Baby Tegus and Fruit

[apocalypse910]

I've had my baby extreme giant for three weeks. I like to give him a variety of food to choose from whenever possible.

I put a few berries in along with his food on a lark - I figured that since babies are strict carnivores he'd ignore them. It turns out that he absolutely loves them. Tonight he ignored scallops and turkey and filled up on blueberries.

Just curious if anyone else has noticed this. Should I let him have as much fruit as he likes or keep it as a treat for now? I've been throwing a berry or two in with his food for a few days now and he invariably goes for them first.

I will note that I've been using frozen fruit - not quite as nutritious but it is softer which seems to make it more palatable. Just a warning though, if you think fuzzies are messy you haven't seen a baby tegu massacre a blackberry.

 

[bmx3000max]

lol same with mine

 

[laurarfl]

Mine eat fruit as well. I don't think they are strict carnivores, just have a higher protein requirement while growing. Mine like a bit of banana and go bonkers for cherries.

 

[larissalurid]

Yea some will like a sweet treat, just make sure they get the meat and healthy parts of the meal as well and don't fill up on fruit treats every time. ^.^ I'd recommend that instead of fruit, try mixing in healthy squash, dark greens like collard greens, and other healthy vegetables, which will be more healthful than berries.

 

[apocalypse910]

I just learned one important lesson about breaking up fruit. He picked up a huge blackberry and chomped down on it. Juice came pouring out of his nose and mouth - made a huge mess and freaked me out. He was sneezing for a while and had me worried but seems fine now. Apparently tegus make for a very efficient fruit juicer.

Yeah I'm mainly giving them as a treat right now - will be sure not to overdo it. He also had a fuzzy and a good size chunk of my finger so he's getting a pretty balanced diet.

 

[miata_fiend]

I've tried feeding mine squash and stuff but even when I mix it with his favorite foods he'll literally dig just the squash out and eat everything else. I've watched him get a mouthful then spit it out and pick through it. Hes a picky lil bugger but he does love his fruit. I've been keeping mine on a half and half diet mainly because he was having some shedding issues a while back and ever since I kicked up his fruit intake its really helped.
Fruits: bananas, strawberries, peaches and apples. Meats: grasshoppers from our garden (all natural lol) salmon occasionally, ground turkey and some earth worms on occasions ( they're high in calcium ) I rarely feed him pinkies.. i'm always so afraid he's going to gag on them.