# Tegu Nutrition



## Kebechet (Apr 20, 2011)

Hi guys,

I'm working on doing a serious compilation of what we know about Tegu nutrition. I've seen some really complex information about what Beardies need, but not Tegus. Yes we know they need calcium, that phosphorus and calcium levels need to be considered when feeding food items, but how much protein does a tegu need for example? One of the main staples I see people feeding their Tegu is the raw turkey with calcium powder. How does the protein in a 4 gram patty compare to a juvenile mouse? What vitamins and minerals are good for Tegus? What's bad? Does this apply to just Tegu's or can it be extended to monitor lizards? 

I'm not there yet, but I'm hoping on going into veterinary medicine with a focus on reptiles  and I can't seem to find some information I've searched for. This makes me think that the scientific studies that show actual percentages for vitamins/minerals either hasn't been done, or isn't easily available to non-vet keepers. 

For example, I hear people say that dog food is bad for Tegus because of how fatty it is. Well, how much fat is considered too much? What about Taurine? I heard something a while back (can't remember where) that Taurine is bad for certain reasons. I looked around today, and now I can't find anything on it. 

I think the more we can learn about these guys, the better we can learn to give them a diet that prolongs their lives (not that a standard staple of the raw turkey doesn't do that, but is it ideal?) 

I haven't seen anyone else do it, so I figure it would be great if we can compile what we know about amounts of vitamins and minerals in Tegu diets  Does anyone have more information about it?


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## Little Wise Owl (Apr 20, 2011)

I'm wondering where you read that Taurine is bad. It's a water-soluble amino acid and from what I've read, is hard to OD on. "Taurine has been found to be very beneficial to various components of the mammal skeletal system such as heart, kidneys and blood"

I imagine that tegus may be able to produce their own Taurine much like dogs (cats cannot and require it from animal protein sources)


Anyway, good luck on this nutritional compilation.


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## laurarfl (Apr 21, 2011)

I think there is not enough research done to get exactly what you want. Plus, tegus have not been kept on a large scale in the pet trade to reach a full range of life expectancy and then see what affects that life expectancy. For instance, at this point, it is well known that high protein diets affect the kidneys of iguanas and shorten the life span. Research has been done to determine that herbivores cannot process dietary vitamin D, and research has been done that shows that savs can. No such research has been done on tegus.

Here's a nutrition chart, but doesn't really get into the details you are looking for.
http://www.rodentpro.com/qpage_articles_03.asp

Just remember to always compare dry matter to dry matter when looking at nutritional value.


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## teguboy77 (Apr 21, 2011)

Yeah i agree with laurarfl,tegu's are omnivorious and im sure they will consume whatever plant or animal matter they can, depending on what's available to them in the wild or what they can catch,come across or overcome,and they don't get feed like they do in captivity i think in my opinion variety is the best,mice,qail,turkey,beef liver,chicken peeps,insects,fruit,fish,etc and your tegu should live a happy life.That also goes along with good uvb bulbs,vitamins,cage size,good temperature basking and ambient temps,plus humidity.This is the way i keep my tegus just my opinion.


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## chelvis (Apr 21, 2011)

Being omnivorior like tegu boy says makes it alot harder to determain what is needed, and pair that with the fact they have only been in the pet trade for a realtivly short time and have a pretty good life span (have read 15 years) its hard to do a study to determain what is needed in a tegu diet. Most studies would be done on production aniamls ie animals that can make money either themselves (cows and sheep) or the products and services needed for them (cats and dogs). Tegus do not fit either catagory in a large enough scale at the moment. 

Another problem is traditional nutirtional studies are done on a limiting diet. WHat that is, is they limit some element of a stable food (so no varieity) and see how that affects the animal, the lower the content untill its zero (indicating there is no need for it) or until they see health issues arise (indicating the lowest thresh hold for the nurtiant). Yes this was even done in cats and dogs back when they were first writing the AFFCO standard. 

Also being ominvors and going through seasonal changes makes the tegu hardered to perdict. There is a mammalin simliar the bear and their nutritional requirements are very very different than say a human (also an omnivor). We need lower fat and a relativly low calroie diet. Compared to a bear we don't eat all that much (if we bulked up to bear size). A bear when it first wakes up eats still very little allowing it to re-start its GI track. Early summer is spent mainly on grasses and barries and the fall its meat and high fat iteams to bulk up. 

So i would imagin trying to map a tegus nutrition would be a very complex and long process (hatchling nutrition, juvi, adult and geriatric). Not to mention we have changed their diet alot in captivity. In the wild they forged alot and ate more plant matter, more invertabrates and less meat. Now we turn them onto a low fiber high protine diet (ie ground turkey). Its hard to tell when something is too much fat, but reptiles with their slow matabolism really do not need alot of fat in their diets which is why its best to stick to lean foods (which is why dog food and cat food is a bad idea dogs and cats need the fat because of a much faster matabolism to fuel heat production). We know that phosphate can not be in too high of a consentration other wise it off balances the calcium (again no cat food). There is an ideal phosphorus to ca ratio but it has escaped me at the moment. We also know that UV seems to be imporant for them to produce vit D3 (i'm basing this soly off the fact that the amount of people that post about tegus twitching which get better with lighting and diet change). 

Really there is only one way to give a tegu a really good diet and its not figureing out the percents of fat that might be too high or the perfect ratios. With zoo diets my job is to do a blancing game and make sure a variety is there. By giving a good varitiy it allows for all the bases to be covered. Making sure there is fiber (plant matter), minerals (bone, organ, connective tissue...) fat (in a moderate amount), protine (meat) and of course water all in avalible forms (raw and not process is best) can really be the best way to feed an animal like this. 

Sorry for being so long winded. I really fell in love with the nurtional aspect of my degree and zoo nutrition by far was one of my favs becuase it really teaches that numbers are great as a guide but are really not the best for extoic seasonal animals.


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