ground turkey

[Adzi]

I no Tegu Love eating ground turkey and its very good for them but where in england can you buy it and what substitues can you buy insted of ground turkey?

At the moment mine lives on a range of fruit and veg but mainly mice!

Any suggestions to other food (meat or veg)?

 

[Lexi]

You can feed them hamburger meat too.. but its very fatty..
I dont know if Lamb is healthy but i fed mine lamb last night and they loved it.. I know pork is bad for them.. Ground turkey should be in your super markets..or any store you can by ground beef.

 

[shiftylarry]

I don't think ground turkey is all that great. There are better, less fattening foods to feed. Whole food prey items (bones, organs fur, ect.) is the best, because it is a well rounded meal with lots of vitamins/calcium ect.

Ground turkey gained popularity when a mixture was concocted and deemed "The San Diego Zoo" diet (originally designed for ackies monitors). Truth be told, it didn't even come from San Diego Zoo, it came from the LA Zoo, and San Diego Zoo and the guy who created it even admit it's probably not the best staple (I'll pull my resources together to back that claim up, it's something I've heard from reptile keepers I know and respect). Originally it probably had a lot of different ingredients, but it has now been abstracted to ground turkey, bone meal, and pulverized vitamins. Nutritional studies show that vitamins that come in their purest, most natural form are healthiest for us. That's why I always feed full bodied animals. Will tegus eat ground turkey? Of course, it's fatty and delicious! A meal like that might be good for a treat, as they wouldn't eat pure meat on a daily basis in the wild. But it's too easy to digest, and if fed constantly might lead to obesity. Leaner than burger meat, true, but what isn't?

Here's some stuff you can try besides mice:

-Crayfish
-Squid
-Herring
-Shrimp (from Asian Markets)
-Roaches
-Earthworms
-Crabs
-Clams
-Locusts

and I could go on.

Variety is nice, but you shouldn't just mix it up for the heck of it. Some foods are better than others, and you should research the fat, protein, calcium contents of the foods before you feed. Mice are o.k., but I like seafood better because it's very high in protein and omega-3 fatty acids. Tegus would probably eat a lot of large amount of bugs in the wild as well as frogs and other small prey when they get the chance, so that's something to consider. I know people who feed wild frogs with no problems. I've never done it. I think we've polluted our earth beyond recognition, and stay away from wild caught foods for those reasons. Never ever feed toads, they have nasty secretions.

Anyway, that's enough typing for now.

Cheers

-Chris

 

[angelrose]

:welc Adzi, crickets, roaches and superworms.
for treats you can use eggs, potatoes (cooked) and clean fish.

 

[shiftylarry]

I know this may be hard for you, but if you are going to feed eggs, fertile ones would be the healthiest. But if you're not in a rural area, the chances of that are slim.

 

[VARNYARD]

I don't see the too much fat that you are talking about in turkey. However, some of the food items you feed as a staple could cause problems. Squid, Herring, Shrimp (from Asian Markets), Crabs, and Clams. All of these are very high in salt, this can cause many problems in reptiles that are not use to a very high salt content in thier diet. Ground turkey is a much better choice in my opinon.

As for Locusts, they have been known to hold high counts of a whole range of toxins.

 

[shiftylarry]

I don't know, it just seems unnatural to me for them to have bulk meat products. It just seems outside their diet. I would feed roaches as my staple, but that's me.

As the old saying goes, if it works, it works.

 

[Lexi]

what about lamb?

 

[VARNYARD]

I see nothing at all wrong with feeding lamb, I also feed ground deer meat.

 

[shiftylarry]

One other thing not taken into account is the ease of digestion. Flat out meat is really easy to process and absorb. You don't burn very many calories eating it. Legs, fur, bones ect. take work to synthesize. And, you're comparing meat products to other meat products. It is the lesser of those evils, but I will always be a proponent of whole prey items for the naturally occurring vitamin content as well as the other points I listed above.

 

[Lexi]

I do feed small rats too.. but i mix fruits and veggies into different meats.. other wise my B&W wont eat them.. But my reds will eat anything you put in front of them.

 

[redtail2426]

Seafood is also high in phosphorous.

 

[angelrose]

shiftylarry, why would it be hard for me :?:

 

[shiftylarry]

Why would what be hard for you?

 

[angelrose]

I know this may be hard for you, but if you are going to feed eggs, fertile ones would be the healthiest. But if you're not in a rural area, the chances of that are slim.

well I dunno, I mentioned eggs

 

[shiftylarry]

Not directed at you. It was directed at the original poster. I figure if he/she had trouble getting ground turkey, it wouldn't be easy to find fertile eggs.

 

[VARNYARD]

I don't know, it just seems unnatural to me for them to have bulk meat products. It just seems outside their diet. I would feed roaches as my staple, but that's me.

As the old saying goes, if it works, it works.

Well most ground turkey is a mixture of white and dark turkey OR all dark turkey. Ground turkey is manufactured from whole muscle pieces such as the drumsticks, thighs, neck, etc., with skin and adhering fat, in natural proportions. The fat content of ground turkey ranges from 7 percent to 17 percent. A higher fat content indicates more dark turkey is part of the mixture. I like the higher fat content, fat breaks down as raw energy and the fat stores in the animal. Tegus hibernate up to 7 months; they need these reserves to have a healthy hibernation.

Turkeys are fowl; I would think that birds make up a good part of the natural diet. Tegus are not beyond raiding nests and have been documented doing this. I do admit that ground turkey does not have feathers or bone, but it does have good protein and fat content.

I will also add, a diet of low fat and high protein will cause loose stools; the fat is needed for a balanced diet, and is energy in the raw form. I also do not suggest feeding only ground turkey; it is a staple meal, but only once or twice a week. Rodents, chicks, ducklings, fish, liver, eggs, and some fruit make up the total staple diet, not ground turkey alone. Fat is needed in the diet; this is a must in the maintenance of a healthy animal.

I am also not a fan of pre-made diets, like reptile links, monitor diet, Can Ã?Æ?Ã?â??Ã?â??Ã?¢Ã?Æ?Ã?¢Ã?¢ââ??¬Ã?¡Ã?â??Ã?¬Ã?Æ?ââ?¬Å¡

 

[angelrose]

:thyo very much Bobby :-D this is very helpful :-D
do you have a caresheet of a certain diet you feed them in a week
(I didn't see one in the forums :roll: )

 

[VARNYARD]

I do not have the exact amount of each item; this would be based on the age and size of the animals. I give mine a varied diet and give them a little something each day from the food groups. One rodent, one chick or duckling, ground turkey, liver, eggs, beef hearts, chicken gizzards, some fruit and fresh fish one or more of these items each day. But it is not on a regular routine; I just mix it up and give a wide variety.

 

[shiftylarry]

Bobby, I know you know what you're doing. You have obviously thought this out. I guess my problem is that I've seen a number of obese tegus that have been fed only raw turkey, and no insects veggies, fruit ect. If you have a tegu on the schedule you're suggesting, they'd be fine. The problem is that people just don't understand how a tegus diet should be balanced. I think a lot of people want to see they're tegu eat meat 24/7. Some kind of macho thing I guess (another reason why I liked your video post about not feeding live foods) I'm with you 150% on the canned food stuff. Most of the ingredients are just filler.