OK - like you explained the other day on the phone. I have found bones from the chicken wings that I have fed to the tegus in the pen. Not the whole chicken bone but just fragments. 

Question Do day old chicks supply the necessary calcium needed for the lizards? Bert once told me they are mostly cartilage...


TX again John


----------



## VARNYARD (May 30, 2010)

Tegus need a varied diet, you cannot feed just chicks, or just rodents, they need a varied diet. Why not feed both?

As for chicks just having cartilage, it is not true, they do have bones, just like pinkie mice.


----------



## tupinambisaurus (May 30, 2010)

TX again John


----------



## the enigma (May 30, 2010)

But if your looking for the calcium shouldn't you use the rodents?
They would have more bone mass to them then the chicks.
I do agree. I think Tegus (and all animals) should have a varied, balanced diet.


----------



## VARNYARD (May 30, 2010)

the enigma said:


> But if your looking for the calcium shouldn't you use the rodents?
> They would have more bone mass to them then the chicks.
> I do agree. I think Tegus (and all animals) should have a varied, balanced diet.



I think you can use both, rodents are fine, but so are chicks. Tegus are well known in the wild to raid bird nests.


----------



## Toby_H (May 30, 2010)

I've recently caught my Tegu trying to eat calcium based rocks (but no other rocks) while free roaming outside...

I feed him Ground Turkey w/ about half a TBS of calcium suppliment (ZooMed Repti-Calcium) about half the days of the week and 7~10 gram hairless mice the other days... 

I feed him 2~4" live fish (Central American Cichlids) for about 1/3 of his diet when I have excess grout outs, but I haven't had any since late last fall.

It's time to buy more frozen foods and I plan to get larger hairless mice as well as chicks... But since I caught him eating these calcium based rocks I'm concerned that he's not getting enough calcium...


I don't mean to steal your thread Tupinambisaurus, but I popped in to ask this question and since you already had the topic flowing, I thought I'd attach my concern to yours...


----------



## whphillips (Jun 3, 2010)

it was filmed in the everglades


----------

