Diet Advice

[TheScubaDude]

Seeking advice on feeding Thor, a one year old red x blue. I have been feeding Thor pretty much exclusively ground turkey (lean) and ground chicken (whole, including skin, fat and bone), mostly the latter. This diet has been due the advice of the local "experts

" that I have spoken with. Obviously, as I look into the advice on here I am seeing a lot more variety recommended to add to my boys diet. I have tried putting pieces of veggies with his food and he has pretty much ignored them and eaten only the meat that he is used to. I am (starting today) trying a ground chicken breast, spring mix, yellow squash and a small amount of apple to see how does. He seems to be amazingly healthy and I have no concerns but just want to make sure I feed him properly for his long term health.

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[Zyn]

Large mice or small to medium Rat atleast once a week

 

[EnjoysWine]

Just a thought - my young Tegu hasn't touched the apple or veggies that I gave her, but really likes berries. Maybe try that?

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

I'd try adding organs, whole prey (fish, mice, rats, chicks, quail etc), different ground meats, grounded up fish (tilapia, salmon, sardines, etc), eggs, insects, muscle meat like hearts and gizzards, also the tips of chicken wings (my tegu loves these), and of course fruit and veggies.
My tegu eats fruit like it's almost the best thing in the world but when it comes to greens she doesn't really look at them as food so what I do is I cut them up into very small pieces and stuff them into the grounded up meat.


And if cutting the veggies up into small pieces doesn't work then maybe try blending up the veggies with a bit of meat and some water. This is what I do with my dog to add veggies to his raw food.

 

[dpjm]

If you are using ground meat it really has to be whole animal, like you said the ground chicken was. I would look for a nutritional analysis of the ground product and ensure it has at least a 1.5 : 1 calcium phosphorus ratio. I would skip the ground chicken breast because it won't even come close. Organ meats by themselves, though they are higher in a few minerals, are still very low in calcium. The calcium phosphorus ratio of any type of chicken meat be it breast, liver, or heart, ranges from between 0.2 - 0.6 : 1, so very very low. Even adding veggies and fruit into plain ground meat (without the bones) is not good enough, it still really lacks calcium. The majority of calcium for a tegu diet is going to come from bones, veggies and fruit won't supply this in large enough amounts. Veggies and fruits are still important for other reasons, though.

 

[TheScubaDude]

If you are using ground meat it really has to be whole animal, like you said the ground chicken was. I would look for a nutritional analysis of the ground product and ensure it has at least a 1.5 : 1 calcium phosphorus ratio. I would skip the ground chicken breast because it won't even come close. Organ meats by themselves, though they are higher in a few minerals, are still very low in calcium. The calcium phosphorus ratio of any type of chicken meat be it breast, liver, or heart, ranges from between 0.2 - 0.6 : 1, so very very low. Even adding veggies and fruit into plain ground meat (without the bones) is not good enough, it still really lacks calcium. The majority of calcium for a tegu diet is going to come from bones, veggies and fruit won't supply this in large enough amounts. Veggies and fruits are still important for other reasons, though.

I do feed mostly the ground chicken thighs (with bone and skin) the breast was an attempt to blend some veggies in try to get him to eat a little and maybe lower the fat content on an occasional meal. He is stubborn, lol. I do also feed him soft boiled eggs (which he loves).

 

[battyrubble]

Seeking advice on feeding Thor, a one year old red x blue. I have been feeding Thor pretty much exclusively ground turkey (lean) and ground chicken (whole, including skin, fat and bone), mostly the latter. This diet has been due the advice of the local "experts

" that I have spoken with. Obviously, as I look into the advice on here I am seeing a lot more variety recommended to add to my boys diet. I have tried putting pieces of veggies with his food and he has pretty much ignored them and eaten only the meat that he is used to. I am (starting today) trying a ground chicken breast, spring mix, yellow squash and a small amount of apple to see how does. He seems to be amazingly healthy and I have no concerns but just want to make sure I feed him properly for his long term health.


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He looks great, very handsome boy! for easy feeding where you know they are getting the best get Reptilinks.com, I stock my freezer with them (the meats/fruit/veg mix) once a year then some frozen rat grapes and berries for treats, never constipated sheds great and its way easier than grinding quail like I used to.