Portions?

[DangerousDann]

Dozer is (was?) A very picky eater, and I have offered him fresh fruit many, many times and he has refused it every time. Today however, I tried something different, I gave him his large mouse and turkey, but also gave him a variety of fruit (grapes, blackberries and cantaloupe) and he went crazy for the grapes and blackberries, choosing them first over his usual mouse and turkey. So my question involves how much fruit should I give him? And which ones are best?

 

[dpjm]

Well, that must have surprised you. Fruits are normally something they will start to like a bit later on in life. They are a good addition to the diet, but the problem is that some are really high in sugar. The worst for high sugar content are apples, bananas, grapes, mango, and cherries. It doesn't mean you need to eliminate those, just limit them. I'd also limit fruits with a high fructose:glucose ratio, which are apples, pears, papaya, melon, and mango. I have a feeling that these may cause runny stools in some tegus, but I don't know for sure.

How much fruit can/should they have? There's not a certain amount. Fruit can lead to a couple of things to watch for. 1) obesity - too much sugar in the diet will do this, so watch the weight/body condition. 2) runny stools - if you encounter runny stools, try to figure out which fruits are causing them and use others instead or feed less total fruit.

Fruits are low in calcium so make sure to add some calcium supplement. The only two exceptions I can think of are papaya and figs, they don't need supplement.