Pics of my baby, and some questions on feeding!

[Guest]

Hi!
I have had my argentine black and white tegu, Thorn, for about 3 months now, and I absolutely love her! She eats great, and is growing like a weed. Here are a few pics of her. She has gotten so big since I got her! She won't even fit in the tub she was sold to me in anymore

I try to give her as much variety with food as I can. She gets mostly crickets, superworms, and scrambled/hard boiled eggs, with thawed fuzzy mice every now and again. I've tried different fruits and veggies and she won't touch them. Even when I tricked her into eating a piece she promptly spat it out.

One question- the food I feed her the most often is definitely eggs. I sprinkle calcium/vitamin powder on them as well. Is this ok, to feed the egg as sort of a "staple" food, while every couple feedings she gets other things?

One more question- to add to more variety, has anyone ever tried the Mazuri Carnivorous Gel? Here is a link to the website:
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Its basically a powder you add water to, let it set, and it makes sort of like a little cake kind of thing you can chop up and feed. Here is a link to a video of a Mazuri rep talking about it at what looks like a reptile show somewhere.
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I only ask because I have been feeding Mazuri brand for years on my various other pets and it's a real good food brand for just about anything, so I was thinking this may be something good to add into Thorn's diet. Has anyone tried this with their tegus?

Thanks!

 

[Guest]

From what people have said on here and reading various things I've seen alot of people say to not feed eggs as a staple diet and just once or twice a week. I have no idea about the mazuri but you can feed her ground trukey/chicken, chicken hearts and gizzards, beef/chicken liver, and turkey necks.

 

[tora]

Eggs are high in phosphorus or something, so it'll screw up your tegu if it's a staple, since it won't get the nutrients it needs. I think it counteracts with one of the staple nutrients, not 100% sure though. I just know eggs are supposed to be more of a treat than anything.

How old is your tegu? She looks too big for bugs and fuzzies. I agree with the above post about feeding her more meats.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the info! It's exactly what I was looking for. Everything I have read on the feeding of tegus, even on the care sheet on this site, lists everything they CAN eat, but never how often or how much of each thing (besides whole rats and mice). So basically it's now meats from the grocery store with some cod liver oil mixed in that she should be getting as a staple?

The pics are kind of deceiving of her size. Even to me she looks a lot bigger in the pics than she actually is for some reason, lol. I mean, my leg isn't all that big.. but I would say lengthwise she is slightly larger than an average adult bearded dragon, if that helps. So she still eats the superworms and fuzzies ok. I definitely don't think she is quite big enough for an adult mouse or anything yet.

Any input on that mazuri diet?

 

[Guest]

I clicked the link you had in your post about that diet and Id say to not feed it. it doesnt seem to have anything in it your tegu needs. krill, fish, egg, algae. The egg you could give her fresh and once week, same with fish and shrimp, the krill and algae arnt needed in her diet. Plus, its way cheaper just to buy everything I posted above. I can buy all of that for under 15 bucks and it lasts nearly two weeks . Then again, mines a hatchling. Still, all you have to do is feed her more meats every day, instead of that diet.

 

[tora]

Np, there's certain other things that should be fed in moderation as well, like bananas. I know there's a good sheet on this site that lists everything they can eat, and the things they should eat in moderation. But yes, ground turkey/chicken is good, with organ meats, and be careful with the cod liver oil. It is possible to overdo it. My tegu is approx. 28" from tail tip to snout and he can wolf down adult mice. They're on the smaller side, but they are adults. He gets super lean ground turkey/chicken livers/mice/roaches/giant mealworms/VERY lean ground beef (the 97/3 kind)/fruits & berries, and eggs, but unlike most tegu's he doesn't care too much about egg. lol. So he gets them maybe like once a month. The rest of the stuff on the list is just randomly bagged up and frozen, then spread out during the week, so he doesn't eat the exact same thing every day. (The beef is fed less often though because even though it's lean, it's still pretty fatty.) I'd like to add more organ meats but nowhere around here I've seen sells them. Also the bugs are more of a treat, it would take TONS to get him filled up. As for the Mazuri diet, I'd say it would be okay on occasion, but would much more recommend a more natural diet. Oh, fresh fish fillets are also very good for them. Do not feed pet store fish, though.

 

[tora]

Oh as for trying to get her to eat fruits and whatnot, the first thing I had success with was a slightly split open blueberrys.
Mine seems to like things that are berry-shaped, even peas, lol.