Another overfeeding thread.

[redtail2426]

I know another overfeeding thread but I was wondering if there is any rule of thumb for seeing if you are overfeeding your tegu? My little guy has been clearing his plate everyday for the last 4 to 5 weeks and after he is done eating his belly is huge, and this morning I noticed he looks like he is getting a little gut, but he hasnt pooped yet either so I dunno. Also can overfeeding lead to impaction?

 

[KoreanDeathKid]

never heard about overfeeding causing impaction, but i think too much dry food at a time can cause impaction, and don't worry about your guy not pooping, he'll poop sometime soon
Tegus will not stop eating whatever you offer them, just slow down on feeding
or he just might be getting ready to hibernate

 

[redtail2426]

pooping is not a problem he poops everyday I was just wondering about that. He is also 5 or 6 months old and pretty active so I dont know if he is planning on hibernating.

 

[DaveDragon]

When we got our 3 year old male Blue Tegu last month I was told he was tamer with a full belly. I fed him every day. He cleaned his bowl every time. After about a week he threw up. I gave him a day off and tried feeding him again with the same result. I figured he was impacted because he had been going every day but he hadn't in 3 or 4 days. We took him to the good herp vet (an hour away!). He did an x-ray and confirmed he was impacted. He was given mineral oil orally. The x-ray showed a bone infection so we had to give him 10 shots over 2 weeks. He wasn't too thrilled. He pooped in a couple of days, massively. We got the sample to the vet and it showed he was free of parasites.

The moral of the story? Feed adults every other day.

He still inhales everything I give him. But at least he's regular!

 

[Joey]

Feeding

When you feed your tegu it is best to feed him all the food he wants for only 15 minutes, after that stop feeding him. Try to give him/her a little more fruits too.

 

[Joey]

Yah my Tegu is 20 inches long and He Just ate 40 crickets and a fuzzy mouse talk about hungry!!!

 

[snakehandler]

reptiles in the wild always look skinny. it is best to keep your reptile hungry and skinny if you want it to live for a long time.
humans basically tend to overfeed reptiles since they (the humans) are warmblooded. But since reptiles are coldblooded they need less food.

 

[greentriple]

I think we overfeed animals because it's our habit to overfeed ourselves!!! Americans are fat so we like fat pets.... Before anyone jumps on me this is 75% humor on my part and only 25% true.

 

[Swtbrat]

Greentriple I actually agree with your post to a point.
3 of my 4 dogs are overweight and its because I like to give treats.
I have a fat BTS.
I think the reptiles get fat because they don't get much exercise.
I let the Chacoan out and he goes right for a dog bed and gets under it and sleeps.Maybe in the spring he'll be more active but for now he just is gonna eat and poop and sleep.

Brat!

 

[playlboi]

i don't know, my tegus don't seem to be eating excessively, by themselves. i always put out food and they eat. they get their fill and just walk off to me. when i put them back to the food, they won't touch it and walk back to me again. so i haven't had any problem or had any worries about over feeding them.

 

[VARNYARD]

I feed mine all they care to eat, however mine hibernate up to seven months too. If was not hibernating them, I would not feed as much.