How many mice has your tegu ate in one meal?

[Chris & Stitches]

Just curious how much other tegus will eat, stitches is 23 inches and is just short of one pound and I’m feeding live hoppers.they are about 1.5-2 inches long and he eats about 16 a week right now.2-3 a day every day(today he ate 4 for the first time and never slowed down)-this batch is also slightly bigger per mouse than the last batch..he first would only eat crickets and now he will only eat mice.is he just gonna start eating other things eventually or can he live off of only rodents for a while? I’ve wasted a lot keeping a bunch of stuff he ignores.he drinks a lot and seems to have a very fast metabolism,he’s growing very fast. I don’t wanna make him do anything if it isn’t necessary

 

[rantology]

Darrow is similar in size and right now he's getting three 8-12g repti-links (hopper mice equivalent), ~4 large dubia roaches, and a portion of fruits and berries every day. Reptilinks have been fantastic for us, highly recommend em' if you are looking to try and get more variety in the diet (they have fruits and veggies mixed in already with 4-5 different ground whole prey)

Stitches is lookin very handsome!

 

[Walter1]

Let him eat his fill one day and a littless the next. He'll poop, then eat again. As long as he gets fish oil and calcium, you can start trying other foods.

 

[Chris & Stitches]

How would I get him to ingest fish oil?and he has always rejected anything that doesent run around or I wouldn’t even feed him live mice.i will truly the reptilinks maybe the smell will entice him I’ve never offered that before

 

[Walter1]

Drip oil on his food or, if frozen/ thawed, insert.

As for live, try this. Take a live mouse at end of forceps with oil. Next time, dead with oil from forceps you shake. Next time, thawed with oil and calcium in bowl.

 

[rantology]

To add onto Walter's great advice - When I got Darrow he wouldn't eat the reptilink by itself. I had to trick him into eating it for about 2-3 weeks by putting chunks of it on top of Dubia roaches (his favorite) ... try to make him miss the roach when he lunged and only end up with a mouth full of repti-link. Eventually he became okay with this. Now he has no problem devouring them on their own and really seems to like it.

 

[Chris & Stitches]

Cool I will try that method.he seems to be growing fast he’s 4x the weight he was 2 months ago exactly.should that number stay consistent being his meals grow with him?theres not a lot of info on growth rate that can show patterns.im keeping track but I only have til now of course

 

[Walter1]

Argies often hit 36" by their first birthday.

 

[Chris & Stitches]

Yeah I guess that would put him in the 8-10 lb range if the weight gains stay consistent.sometimes I think he sneezes.doesent seem to be an issue but I’ve seen him a few times when he’s basking he will squirm and then cough or sneeze

 

[Walter1]

If no gurgling, could be an irritant, possibly substrate dust.

 

[Chris & Stitches]

He hasn’t had substrate in a month due to eye infections.everything I tried he would dig in it a few times and his eyes would swell and he would avoid it.vet said he may just have an allergic reaction that wouldn’t allow him to survive in the wild?every time he was quarantined to wet warm towels for a day or two he would clear right up.havent seen anything swollen since.there was even a few hours one day he would not open his eyes but would seek me out and lay in my hand with his head up in the air, that’s when I took him to the hospital

 

[Walter1]

Gurgling?

 

[Merlot]

Lmao does he barely eat the veggies and fruits after the ReptiLinks are given? My boy loooves his ReptiLinks and I got the step above the one you have, maybe two above. And I need to order the larger batch for sure with less links to try to get him full on one link. Get the mega blend and add quail eggs with Blueberries and Kale, that’s really all they need to be honest. Even though intent to give other stuff esp seafood

what types of fruits and veggies does your GU accept?

Darrow is similar in size and right now he's getting three 8-12g repti-links (hopper mice equivalent), ~4 large dubia roaches, and a portion of fruits and berries every day. Reptilinks have been fantastic for us, highly recommend em' if you are looking to try and get more variety in the diet (they have fruits and veggies mixed in already with 4-5 different ground whole prey)

Stitches is lookin very handsome!

 

[rantology]

Lmao does he barely eat the veggies and fruits after the ReptiLinks are given? My boy loooves his ReptiLinks and I got the step above the one you have, maybe two above. And I need to order the larger batch for sure with less links to try to get him full on one link. Get the mega blend and add quail eggs with Blueberries and Kale, that’s really all they need to be honest. Even though intent to give other stuff esp seafood

what types of fruits and veggies does your GU accept?

Yep! I get that same mega blend with the quail eggs. Aside from those he really does love berries even after the reptilink right now, so I usually offer some black/blue/rasberries too and he snacks on them and they are gone by the next day. I just got some frozen salmon this week too, I'm going to start replacing the roaches with it (covered in fish oil) about 2 times a week. He will not touch vegetables.

 

[Merlot]

Yep! I get that same mega blend with the quail eggs. Aside from those he really does love berries even after the reptilink right now, so I usually offer some black/blue/rasberries too and he snacks on them and they are gone by the next day. I just got some frozen salmon this week too, I'm going to start replacing the roaches with it (covered in fish oil) about 2 times a week. He will not touch vegetables.

Okay I was gonna he won’t touch a veggie but a red pepper occasionally unless I make my “own reptilinks ball” and mix it in

Guys

Tegus thrive on ReptiLinks. You tell the difference in there energy, skin, nails, sheds, everything