Rescue tegu help

[lgranoth731]

Yesterday I took in a black and white tegu believed to be an Argentine. It is 26" snout to tip of tail. The problem is that he was never offered anything besides high quality grain free cat food, canned tuna, and lettuce. I cup up some apples for it and the tegu seems interested but completely disregarded it. I'm going to try ground turkey tomorrow. How hard should it be to get it eating the right food or will it only have taste for the cat food?

 

[laurarfl]

I know I may have a different opinion, but high quality grain free cat food is more nutritious than ground turkey. It has a balance of calcium to phosphorous and is much leaner. It depends on the high quality brand. Some say grain free but use a lot of potato starch. Foods like Wellness and Origen do not. Evanger's is 100% meat w/o presevatives. I feed ground turkey, but not as a staple in the diet and I always mix it with something else. You can try the ground whole meats from Hare Today if you like, too.

Tegus shouldn't have a problem switching. Like most animals, you can mix the food they do like with the food you want to feed. Feed more of what they like at first, slowly changing it over. If he is not wanting to eat much, it may be hibernation. If he is a rescue in that he had medical issues, you may want to get a vet check-up to make sure there isn't something else causing a decline in appetite

My tegus aren't too found of apples. You can try some fruits that are more tropical like bananas, mango, papaya, and also cherries, berries, melon. Alternate the foods you feed and add calcium to anything that does have bones. Those foods are usually quite high in phosphorous and low in calcium (except for papaya).

 

[laurarfl]

And welcome to the forum, by the way.

 

[daxx973]

And when your tegu becomes hungry enough it won't matter what you put down in front of him. As long as he's not going into hibernation he won't starve himself because he doesn't like what your offering.

 

[laurarfl]

so true

 

[lgranoth731]

I know all about high quality pet food since I'm certified in dog/cat nutrition. I offered some ground turkey and bananas just now. I tong fed the first bite but after that he went at it on his own. A slow eater but a great eater.

 

[laurarfl]

I am always learning.

 

[lgranoth731]

Me too haha.

 

[SnakeCharmr728]

If he has had less than a optimal diet I would focus primarily on whole prey to help correct any deficiencies. Ground turkey even with supplementing just doesn't compare to what whole prey can provide.

 

[lgranoth731]

He has eaten tong fed roaches too. I was told that cuz of his size he shouldn't need anything

 

[SnakeCharmr728]

huh?

 

[lgranoth731]

I gave him roaches also

 

[SnakeCharmr728]

I just didn't understand how because his size he doesnt need anything.

 

[lgranoth731]

I was told that because he was already over 2ft to focus on turkey, fresh fish, and fruits, that those were better for it at this size.

 

[lgranoth731]

Also probably a dumb question is how often/much should I feed? It's my first tegu (i have to 14" Savannahs). When I adopted adopted him his belly felt fragile when I picked him up but now he's chubby. I don't want to over or under feed it.

Ps. Can't wait to fond out its gender lol

 

[SnakeCharmr728]

Size of the tegu doesn't really have anything to do with what to feed it... the diet is all the same, however as suggested by myself and others on here -- if he was given a poor diet before its best to try to make up for that with a healthy one, one will good calcium too. ground turkey is not an ideal diet. variety is best but that means including rodents, chicks, quail, various fish, rabbit, shrimp/prawns, fruits/veggies... etc
but just turkey, fish and fruits is not going to help any deficiencies caused by the dog food because turkey lacks bones and a lot of nutrition.

adults do well on every 3 day feedings, if you want to feed more than that - feed smaller meals. Some people feed small meals daily and thats good too as long as its not over feeding. Can you post some photos?

 

[lgranoth731]

He has been eating roaches and eggs as well mixed together with calcium powder. I'll try to figure out how to post pics lol

 

[lgranoth731]

From before I brought it home

 

[lgranoth731]

 

[SnakeCharmr728]

He looks to be a good weight but his snout is concerning, definitely signs of mbd there. Can you take better pics of his snout?