Eating Habits

[scubabob32]

I saw this on the general discussion board and thought it may help to use this format. I hope it helps and someone can help me with my question.

What kind of tegu do you have?
Argentine Black and White.

How old is your tegu?
About 2-3 months

How large is your tegu?
9.5in long

What is the sex of your tegu?
not sure but I think maybe a female

How long have you had your tegu?
3 weeks

Does your tegu brumate or hibernate?
not been here long enough for that yet.

What size enclosure do you have?
40gal breeder but I am working on its permenant

What kind of substrate is used?
Ecoearth

What kind of UVB do you use (brand and coil vs bulb vs tube)?
powersun but I have tried to buy a bulb from reptileuv but they are out of stock currently.[/color]

What is the wattage of your bulb?
100wt

How old is your bulb?
3 weeks

How far away is the UVB?
9 inches

Do you use a separate bulb for heat? What is the wattage?
no

What are the temps (basking and cool side)?
basking 105-110 cool side 72

What do you use to measure the temps?
infrared thermometer

What is your humidity? What do you use to measure it?
humidity gauge and its 60-70 percent

What do you feed your tegu?
Thats my issue right now only ground turkey with calcium without d3

How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning,
afternoon, night)?
1 time daily in the morning but it is a shy eater and I have had little success feeding outside the enclosure so I leave the food in the enclosure and it eats within 30 to 45 min.

Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
Reptical w/o d3 2-3 times a week.

Does your tegu have regular BM's?
It was but now they are intermittent 3 to 4 times per week.

Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?
no

Does your tegu share and enclosure with another tegu?
no

My Tegu is only eating ground turkey with calcium powder. I have tried meal worms (which it ate occasionally) but wont touch now. It wont eat crickets at all and I am going to try pinky mice this week. Is it healthy for her to be eating only turkey?
I am going to start this week with a blend of turkey, chicken, liver, beef hearts and gizzards with some fish mixed in and cod liver oil which is the recipe that I have seen on some of the other posts that is the revised mixture that the guy from Varnyard uses. And should I feed that entire mixture all the time? As in only that mixture and then throw in the twice weekly pinky?
Like I said in the answers to the questions above, I have my best luck with her feeding when I put the turkey in the enclosure and leave her alone. I do want to feed in a separate area but she is still a little skittish when I pick her up, I feel its better for her to have a decent meal in the enclosure now as opposed to being freaked out and not eat enough in the separate area. She is coming along very well with handling and I would say in the next month I should be able to successfully pick her up with little or no stress and transition into the separate feeding are.

So to recap the questions here they are;
1. Is it healthy for her to be eating only turkey?
2. Should I feed only the blend of meats that Varnyard uses with mice a couple times per week?

Thanks in advance to anyone that responds. I have learned so much from reading so many of the posts on this forum.

 

[HeatherN]

its not healthy for a tegu to eat ONLY turkey, but it can be a part of a balanced diet. like with any animal, variation is how they meet their nutritional and dietary needs. a the varnyard mixture plus some whole prey a couple times a week is a good staple diet, but you could mix it up every once an awhile with something chitinous (insects), something plant-based (berries, etc), or other animal products (eggs). its easier getting them to try new things by mixing it up in the meat they like, or dipping it in familiar tastes, such as cod liver oil or egg yolk if those are established meals, which they arent for you yet. i recommend experimenting with different types of meat mixed in, such as chicken or fish (just make sure its safe beforehand).

if she wont eat anything but turkey, shell have to suck it up and learn. keep trying to feed her other things sometimes, shell get hungry enough to try them. she wont let herself starve, no matter how weary. when i first got mine, i was worried he wouldnt eat unless i left him alone like yours. but he passed that phase, it was stress induced, and now hes back to eating normal. perhaps you could leave her in her feeding area with her food for a bit as a go-between. these are my personal opinions, not facts, and based on my experiences thus-far, as well as what ive read thats worked for others. if anyone wants to jump in and point out how wrong i am, feel free! (if justified)

 

[scubabob32]

Thank you that helps a lot. I am going to continue trying other things I was just worried about the short term and her refusal to eat other things. Thanks again for replying.

 

[Murkve]

Heather is right. Turkey on it's own is not complete, but you can mix in things to make it more nutritionally sound.

For instance, if you want to get your Tegu familiar with veggies, try mixing them up in the Turkey. I almost never feed plain Meat anymore, and always try to combine it with some sort of vegetable or fruit. My Tegu loves Cherries, and will now eat Blueberries, and gobbles down Turkey mixed with Mustard Greens. For only 2 months old I think that's pretty good.

 

[scubabob32]

Heather is right. Turkey on it's own is not complete, but you can mix in things to make it more nutritionally sound.

For instance, if you want to get your Tegu familiar with veggies, try mixing them up in the Turkey. I almost never feed plain Meat anymore, and always try to combine it with some sort of vegetable or fruit. My Tegu loves Cherries, and will now eat Blueberries, and gobbles down Turkey mixed with Mustard Greens. For only 2 months old I think that's pretty good.

Great thanks for that advice.