CHecking on the diet

[KordeksKritters]

Hello all!
I really just wanted to check on the diet aspect of things for Toni. She (?) is growing like crazy, having no issues now (thanks to that MVB bulb!), shedding like crazy (at least once every 2 weeks), but I am paranoid about some diet changes I have made for her.

Her daily diet consists of a large clump of 85/15 ground turkey mixed with lots of ZooMed plain calcium. I have started mixing in some things with it, and she takes it fine. I have yet to see any of these ingredients on a "bad" list for tegus, but thought I would check. The list varies sometimes, and does not always have everything listed, but I do use most of it as I do a mix for the other lizards with most of these things (minus the turkey).

Papaya
Mango
Carrots
Kiwi
Strawberries
Blueberries
Zucchini (green)
Squash (Yellow)
Broccoli
Peas (in the pod)
Green Beans
Lima Beans
Mustard, Dandelion, Collard and Turnip Greens (whichever I am using for the beardies, sometimes not all of them)

The way I do this is I mix a big package of 85/15 Perdue ground turkey (5 lbs usually) with a combo of all of the ingredients and several tablespoons of the plain calcium. I then grab big clumps, put them in a sandwich sized freezer bag about 1/4 of the way full, and freeze the bag. I get about 16-20 days worth of food for maybe $7-8 this way, and it gives a chance for variety every day since I have no set amount of each ingredient in each clump. Some days she might get carrots, some days not, etc.

Every night I grab one to thaw out, feed her in the morning before lights come on. She eats EVERYTHING, then goes and basks while she looks like she is going to explode!

She also occasionally gets dubia roaches (gotta love being able to feed off those extra males!), a fuzzy (live, only once every few weeks if that), crickets, superworms, etc. I am not big on feeding her anything live, as she tends to get very aggressive for a day or so afterwards.

I honestly have no clue on her age, as I got her from someone else when she was about 14" long. Since I got her about 2 1/2 months ago, she has grown to about 20", and has slowly been shedding off the brownish-green colors she had. I read somewhere that the color issues were a result of a bad diet, so I am guessing that I have corrected it a bit.

So, what do you guys think?

Kelly

 

[laurarfl]

Just a thought...broccoli is goitrogenic...bad for the thyroid...and is on the occasional list for reptiles.

Also, the brownish green colors may be the colors of a juvenile tegu that typically fade with age/growth.

 

[KordeksKritters]

I guess I should have clarified a bit...the broccoli is only a very little bit, and none of my gang get it very often. This time around I think I may have used 3 stems for the ENTIRE gang's food, which includes the tegu mix and the other lizard mix (we have 5 beardies, 3 chinese water dragons, 3 chameleons, a frilled dragon that all eat greens).
But thanks for pointing that out. Not many people might know that!

Are the brownish colors usually gone at a normal time? She has it heat to tip of her tail, almost like she is stained from sand (I have seen it in beardies). Of course, she is not on sand with me, but I have no way of knowing the care the other person gave her. I mean, she did come to me with MBD, so it might not have been that great....

Thanks for the help!

 

[laurarfl]

I know what you mean about stained skin with the colored sand. I don't know...hard to tell without a pic. I'm, thinking more of the green head that fades with time. I know my tegus are much brighter after a shed...like beardies.