Hairless Mice

[Toby_H]

IÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢ve read many times that we should only feed our Tegus mice a couple of times per weekÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?¦

IÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢ve also consistently read the reason is that Tegus do not digest fur very wellÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?¦

Well what if we are feeding our Tegus hairless mice?

Through American Rodent we can purchase large (25~35 gram) hairless mice for a quarter each.

Also for people with baby Tegus pinkies are a simple form of food that does not contain furÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?¦


So my questionÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?¦ is it acceptable to feed hairless mice more frequently than a couple times per week?

I understand a varied diet is bestÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?¦ and I support the approach of a varied dietÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?¦ but I still like to know where to safely draw lines and whyÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?¦

 

[whoru]

i dont know about the hair but i have been told the a high mice diet can lead to fatty deposits on the liver an therefore shortin the life of your gu

 

[Jefroka]

It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to me that hair from mice or rats would be undigestable for tegus. In the wild tegus eat mice and rats, why would they not be able to digest or move hair in a bowel movement?

If overfed mice or rats, maybe the hair I guess could be an issue, but in moderation I'm just not buying it. Snakes eat mice and rats, think of a tegu as a snake with arms and legs.


...Jefroka

 

[Toby_H]

I see where your coming from Jefroka...

It's just hard differentiating from the internet heresy and the factual concerns sometimes...

Through the vendor I used hairless mice were actually cheaper... and since the hair serves no benefit I thought it best to go with hairless...


I'm sure Tegus do eat rodents in the wild... but I've never heard from a reliable source what their staple diet in the wild would be... It's quite possible they do not eat a whole lot of mice / fury rodents... But I would be hesitant to speculate on that note...


Bobby mentioned in the Ground Turkey thread that Tegus need Fat. Which makes sense as Fat and Protein are both used in the production of glucose. But to much fat being stored in the liver is a very very bad thing (in us as well as our critters).

It seems that the best defense against this is... who would of ever guessed... Exercise & a balanced diet...


But back to the drawing boardÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?¦ what is trulyÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?¦ Ã?¢ââ??¬Ã?â??a balanced dietÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?ÂÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?¦


The high protein / low fat of Ground Turkey and the high protein / high fat of rodents sounds like it would be pretty goodÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?¦

But how high in fat are the mice we feed? I have a few hundred frozen mice and so far none of them have looked very plumpÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?¦

 

[PuffDragon]

American Rodents small vs. large in case you are wondering:

 

[Toby_H]

Ewww... now go wash your hands...


I bought just a ton of the small... as they were the best $ per gram that American Rodent had to offer...

Although I feel the average size of the mice I receeived are 30 grams (listed as 25~35 grams)... I have some that have been well over and some that have been well under... And yes I've weighted them to formulate this opinion


While I completely accept and embrace the theory of a varied diet... I'm just trying to gather facts about their diet to help me make better decicions...


I am going through a list of links offered in a thread by Bobby Hill discussing Tegus in the wild trying to learn a bit about their diet - <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.tegutalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=65&t=3187" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">viewtopic.php?f=65&t=3187</a><!-- l -->

IÃ?¢ââ??‰â??¢ve read their diet consists of fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and small mammalsÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?¦ millipedes, arachnids, insects, mollusksÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?¦ as well as seeds, fruits, eggs, carrionÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?¦

So reviewing that full list it seems that fury animals may not be a very large portion of their dietÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?¦ which could lead one to believe that too much of a fury diet may not be a good thingÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?¦


One thought I had while reading about them eating eggsÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?¦ In the wild they commonly eat eggs. But in the wild eggs are fertilized eggs which means they are simply a calcium encased small animalÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?¦ not unfertilized yolks and whitesÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?¦ I think it may be important to make that distinction whe reading about them being Ã?¢ââ??¬Ã?â??egg eatersÃ?¢ââ??¬Ã?Â.