Raw meat = salmonella ?

[Harry dowding]

What are the opinions that feeding alot of raw meat i.e chicken breast, thighs, Turkey etc can increase the risk of salmonella being caught?

 

[Walter1]

Cleanliness drastically lowers the likelihood of contacting Salmonella from the meat/poultry itself. Wash your hands with soap after handling. Feed in a bowl or plate that you either throw away, like a paper plate, or as I prefer, a dedicated food bowl that is washed with hot water and soap. Important, because those types fo food are important to them.

 

[Harry dowding]

Yeah he has a dedicated food bowl and whenever I feed him meat like that I wash my hand but would it still be present on him. For example I let him out and handle him every night and don't want to catch it. Even thou he mainly eats rats I like to give him a little variety.

 

[Walter1]

Wash hands after handling him. Always. For example, you could clean up his poop but some hard to detect residue is on his belly. You hold him. You put him back. Wash your hands. If I've handled them a lot, I'll change my shirt.

 

[Harry dowding]

Sounds like good advice I'll have to get my girlfriend to do more washing!

 

[dpjm]

I would be concerned about the source of this raw meat that you are using. The bacterial load in a lot of industrial farmed meat can be very high. It's ok for us because we cook it first, but your tegu is eating it in its raw form. You should only use raw meat that is from a trusted source.

I would not use much raw meat in any case, the rats are much healthier for your tegu. Just once in a while for variety if your tegu really likes it, but it's not a staple. Dust it with calcium and multivitamin.

 

[Walter1]

Regarding whole prey items, I've found with both my rat snakes and tegus, more smaller prey is more easily eaten, and more thoroughly digested than one large item. No big surprise there by any means, but as you might be new to this kind of feeding, might be helpful. If I had a bag full of large rats, I'd chop them semi-frozen, then thaw and present it in pieces, dusted of course with calcium.

Also, if you can sneak in anythin in its food, pesticide-free, of course, dandelion leaves are tough to beat as fantastic sources of calcium.

 

[Harry dowding]

Yeah I agree. He has rats as Staple. I will only offer him raw meats maybe twice a month. What size rats do you feed?

 

[Harry dowding]

How big are your tegus walter? What size rats do you feed I only offer small weaners as he eats them comfortably.

 

[Walter1]

Harry, if you mean me, I feed them medium-sized mice generally from RodentPro.Like slopping hogs. Dump it in a dish, and they eat. Also, I place some in odd parts of their outdoor enclosure so they hund for them. Habitat enrichment???

 

[Harry dowding]

Yeah I feed in the same way. Do you prefer to feed mice instead of rats?

 

[Walter1]

Yes., and I use only medium or large mice for my adult tegus. They all three love'em.

 

[Justsomedude]

Has anyone you guys know actually contracted salmonella from their tegu before? It scares me with children so I am constantly washing my hands like crazy

 

[Walter1]

Not yet. Cleanliness is key. Seeing children crawling around airport floors is horrifying!