Feeding a Tegu

[GoneForLunch]

I am looking into getting myself a tegu in the up and coming months and have seen a wide variety of answers to this question. I am a big fan of planning ahead and writing a budget (even if its a rough one) to make sure i can care for the animal properly each day. To keep this thread short I will just list a few of my main questions below:

1) How often do you feed your tegu, and what do you feed? How often does the tegu need things like mice/rats, ground turkey (or other meats), and veggies? I know this one changes with age, but i am interested in knowing for babies and adults (I can figure the in between years myself with this).
2) Do you dust your food or veggies with any calcium or vitamin supplements?
3) Where do you recommend getting frozen mice or rats from?
4) Do you meal prep for the month(s) and just keep frozen, then thaw in warm water? (I know that mice and rats will need to be frozen and thawed, but do their other meats like ground turkey balls need to be frozen and thawed or just refrigerated?)

Unrelated (to feeding) question that I have:
Do i need a "baby" cage for my tegu? I know small lizards can be overwhelmed in larger tanks, but I am gathering materials for my "adult" cage already and will begin building soon. How big of a cage would the tegu need as a baby? Would the "adult" cage (roughly 8'x5'x5') be too big?

 

[AlphaAlpha]

Hi.... Up to maybe around 18 month old (this could be shorter or longer) they will eat every day or every other day, after that they will go down to once maybe 2 a week.
Theres a great food list here https://www.tegutalk.com/threads/tegu-food-list.6446/
Yes dust with calcium and vitamins and cod/fish oil capsules are great too
Not all meals have to be frozen

I'm sure you'll get mixed opinions about the starter cage but personally I wouldn't spend more cash than is necessary and only use a juvenile enclosure if you have a spare one kicking about.

 

[Waters]

To answer the questions that weren't answered yet.....I have alway purchased my rodents from rodentpro.com. Regarding meal prep, I make my meal mixtures ahead of time and put them in daily, individual Tupperware containers. I just pull one out the night before and let it thaw in the fridge before feeding.