# Feeding ?



## jjollie (Feb 28, 2008)

Are you supposed to feed your tegus every day? I have read that some reptiles do not need to eat every day


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## shiftylarry (Feb 28, 2008)

Yes, some don't and some do. I would feed a baby every day until it reaches a year. When they're adults, every 5-6 days is ok. 5 being as low as you can go IMO. You want to feed them a medium sized portion each time as opposed to feeding a huge portion every once in a while.


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## redtail2426 (Feb 28, 2008)

I have a 7 month old tegu and I usually feed every day but sometimes you just have to use your best judgement i.e. If I feed him a good size meal then he goes to sleep before basking and digesting he will wake up the next day still with a good sized gut full of food and I will hold off on feeding until the next day.


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## DZLife (Feb 28, 2008)

Good information to know! Thank you for posting!


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## ColdThirst (Feb 28, 2008)

Mines about 6-8months old, and even though he gets big meals, 24hours later at the same time, hes running all over my apt looking for food, but he spends all day digesting until the next. I have mine on a wierd feeding schedule based on when I'm home and at work.


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## shiftylarry (Feb 28, 2008)

I think I might want to rephrase what I said a little bit. 

Babies eat a lot of food. There's no reason to deprive them of anything. As long as you have hot lights and proper diet, obesity should never be a concern for a youngster. It's when they're adults that you should start to pay closer attention to how much you feed and shift the ratio of meat products to vegetable/fruit matter.

-Chris


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## jjollie (Feb 28, 2008)

thanks for your reply's they have been helpful


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## VARNYARD (Feb 29, 2008)

I feed mine something everyday, but mine hibernate up to seven months without eating. Baby tegus need to have all they care to eat, they need to grow fast for there first hibernation period. However, if you are not going to hibernate your animal, then food is not required every day, adults will be fine feeding three to four days a week.


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## luckdragon (Aug 7, 2008)

Is 2x a day too much to feed a young B&W? 

Mine is approximately 6 months old and 10 inches long.


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## shabazz (Aug 7, 2008)

is that tail and all


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## luckdragon (Aug 7, 2008)

Yes with the tail. I feed once a day but one of my friends said he feeds his 2x a day. Does it depend on age or is 2x daily okay if they eat smaller portions?


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## PuffDragon (Aug 7, 2008)

10 inches is very very small for a 6 month old tegu. He/she should approx. be 22+ inches already. They come out of the egg around 8-10 inches. A healthy hatchling should be putting on a few inches a month. I had one that grew 12+ inches in less than three months. Some days I feed 2x and others I don't. I observe how my tegu's are acting and go from there. Some days its obvious that they are still hungry and can eat a second meal.


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## luckdragon (Aug 8, 2008)

I know mine was in the pet store for while before we brought it home. I hope I'm not worrying too much, it looked healthy to me and hopefully is not sick. Do they grow less if in a smaller cage? How can you tell if there may be a health problem?


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## jor71 (Aug 8, 2008)

luckdragon said:


> I know mine was in the pet store for while before we brought it home. I hope I'm not worrying too much, it looked healthy to me and hopefully is not sick. Do they grow less if in a smaller cage? How can you tell if there may be a health problem?



Smaller cages do not effect growth, that is a myth. Secondly, can you provide us with some pictures of him/her?

As said earlier, that is truly a small Tegu at 6 months old. 

If you are really concerned about his/her health, I suggest taking him/her to the vet and bring a poop sample with you.

You really should take any pet you buy to a vet for a check up, you never know.

Just my two cents


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## olympus (Aug 8, 2008)

I feed my baby two fuzzies a day. He is a beast and mean as hell too.


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## luckdragon (Aug 10, 2008)

Here are some pics...we are taking him to the vet for a check up in a couple weeks since we just got him. I think he looks okay and I don't know how old he really is but I thought the pet store said they had him around 6 months. Who knows how long or short that really is. When we measured him before it was from outside the case so we took him out the other day and re-measured...he measured around 11 inches, not 10, so I was off a little. 
The pet store guy said he would be good for about 6 more months then we should custom build his cage so I guess I thought they don't grow that fast.


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## Mvskokee (Aug 10, 2008)

great looking tegu


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## DaveDragon (Aug 10, 2008)

luckdragon said:


> I know mine was in the pet store for while before we brought it home.


We bought our Suriname Boa from the same pet store. The snake & Tegu came in about the same time, about 3 months ago. So I'd have to guess the Tegu is 5-6 months old. They couldn't afford to feed him enough to get him growing, they feed just to keep them alive and in good shape.


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## luckdragon (Aug 11, 2008)

Cool thanks Davedragon, that's good to know...

Yeah, he's still kinda finicky eating. There were a couple days since we got him that he didn't eat anything....though on those days I did feed him a lot the day before. LOL

We took him outside yesterday and he loved it! But I think it tired him out because he went in his burrow a little early for the night.


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## DaveDragon (Aug 11, 2008)

What did you take him out in? Did you use a lizard leash or a carrier? We have to use a leash on our 16 month old B&W. The (3) adults are no problem outside, they just like to wander.


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## luckdragon (Aug 14, 2008)

We will be using a leash next time we bring him out. Our little guy runs fast and we don't want to lose him! LOL


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## DaveDragon (Aug 14, 2008)

luckdragon said:


> We will be using a leash next time we bring him out. Our little guy runs fast and we don't want to lose him! LOL


Another visit to All Pets!!


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## Gx3 (Aug 14, 2008)

luckdragon said:


> I know mine was in the pet store for while before we brought it home.



I used to work for a pet store and we carried tegus, savs, and a few other large lizards and they would grow EXTREMELY slow because they are fed only crickets with calcium/vitamins, which is likely the case with your tegu


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## luckdragon (Aug 28, 2008)

I read a lot of information and vitamin bottles that reference the Calcium Phosporous ratio 2:1. How do they get the phosphorous, is it through their diet or another vitamin supplement?


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## Kharnifex (Aug 28, 2008)

Phosphorus, is in all foods, basically their is too much phosphorus in most foods, thats why you need to add more calcium.

only use calcium w/phosphorus for herbavores.


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## fakeplasticlulu (Feb 16, 2009)

Hope I did this right, first post...

I also got an unusually small B&W from a shop recently. I'm sure she had to be from last summer so that puts her about 6-7 months and only 14" when I got her. They said they were only feeding her 3-4 times a week so I figured that was the main problem. She seemed in good health otherwise and was used to being handled so I couldn't leave the poor thing there. Now I usually feed her 2X a day and she put on about an inch in the first week. I usually give her some egg and turkey in the morning and then she likes to bask for a while. Then in the evening I give her just a little bit of something or a few crickets. She seems happy and is deficating accordingly so I figure it's not too much food.


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## DaveDragon (Feb 16, 2009)

It would be best if you started your own thread. More people would notice it and it won't get lost in this one.


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