Transitioning off Crickets

[brianratm]

Hi all,
My 4 month old Black and White Tegu doesn't eat much (that makes sense since it has slowed down for the winter), but when it does feed it will only feed on crickets. I have tried mealworms, pinkies, hard-boiled eggs, and ground turkey, but it only has interest in crickets. Is this just because it is winter and the bouncing crickets gives it some energy? I hate crickets! How can I get more Tegu interested in other food? Do you think it will change come spring? Thanks, Brian

 

[omgtaylorg]

mine has always been weird with the pinky mice and pinky rats, maybe because it doesnt have furr i dont know, but when I offer fuzzies and hoppers he charges at them full speed, not sure why. So id try a fuzzy mouse. And keep the variety offered, try fish, beef liver, chicken heart, scrambled eggs, baby chicks, quail. The list goes on forever, just try everything and narrow it down to what he will eat. And yes, his appetite most deff WILL increase in the spring/summer months. Wouldnt be worried at all. They will eat when they are hungry

 

[DaveDragon]

'nuf said!!!!

 

[LouDog760]

I recommend breed roaches. blaptica dubia roach's are great. Easy to breed, take little to no space, they don't fly, climb or smell. I'll post a link to a video to help you get started and a website if you decided to get some.

website great info.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.bestroach.com/index_files/Page4283.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.bestroach.com/index_files/Page4283.htm</a><!-- m -->

video.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7256982951932147440&hl=en" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 7440&hl=en</a><!-- m -->

 

[PinkPunisher]

Just a for warning, if you live in Canada they're illegal and I don't care what ANYONE says about them being "tropical roaches" and can't live through winter if they escape. Big load of pooy, here is a nice thread of proof for you.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.reptilescanada.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26985&highlight=roaches+winter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.reptilescanada.com/forums/sh ... hes+winter</a><!-- m -->

Spencer

 

[PuffDragon]

Just a for warning, if you live in Canada they're illegal and I don't care what ANYONE says about them being "tropical roaches" and can't live through winter if they escape. Big load of pooy, here is a nice thread of proof for you.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.reptilescanada.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26985&highlight=roaches+winter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.reptilescanada.com/forums/sh ... hes+winter</a><!-- m -->

Spencer

Can you copy and paste the story please. It says I have to join the forum to read it and I don't want to. But I do want to read the story!

 

[PuffDragon]

video.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7256982951932147440&hl=en" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 7440&hl=en</a><!-- m -->

The guy in that video is strikingly handsome! :lol:

 

[PinkPunisher]

Just a for warning, if you live in Canada they're illegal and I don't care what ANYONE says about them being "tropical roaches" and can't live through winter if they escape. Big load of pooy, here is a nice thread of proof for you.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.reptilescanada.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26985&highlight=roaches+winter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.reptilescanada.com/forums/sh ... hes+winter</a><!-- m -->

Spencer

Can you copy and paste the story please. It says I have to join the forum to read it and I don't want to. But I do want to read the story!

Sure

" NO

In December, I moved my lateralis colony into my insulated garage, as my space needs changed.
It was at this point that I had decided to either sell or kill off my colony due to possible infestation problems.
After trying to sell them, and having very limited interest, I thought I'd try an experiment.
Even though the garage is insulated, and mostly carpeted, there is a bare spot of concrete still exposed, I used a temp gun late one night and then early one morning, and got lows of 42. I placed the colony bin on this spot.
That was a week before Xmas.
I have not fed them, or heated them, I've only looked at them, and while yes, the inside of the bin will get into the low 60's during the day, the INSIDE of the bin is in the 40's DAILY,.....eggs are still hatching, nobodys dying, at least from what I can see.
There's a reason these things are illegal,...thankfully, I KNOW that 0 have escaped, because all it would take is a 1.1, then,..a year later,....

Needless to say, I decided against selling them, and I have killed them all off.

Oh yeah,...I got approx. 500 at the sept '07 expo, at the beginning of march there had to be at least 30,000.

Dave "

By the way he lives in Canada, nice and chilly during winter lol

Spencer

 

[PuffDragon]

Ahh ok. They are talking about Blatta lateralis which are completely different that Blaptica dubia and an entirely new beast as well. These guys are an absolute nightmare and absolutely will infest if given the chance.

These are from a complete different area than Blaptica dubia. Blatta lateralis are from Asia and Africa while Blaptica dubia are from South America.

Even so I see many flaws in the "experiment" and don't think it is very valid.

It would be very hard for Blaptica dubia to infest your home. They can't lay thousand of eggs and the females have to incubate the eggsack which hinders their breeding proficiency.

 

[Beasty]

I have a hisser colony and a Dubia colony. Both are easy to breed but my one conscious tegu doesn't dig the dubias. NO interest. My Ackies love them though.
I haven't tried the hissers yet as I was only tinkering with them and started with 7 and now, months later, only have around 100 give or take. I was waiting to start feeding them off until I had more of a sizable colony. I did offer dubias to my extremes before they went back into hibernation after I got them and the boy shredded one seemingly out of spite but I don't think he ate it. At this point I'm fine with the tegus not diggin the roaches right now as they are a bit slower breeding and it'll give me time to boost their numbers if only the little Ackies are eating them. I'll try the dubias again later on the tegus and maybe they'll like them too. They should, it'd be a little "taste of home" seeing they're South American too.

 

[alewis0890]

b. lateralis is not only from asia anymore, there also adapted to arizona and parts of texas as well as some other states... from the story i found, a soldier brought them back accidentaly but from what i hear there in arizona sewers bad... i keep around 3000 dubias with no problem at all, no escapees or anything no infestation but i wish they would reproduce as a infestion level... my dragons eat around 100 and my monitor at 50-60 a day a peice...


To the OP, the tegu will transition his/her self to other foods as with all reptiles some more picky than others. If he/she is hungry, he/she will eat is my theory, I had to wait 3 days for two of my dragons to accept crickets again after dubias, I had to let my colony build back up, after eating nothing but greens for 3 days, that fourth they snapped at one lazily and a whole new dragon unleashed and i had roach machines... I believe that same concept applies to tegus aswell.



- Allan

 

[LouDog760]

video.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7256982951932147440&hl=en" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 7440&hl=en</a><!-- m -->

The guy in that video is strikingly handsome! :lol:

Haha!

Does anyone know another good roach for tegu adults? That are and breed fast?

 

[PuffDragon]

Discoids

 

[Beasty]

Nice vid Puffdragon!
And the practical use at the end was a nice touch.
I'd like another type of roach to breed as well but with absolutely no chances of infestation! I have dubias and hissers I'm about to bump up in enclosure size. I have 3 hungry lil 'gus and 2 ackies to keep up with and I do NOT wanna buy crickets, even though I can get them in bulk for cheap. I'd much rather be self sufficient with no worries of running out.

 

[LouDog760]

Discoids

Discoids seem a little small to me. How much bigger are they compared to Dubia?

 

[PuffDragon]

Discoids are heavier bodied compared to the dubia but still are just a tad bit bigger overall. Efficiency wise they are better then most other roach species. If you want something bigger I would suggest going to <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://blaberus.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://blaberus.com</a><!-- m --> and reading the descriptions of other roaches and see if any suit your needs.

 

[LouDog760]

I see, thanks for the info.