I might be getting a tegu, and I was wondering what you feed your tegu and how often? Also whats the price? I'm not in a number crunching kind of mood. Thanks -Alex
Tegu feeding.
- Thread starter Masa06
- Start date
Most people promote feedign outside the enclosure. This is to ensure the tegu doesn't get substrate mixed into his food as ingesting substrate can cause impaction. My more practical solution has been to put a slightly raised shelf (2" above substrate) and feed on this shelf. It's worked perfect for me for a few years now...
As for what to feed the Tegu... variety is the spice of life...
I rotate through Ground Turkey, (frozen thawed) hairless mice, (frozen/thawed) chicks, beef liver, chicken/turkey gizzards, live fish (Dempseys or Geos, depends on what I've grown out), scrambled/soft boiled eggs, etc, etc, etc...
I buy Tegu food on average around $3 per pound...
My adult Tegu (10+ lbs, 50") eats approx 1/4 lb of food per day in the summer... a little less per meal 2~3 days a week in the winter...
It's good to offer them fruit and/or vegetable from time to time, if they eat it then add it to thier diet... if they do not eat it then don't worry about it...
Young Tegus will eagerly eat any kind of bug, but as adults, bugs are too small to get much interest.
As for what to feed the Tegu... variety is the spice of life...
I rotate through Ground Turkey, (frozen thawed) hairless mice, (frozen/thawed) chicks, beef liver, chicken/turkey gizzards, live fish (Dempseys or Geos, depends on what I've grown out), scrambled/soft boiled eggs, etc, etc, etc...
I buy Tegu food on average around $3 per pound...
My adult Tegu (10+ lbs, 50") eats approx 1/4 lb of food per day in the summer... a little less per meal 2~3 days a week in the winter...
It's good to offer them fruit and/or vegetable from time to time, if they eat it then add it to thier diet... if they do not eat it then don't worry about it...
Young Tegus will eagerly eat any kind of bug, but as adults, bugs are too small to get much interest.
My tegu isn't an adult yet, but I feed pretty much everything Toby listed except I use tilapia fillets instead of the live cichlids, since I don't have access to readily home bred ones.
For fruits, I've fed blue berries, black berries, grapes, tomatoes, papaya, and pineapple.
She likes her shredded carrots too, I can't get her to eat any other vegetable though.
I never fed her any kind of live insect so I can't give you any idea on the price of that. But, she is relatively cheap to feed.
I personally feed her outside of her cage inside of a feeding been, it could just be her, but she is an really messy eater. I find it easier to just be able to just take the feeding and hose it out to clean it.
Here is a good link with all the possibilities you can feed your tegu. http://www.tegutalk.com/viewtopic.php?t=1353#axzz1Db3GpeR6
For fruits, I've fed blue berries, black berries, grapes, tomatoes, papaya, and pineapple.
She likes her shredded carrots too, I can't get her to eat any other vegetable though.
I never fed her any kind of live insect so I can't give you any idea on the price of that. But, she is relatively cheap to feed.
I personally feed her outside of her cage inside of a feeding been, it could just be her, but she is an really messy eater. I find it easier to just be able to just take the feeding and hose it out to clean it.
Here is a good link with all the possibilities you can feed your tegu. http://www.tegutalk.com/viewtopic.php?t=1353#axzz1Db3GpeR6
Their wild diets are seasonal switching from a primarily insect based diet to a fruit based diet and is defined by availability. Sticking to a diet that includes a mix of those items as well as the occasional pink mouse will give you a well rounded (no pun intended) diet. Price range depends on what you're looking for. I haven't been in the loop on tegu prices for a while but when I was it was pretty common for an Argentine or Columbian to go for 100 as hatchlings.
but thanks for the info everyone!