What size mice?

[new2gu]

I am not sure if i should just feed my tegu kitty pinkies or mice. Right now i am feeding her pinkies (not alone though). She is 13". What size mice should i give her, or should i just stick to pinkies for now?

 

[tora]

Well the bigger mice are better, since the bones are more developed and they're not just bean sized blobs of fat.
Don't feed him anything bigger than his head, though, tegu's aren't snakes!

 

[Herplings]

I would make the switch now to Rat Pups. They are in my opinion a bit better then mice and that is what the Tegu will eat into adult hood.

That is if the Tegu is large enough to eat Rat Pups. At 13 inches I think you should be fine.

 

[new2gu]

ok thanks for the replies! where can i get rat pups for a good price online? our local reptile store doesnt carry them.

 

[Herplings]

You can try rodent pro.com

They sell them in bags of 50. The shipping is kind of high though.

If it ends up being to much and your local pet store carries the next size up in mice maybe that will be a good next step.

 

[Toby_H]

As suggested above, feeding adult prey items holds benefits over feeding infant prey items. Thus I would disagree with the suggestion to switch to rat pups. Adult prey items have much more developed organs and bones, both of which are very beneficial to your Tegu.

I buy hairless mice through AmericanRodent.com Hairless removes any concern of impactation and it's also easier to keep hairless animals clean making them into cleaner prey.

At 13" though you may want to stick with pinky mice or hopper mice. I am not a fan of feeding Tegus (or other animals) the largest prey items it can possibly eat, but as there are advantages to feeding mature prey items I think it is wise to increase prey item size as practical.

 

[themedic]

you would be suprised how big a mouse/rat a tegu can eat, if its devouring pinkies try hoppers, if it eats hoppers fine, try adult mice, then move your way up to small rats ect as your GU gets bigger.