Feeding mice type question

[Mutablekitty]

So I'm still not the most familiar with feeding mice/rats etc. I've come to understand the different sizes and benefits, but what I still don't understand is the difference between white mice and dark mice. What is so different about the two? What are the pros/cons of one or the other? What type do you prefer?

Thanks!

 

[Mich lady]

Well,honestly imo, I wouldn't feed your tegu too many mice. I have a 2 and a half yr old black and white. I rarely feed him mice, and when I do, its large pinkys or hair less mice. Tegus really cant digest fur. I feed him and my 30 inch Savannah monitor f/t small chicks. Its whole prey and I don't have to worry about fur for the tegu and too much fat for the sav.

 

[Debita]

I have a adult B/W Argie, and he will take the adult white mice, but won't take the dark mice for some reason. Not sure why. Feeding the F/T mice has worked for me, but I'm careful not to use that as the foundation. My Skully did have an impaction once, and I still "think" it could have been from giving him 2 mice once for his meal. Most people here on this forum have no probs feeding regular F/T mice to their Tegus.

 

[Mich lady]

Oh, thanks for that, I read that tegus couldn't digest fur. That's not true then?

 

[Debita]

Not that I know of! It's pretty common - but there's always that Tegu here and there that might have a problem. You never know. For most, feeding whole adult mice (prey ) is significant for calcium levels. I think feeding chicks is fine too - but apparently there are studies about the calcium being much better (developed) in adult mice than in sub-adult or pinkies, etc.

 

[Mich lady]

Yea, I know pinkys aren't the greatest. But like I said, I was worried about the fur thing. I did find out however that my tegu loves dubia roaches. The big ones. I feed them to my Savannah but roman runs to me when he sees them

 

[Debita]

One of my Tegus loved them too! the bigger the better! lol

 

[Mich lady]

Tegus are such fun! Roman started crawling up on my bed if I'm sitting on it and come over to me so I can scratch his back. If I scratch the base of his tail he will raise his back end up in the air like a cat! Its pretty comical. He is a funny guy. And if I don't scratch him right away he chuffs at me. Brat.

 

[LizardStudent]

Yea, I know pinkys aren't the greatest. But like I said, I was worried about the fur thing. I did find out however that my tegu loves dubia roaches. The big ones. I feed them to my Savannah but roman runs to me when he sees them

My tegu also loves roaches no matter how big she gets. I find that Dubais are pretty expensive, especially when you feed a lot, so I started feeding her lobster roaches they get larger than dubias, are less costly, and are darn fast.. which she loves lol. They also breed more easily than dubias

 

[Skeep]

My tegu also loves scratches at the base of her tail, she really pushes up into those! And shoulder massages make her go completely limp.

She's full grown now, and can easily handle 2 adult mice for a meal, which she gets about once a week. So far no problems. Unfortunately all roaches are banned here or I'd love to try some to vary her diet a bit!

 

[Debita]

Great stories - I actually realized Skully had a new spot where he likes to be scratched - it's between his front legs and his body. He melts. He used to just do the bucking with his back when he wanted to get rid of me, now he leans into it - a nirvana moment for him - until he starts throwing his head around which lets me know my time is up.

 

[Mich lady]

Tegus are such funny lizards. They each have their own unique personalities. My Roman can be such a brat at times.

 

[Zyn]

If your tegu can’t pass fur it’s lacking moisture in its diet. A large portion of any tegus diet should be whole prey. Sev gets multiple large rats weekly. Some people are kinda iffy about this but I grew up on a farm so whatever. The nutritional value of pinks are next to noting. They are literally little skin sacks and not much more. Some impactions are caused from weak muscles due to lack of calcium which pinks have nearly none. But adult rats have everything, you don’t have to, but using a butcher knife I cut frozen thawed into parts appropriately sized for my tegu. As well as I have a large pond packed with whole prey that regularly feed to my tegu, fish frogs, crayfish. I freeze them all first to kill off any parasites first though. I’d say Sevy diet is made up of nearly 90% whole prey and in 4 year has never had a single impaction or rarely a shed issue and I don’t really even measure humidity.

 

[Mich lady]

Roman has never had an impaction issue. And I do feed him whole prey in the form of f/t chicks. But I will give him more mice now that I know about the fur issue. Thanks so much

 

[Debita]

Good to know Zyn - I have never figured out what caused Skully's impaction, but it was serious. I only knew that it happened right after I had given him 2 adult mice in one meal for the first time. He recently got an adult rat that he downed with no probs!!! I know that he was dehydrated at that time, but couldn't figure out why, since he always had fresh water. His tongue was much greyer, than the healthy color of pink that I was used to. I was pouring water into his mouth/face at one point. I nearly lost him. He was also getting calcium regularly - every week, about 2-3 times a week. Sometimes we have to realize that we might never know. He's a healthy dinosaur now - just refuses to brumate. I've reduced his temps/lights/food......he just hangs on.

 

[Mich lady]

I dont brumate roman. When I first got him, he would stay in his hide for a few days at a time in the winter. But this winter he's up and around every day.

 

[Debita]

Glad I'm not the only one - after all my efforts, he gets very cold and just stares at me. lol Like I'm starving him....but then he won't even eat his favorite foods. How old is Roman?

 

[Mich lady]

I'm thinking he's around 2 and a half . I got him as a juvenile from rodney Irwin in June of 2019. He has big fat jowls now. He really is wonderful. I love him. I call him ro ro man. Lol

 

[Zyn]

Sevys been down in her winter bin for three months I keep her in the 50s in a large Christmas tree tote in about 12 inches of reptibark and straw with a water bowl on one side. She’s 75% blue but I guess the 25% bw takes over since blues don’t normally brumate naturally. She goes down and doesn’t really come back to till it warms up in my garage around late February early March and this is her 4th winter so I guess it works for her lol. When she comes up I power feed her rats and fish as much as she’ll eat,
And she often soaks in her Small pond for a few days.

 

[Mich lady]

Glad I'm not the only one - after all my efforts, he gets very cold and just stares at me. lol Like I'm starving him....but then he won't even eat his favorite foods. How old is Roman?

I know some people brumate their tegus. I couldn't do that. I would miss him too much. Lol. Ro is a free roam but he has a 8x6x4 foot enclosure. He just comes and goes as he pleases. I also have a Savannah monitor. He and Roman hang out together.