Red Tegu Diet?

[ColoradoRedTeguLover]

Im getting a tegu after the summer or late july if i find a breeder who will save one for me, and was wondering what is a good diet for a Red tegu baby i was thinking Cricket's, and Mealworm's(I have looked at care sheet's but they usally talk about lighting and caging and taming ect..)

 

[SnakeCharmr728]

You will need to feed much more than crickets and mealworms. Hatchlings and juvies are daily eaters, as they get older you can begin to skip a day but they eat a lot so be prepared! Small mice like fuzzies or rat pinks, ground turkey, chopped fish, roaches... anything that you can cut up small enough for them, they will eat. if you only offer crickets and mealworms then you will have a tegu that does not grow properly and will result in other health issues.

Heres a food chart:

Tegu Food List​

• • Whole prey
  • Captive raised insects
  • Crickets Roaches
  • Mealworms
  • Super worms
  • Wax worms
  • Silk worms
  • Horn worms
  • Earth worms
  • Snails Crayfish
  • Pinkie mice
  • Quail hatchlings
  • Baby chickens
  • Mice
  • Rats
  • Hamster
  • Gerbil
  • Feeder frogs/toads/lizards
  • 
    
  • Meat
  • Soft-boiled or scrambled eggs
  • Raw meats:
  • turkey,
  • Chicken,
  • lamb,
  • venison,
  • fowl,
  • beef in moderation
  • Fresh fish filets
  • Organ meats: liver, hearts, gizzards
  • Sea food: Crab, Scallops, Shrimp
  • 
    
  • Fruits Tropical fruits:
  • Mango,
  • PapayaMelons:
  • cantaloupe,
  • honeydew,
  • casaba,
  • watermelon
  • Bananas- in moderation, peels can be fed if grown organic
  • Apples- in moderation
  • Cherries
  • Grapes- Thompson seedless; green and red Concord grapes higher in oxalates
  • Tomatoes- high in oxalates**
  • Berries: Strawberries- high in oxalates** and goitrogens* so in moderation
  • blueberries,
  • raspberries, & blackberries
  • Figs -fresh or dried Dates
  • Kiw
  • iPeaches- high in goitrogens*
  • Pears- high in oxalates**
  • Pumpkin

• Veggies
• Acorn squash,
• butternut squash
• Kabocha squash
• Parsnip
• Alfalfa
• Okra
• Green beans
• Green peas,
• snap peas Leeks
• Prickly pear cactus
• Dark leafy greens like:
• Chicory greens (Escarole)
• Collard greens Dandelion
• greens Endive
• Mustard greens Turnip greens
• Spaghetti squash
• Bell peppers
• Rapini Zucchini
• Yellow squash
• Radish Yucca root- cassava- tough, should be shredded
• Asparagus Broccoli in moderation, high in oxalates**
• Beets and Beet greens in moderation, high in oxalates**
• Carrots and tops in moderation, high in oxalates**
• Bok choy - in moderation, high in goitrogens*
• Brussels sprouts- high in goitrogens*
• Parsley- good source of calcium
• Cabbage- in moderation, high in goitrogens*
• Cauliflower- in moderation, high in goitrogens*
• Coriander- in moderation, high in oxalates**
• Rutabaga Sweet potato-
• feed rarely Corn- feed rarely or never, low in Ca and high in Phosphorus Spinach- feed rarely or never, high in oxalates and goitrogens
• Swiss chard- feed rarely or never, high in oxalates**
• Lettuces -low in nutrition
• Celery- low in nutrition
• Cucumber- low in nutrition

 

[ColoradoRedTeguLover]

It Was a idea So a Good constant diet for a red tegu would be Cricket's and meal worm's as a snack pinkie's until he's full is is smart to order a thousand pinkie's? and how long would they last some soft boiled Egg's and some fruit?

 

[ColoradoRedTeguLover]

What do you feed your's?

 

[ColoradoRedTeguLover]

Do you have to feed them live?

 

[SnakeCharmr728]

No, crickets and mealworms are not a good constant diet. That is not enough and the tegu will quickly out grow that. Your main diet should consist of a variety of meats, seafood, whole prey, and fruit. Insects can be part of the diet but not the bulk part of it. Hatchlings will eat more bugs than older ones simply because of the size factor but if you can get roaches, that would be better than crickets/mealworms. You want to feed frozen/thawed or prekilled, not live. You can feed live pinky or fuzzy mice because they cannot harm or bite the tegu but frozen is easier to store and cheaper too.

 

[Deac77]

I feed, get ready for it,...

Mice
Rats
Day old Quail
Day old chicks
Ground rabbit (with bones and organs)
Ground turkey (with bones and organs)
Tilapia
Cod
Salmon
Whole (small) sardines
Soft shelled crab
Mango
Grapes
Papaya
Cantaloupe
Honey dew Melon
Raspberries
Blue berries
Black berries

And any fish I can get at the market

All this has been fed since day 1 at 4 months old

 

[ColoradoRedTeguLover]

Snake Chamr I think you misread i said Cricket's and meal worm's as a snack and thank's deac How much does this usally cost you and were do you get your frozen?

 

[Deac77]

Im lucky I have a friend that breeds rodents so I get them for 0.50 a piece but the other food is pretty expensive they are not cheap to feed, Kirby can eat 6-10 adult mice in one sitting

 

[ColoradoRedTeguLover]

So should i order by the thousands?

 

[Deac77]

lol if you can afford it

 

[Odonata]

I would not order by the 1000's. I made that mistake and ended up with a lot of various size mice that were not eaten. Assuming you are not going to feed mice excessively I would order a selection based on the size of your tegu. One bag of pinkies (50-100) will be way more than you need before your tegu has grown sufficiently to eat fuzzies, then hoppers, weanlings, etc. The reason you don't want to order too many of just one size is that the nutritional value increases the older the mice are due to the development of the mice (more fully formed bones, etc). If anything I would order bigger and chop up if you are concerned about them being too large. Also there is the issue of how fresh they will remain frozen for a long period of time. I think up to 6 months is fine, but particularly with pinkies you will start to see freezer burn if they are frozen too long.

See if you can go in with someone locally to order a few bags from Mice Direct or RodentPro in order to share the shipping costs.

 

[Deac77]

Big cheese and rat deli are good too.

 

[ColoradoRedTeguLover]

Ok that's more efficient thank's Odanata you've actually helped me alot so thank's! how long do you think a bag of a hundred will last or it just depend on the tegu?

 

[ColoradoRedTeguLover]

Well this suck's i guess im not getting a Tegu since i cannot support it's right feeding with the ammount of money have.

 

[ColoradoRedTeguLover]

Depending if i can not find a good a well cheaper than 90 some on dollar's diet for it?

 

[Deac77]

Not really they eat a ton!! Maybe you can find some local breeders? Check on Facebook there is almost always a local herp group for every town it seems lol

 

[ColoradoRedTeguLover]

Well i plan on feeding them rodent's once a week and making a diet of Ground Turkey Beef liver and salmon with calcuim diet and it will last 3 month's or 2 or even 1 depending on my tegu. I actully thought of getting a iguana but i dont have the matirial's or stuff to take care of a iguana i want a healthy pet so ive red ALOT on both animal's and it comes down that a tegu will be a alot better first lizard pet and do you know if a 7x3x3 cage could hold the tegu for it's life or well at least a couple years

 

[KritterKeeper]

Im just curious..what makes a tegu easier to take care of than an iguana?

 

[ColoradoRedTeguLover]

A Iguana Need's alot more then people put out there *Hint's why there the most abused or rescued animal people think iguana's can be fine in a 20 gallon tank you need to build at the mim a 6 feet tall 3 feet wide 3 feet long for a baby a Adult iguana will out grow that there tree climber's they need alot more care than people put out there