Whole Food

[greentriple]

So, I am considering starting a feeder colony or two for El Che and quite frankly I'm stumped at what to breed.

Roaches? If so, what type?

Rodents? If so what?

Worms? Same question.

I'm trying to think long term, that is what will be eaten over a longer period of his life. For example, crickets don't seem to be a good idea because he'll outgrow them sooner rather than later.

At this time I only have one herp. but may end up with more as time progresses.

 

[Mike]

Since you only have 1 herp, I would breed roaches. Particularly Madagascar hissers. They get quite large, and a tegu will eat them even when it's an adult. If you are going to get smaller lizards, Lobster roaches breed at an incredible rate, but only get a little bit bigger than crickets. If roaches creep you out, you could get a blaptica dubia colony. (Orange spotted roach). Dubias are the most mellow roach I have ever kept. They are slower moving than most others, but they don't breed as fast. They also get to a fairly good size, so tegus could eat them as adults as well. I have found that most large lizards do better with more insects in their diet than mice. I suppose you could breed a few mice also, but as you know, insects should be fed more often.

I have heard that nightcrawlers can be bred very easily, but I have never bred them. My animals don't seem too fond of them either.

You can buy hissers here:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.flukerfarms.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=20">http://www.flukerfarms.com/index.asp?Pa ... &ProdID=20</a><!-- m -->
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://market.kingsnake.com/detail.php?cat=28&de=551642">http://market.kingsnake.com/detail.php?cat=28&de=551642</a><!-- m -->
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.bigappleherp.com/Roaches?sc=2&category=39">http://www.bigappleherp.com/Roaches?sc=2&category=39</a><!-- m -->

It may be expensive to start, but it will save lots of money, especially if you get more herps.

You can buy lobsters everywhere, just look here:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://market.kingsnake.com/index.php?cat=28">http://market.kingsnake.com/index.php?cat=28</a><!-- m -->

Dubia here:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.thecarnivorousorchid.com/blapticadubia/sunshop/">http://www.thecarnivorousorchid.com/bla ... a/sunshop/</a><!-- m -->

Nightcrawlers here:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://market.kingsnake.com/detail.php?cat=28&de=546672">http://market.kingsnake.com/detail.php?cat=28&de=546672</a><!-- m -->

Anyway, have fun and good luck. If you need any help, just ask.

 

[greentriple]

Thanks for all the great info. I'm going to do the roaches!

Sancho has 0 interest in pinkys. He ate the fruit and some of the veggies around the mice. I coated them in egg yolk, he could care less. Any ideas? :roll:

 

[Mike]

How big is he? I usually skip the pinkies for my lizards. Does he go crazy over crickets, or moving objects? If so, I would get fuzzy or hoppers to stimulate him more. Pinkies are basically just sacks of fat, since they aren't very developed. As a rule, the older the mouse, the healthier it is. You are actually pretty lucky. :wink: Most new tegu owners have huge problems getting theirs to eat fruit. VERY FEW eat veggies. Have you tried fish or ground turkey?

The easiest solution would probably be to just skip pinkies and wait until he's a little older. Then you can try hoppers or something more lively.

If you have your heart set on getting him to eat pinkies, you can try covering them with fish, hiding them in ground turkey, or hiding it in soft (3 minutes) boiled egg.

Which roach did you decide on?

 

[greentriple]

He's about 18" tip to tip, I've had him about a month. He does eat crickets and roaches and superworms, but no mealworms.

I feed him a turkey based mix 3 times a week and he eats what I give him, about 1 teaspoon to 3/4 a tablespoon. It includes fish, lamb heart, egg and various tropical fruits mixed in. I also add a little whole fruit when I feed him and he goes for the fruit first.

He's eaten dubias but has not tried a hisser yet. I would like to do the hissers because they seem to give me more of an option for a longer period of time, so I'll pick up a young one and see if he'll eat it before investing money on a colony that is not used.

I'm not a big fan of feeding rodents at all, but it seems most on this site are big rodent feeders and rant and rave about how important and good doing so it.

How big before hoppers or fuzzys?

 

[Mike]

If he can eat an adult hisser, he can eat a fuzzy or hopper. Mine were eating hoppers at 16 inches, but only 1-2 times a week. Eating more developed mice is better for him at any age, so the sooner the better. IMO it's more natural and healthy for them to eat mostly insects and fruit. In the wild, they don't eat rodents every day. Have you tried dipping a mouse in that mix of yours?

A hisser colony will save you lots of money. Keep in mind, however, that they are climbers. You're going to have to use bugstop or vasaline.

You can get bugstop here:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.proexotics.com/store/home.php?cat=257">http://www.proexotics.com/store/home.php?cat=257</a><!-- m -->

They also have various roaches and supplies for good prices.

Some people stuff prekilled mice with fruit to trick them to eat the fruit, not the other way around. I suppose you could try that, or try scenting the rodents with different things he seems to enjoy. I really don't know what else to say, considering mine have always gone crazy for rodents at any size.

Good luck.

 

[VARNYARD]

Mice and Discoids would be a great start, both breed fairly fast and make great feeders.

 

[greentriple]

Thanks for all the info. I'm going to order some time this week when I can be sure I'll be come to collect the order.

Hissers is what I'm inclined to go with, they just seem to give me a longer option as a feeder since the other roaches are a bit smaller, although I could start a small colony of Dubis for his first year and then go to hissers when he's much larger, now that's a consideration.

 

[VARNYARD]

I have Hissers, they breed real slow, I do not suggest them as breeder roach. The discoids are a far better choice, they breed faster and get a fairly good size as well.

 

[greentriple]

How big do they get? And can you feed them to med. size tegus effectively? Who's a good and inexpensive supplier of dis.

 

[Mike]

Oops, I forgot to mention discoids. As Bobby said, they breed faster than Hissers, but don't get as big.

You can usually get them here <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.sammygreggreptiles.com/journal/">http://www.sammygreggreptiles.com/journal/</a><!-- m -->
but he's done selling them for a while.

They get around 2 inches.

Here's some good info on them.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.sammygreggreptiles.com/journal/">http://www.sammygreggreptiles.com/journal/</a><!-- m -->

I agree with Bobby about the slower breeding of the hissers. If you only have 1 tegu, however, A colony of hissers would probably be fine.

Since you will probably be getting more herps (believe me, tegus are addictive. ) a discoid colony would be better, on account of their fast breeding.

Dubia do not breed super fast either, but they would still sustain one tegu.

If you are going with discoids, just check around here for a dealer that fits your needs.

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[greentriple]

Just got 100 dubia from dubia. All but 4 were running for the hills. I can hardly wait for them to grow up and get eaten.

BTW - El Che macked on a fuzzy, didn't even think twice, and it looked as if he could have taken a bigger one.

 

[PuffDragon]

Nice GreenTriple. My Fason feeds on pre killed fuzzies with no problem. I am also going to try roaches in the up coming future. I have a 20 G long tank that I plan to use. Will this be big enough to house a colony of Hissers or Dubia?

 

[greentriple]

I'm not the expert. I also have an empty tank, I know hissers climb, dubia do not, but I'm thinking of putting it in my son's room and making it into an H20 terrarium.k But that does not answer you question, yes it would work for a colony of either I expect, I'm using rubbermaid tubs and egg cratesith no substrate. IF you go to any of the above sites they have good info. I'm going to start hissers as soon as I get the dubia established, one thing at a time.

 

[PuffDragon]

let me know how it goes!

 

[Mike]

Glad you got it all figured out. Mine always seemed to prefer bigger mice to pinkies.