Care discussion

[greentriple]

Great intro. care sheet...but,

it would be nice to get a list, yes a list, of proven foods. For example, various ground turkey or other mixes people have found that work. And, what live or dead animals have been used with success and which have proven not so good. Maybe, someone who is in the know could list nutritional benefits or value of different "bugs, slugs and mice?"

I for one have been using the following mix for about 2 weeks and it seems to be working well, (he eats most of it and shits everyday):

Ground Turkey
Lamb Heart
Soft Boiled Egg (helps with binding, I use one egg, all yolk and about half the white)
Various Fruits (the last one had papaya, mango, pineapple and a bit of basil) FYI - didn't seem too fond of the pineapple.
I then mix in an appropriate amount of D3 calcium.

This is all mixed in a bowl and then placed in 5 small containers which are frozen and then thawed daily. He's only 17 inches and eats about 3/4 to 1 tablespoon each day, maybe a little less.

On the weekends I've given the following:
10 superworms
15 Crickets
10 or more Butterworms.

I'm considering a pinkey every Sunday as a treat.

I've also given caterpillars growing on my herbs (no pesticides) or grasshoppers feasting on the same. He devowered the caterpillars.

I'm cleaning up some snails to give as well.

 

[COWHER]

i would also like to see substrates that others have used with proven success listed.For instance I cant afford cypress it would cost about $200 to fill my enclosure about 4 inches deep, so I use hemlock mulch it costs about 2 or 3 bux for a 2 cubic foot bag and i put 3 bags in and he has been fine for about 3 months now.

 

[Mike]

I use clean topsoil, leaf litter, coco bedding, and cypress. I'm sure as long as it holds enough humidity (and is of course, non-toxic) a tegu would be fine in it. You could try leaf litter or topsoil. Oak seems to work the best.

 

[VARNYARD]

Tegus in the wild live on dirt and leaves, I just never tried to use it indoors.

 

[Mvskokee]

i use a topsoil cyress mix she loves it and has mad plenty of burrows

 

[DaveDragon]

i would also like to see substrates that others have used with proven success listed.For instance I cant afford cypress it would cost about $200 to fill my enclosure about 4 inches deep, so I use hemlock mulch it costs about 2 or 3 bux for a 2 cubic foot bag and i put 3 bags in and he has been fine for about 3 months now.

Have you tried Agway?? That's were I get mine. There's got to be one near you. http://www.centralmassagway.com/

Isn't hemlock poisonous?

 

[Mvskokee]

how big is your encosure. cypress here at walmart is like 2 bucks a bag

 

[DaveDragon]

It depends on where you live. In the northeast cedar and pine are available everywhere. I feel lucky to have found they stock cypress at the local Agway.

 

[AB^]

I dont have cypress in my area, and from the looks of it that I have seen on other peoples enclosure pictures I dont think I would use it, I use redwood mulch and am quite satisfied with it

 

[chelvis]

same here AB, no cypress unless you mean those like 8 qt bags at the pet store. I use redwood mulch mixed with peat moss, hold humidity well and makes great burrows.

ps the only Agway near me is in Utah, lol.

 

[Mvskokee]

guess im lucky we have huge bags of it for like nothin

 

[Mike]

IME it's pretty hard to find cypress for cheap on the west coast.

 

[VARNYARD]

Bump

 

[ColdThirst]

Cypress is like $4 a bag here in Arkansas and thats a 40lb one.

and i too would like to know what would be the best or them urrowing in, and im sure it says somewhere here i=on the site so i guess ill go read some more

 

[WR3CK]

Hi i also live in cali and cant find cypress anywhere other than pet stores (which i already spent a ton of cash on). Im thinking of giving redwood mulch a try for my tegus enclosure since i can get it cheap at a store i work at. Do i just get regular 100% redwood mulch?

 

[VARNYARD]

Hi i also live in cali and cant find cypress anywhere other than pet stores (which i already spent a ton of cash on). Im thinking of giving redwood mulch a try for my tegus enclosure since i can get it cheap at a store i work at. Do i just get regular 100% redwood mulch?

I do not know about the redwood mulch, I think they are related to the cedars, if so they could be toxic.

It might be better if you could find orchid bark, or eucalyptus mulch if the cypress is too high in price there.

 

[jor71]

Hi i also live in cali and cant find cypress anywhere other than pet stores (which i already spent a ton of cash on). Im thinking of giving redwood mulch a try for my tegus enclosure since i can get it cheap at a store i work at. Do i just get regular 100% redwood mulch?

I do not know about the redwood mulch, I think they are related to the cedars, if so they could be toxic.

It might be better if you could find orchid bark, or eucalyptus mulch if the cypress is too high in price there.

Bobby, isn't the eucalyptus mulch oily?

 

[VARNYARD]

Hi i also live in cali and cant find cypress anywhere other than pet stores (which i already spent a ton of cash on). Im thinking of giving redwood mulch a try for my tegus enclosure since i can get it cheap at a store i work at. Do i just get regular 100% redwood mulch?

I do not know about the redwood mulch, I think they are related to the cedars, if so they could be toxic.

It might be better if you could find orchid bark, or eucalyptus mulch if the cypress is too high in price there.

Bobby, isn't the eucalyptus mulch oily?

Not really, but I have only used it about twice, it is much higher here than cypress. I used it because they were out of the cypress. I do have a friend in Germany that swears by it.

 

[WR3CK]

couldnt find find orchid bark where i work also . going to see tomorrow if i can get eucalyptus mulch. I did find something named western medium bark <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.acehardwaresuperstore.com/ace-medium-western-bark-mulch-p-59526.html">http://www.acehardwaresuperstore.com/ac ... 59526.html</a><!-- m --> but im pretty sure thats going to have some redwood or pine in there mixed. anthing else i can probably get if i cant get eucalyptus mulch.