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It's the overall diet. Regardless of the UVB and Vit D, if there is not enough calcium in the diet, you are going to see twitching. Calcium is automatically associated with bones, but it is also a part of muscle contraction. All the foods being fed are low in calcium.

Even though you are feeding a high quality cat food, almost all cat foods are high in phosphorous, throwing off the Ca: P ratio. I went through this with a very sick kitty and it was almost impossible to find a low phosphorus cat food. Even though there are some great cat foods, I wouldn't recommend it because of this. Turkey lunch meat is full of preservatives and isn't a good alternative. Really, egg isn't any worse than other foods as far as calcium deficiency is concerned, and the yolk is a rich source of vitamins, minerals, good fats, and proteins.

Good choices are gut loaded crickets and roaches, ground turkey, chicken gizzards/hearts/livers, pieces of raw chicken/fish/lean beef, eggs in any manner (no more than once every week or two), frozen/thawed rodents as large as he can eat them, and papaya. All fruits are good, but papaya is high in calcium. Put calcium on any food that does not have bones.

Getting a mercury vapor bulb would be the best bet at this point, and a basking site of about 100-105. He's a cute little guy! I think Colombians are great tegus and very underrated.

<blockquote data-quote="laurarfl" data-source="post: 78819" data-attributes="member: 401">It's the overall diet.&nbsp; Regardless of the UVB and Vit D, if there is not enough calcium in the diet, you are going to see twitching.&nbsp; Calcium is automatically associated with bones, but it is also a part of muscle contraction.&nbsp; All the foods being fed are low in calcium.&nbsp; Even though you are feeding a high quality cat food, almost all cat foods are high in phosphorous, throwing off the Ca: P ratio.&nbsp; I went through this with a very sick kitty and it was almost impossible to find a low phosphorus cat food.&nbsp; Even though there are some great cat foods, I wouldn't recommend it because of this.&nbsp; Turkey lunch meat is full of preservatives and isn't a good alternative.&nbsp; Really, egg isn't any worse than other foods as far as calcium deficiency is concerned, and the yolk is a rich source of vitamins, minerals, good fats, and proteins.&nbsp; Good choices are gut loaded crickets and roaches, ground turkey, chicken gizzards/hearts/livers, pieces of raw chicken/fish/lean beef, eggs in any manner (no more than once every week or two), frozen/thawed rodents as large as he can eat them, and papaya.&nbsp; All fruits are good, but papaya is high in calcium. Put calcium on any food that does not have bones.Getting a mercury vapor bulb would be the best bet at this point, and a basking site of about 100-105.&nbsp; He's a cute little guy!&nbsp; I think Colombians are great tegus and very underrated. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink&nbsp; &nbsp; ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></blockquote>

[QUOTE="laurarfl, post: 78819, member: 401"] It's the overall diet. Regardless of the UVB and Vit D, if there is not enough calcium in the diet, you are going to see twitching. Calcium is automatically associated with bones, but it is also a part of muscle contraction. All the foods being fed are low in calcium. Even though you are feeding a high quality cat food, almost all cat foods are high in phosphorous, throwing off the Ca: P ratio. I went through this with a very sick kitty and it was almost impossible to find a low phosphorus cat food. Even though there are some great cat foods, I wouldn't recommend it because of this. Turkey lunch meat is full of preservatives and isn't a good alternative. Really, egg isn't any worse than other foods as far as calcium deficiency is concerned, and the yolk is a rich source of vitamins, minerals, good fats, and proteins. Good choices are gut loaded crickets and roaches, ground turkey, chicken gizzards/hearts/livers, pieces of raw chicken/fish/lean beef, eggs in any manner (no more than once every week or two), frozen/thawed rodents as large as he can eat them, and papaya. All fruits are good, but papaya is high in calcium. Put calcium on any food that does not have bones. Getting a mercury vapor bulb would be the best bet at this point, and a basking site of about 100-105. He's a cute little guy! I think Colombians are great tegus and very underrated. ;) [/QUOTE]

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