Feeding Question

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jewbo

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 18, 2010
64
0
0
Florida
Ok, so my friend just asked me a question about his tegu since i own one too and wanted to know if he were to go out and catch some fish in a nearby lake would his tegu be able to eat it without getting ill? I already know you cant give them wild rats and mice cause they may carry parasites and such but i dont know if fish fall into that category as well.
 
Same with fish, wild animals of all types can potentially carry parasites, illnesses or other harmful things that our captive animals should not have....
 
^^ I agree ^^

Sometimes I raise out SA/CA Cichlids to use as food for my Argentinian Tegu. He chases them with great excitement when they are flopping on the gronud, but when they are in his (large) water dish he just watches them.

Any 'wild caught' prey can have parasites that they have built some tolerance to. Thus they are not hampered by the parasite. But an animal (such as your tegu) that has no resistance to the parasites could suffer greatly from them.

Having said that... I will confess I once caught a couple Garter Snakes and let my Tegu eat them... Although it was entertaining to watch, it isn't something I would do again.
 
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