Tegu will only eat chicken liver??!!!

[Ali peirce]

My 3 month old red tegu will only eat liver and refuses to have anything to do with anything else! I've tried repti links.... hare today.... tegu food in the can lol.... I've tried alot... but she says NOPE TO IT ALL. I'm scared about the high vitamin A. I have to force calcium drops because she wont eat calcium on her food at all. She is so picky picky picky HELP ME!!!

 

[Walter1]

A health tegu will not starve itself to deat. Mix 20% whole prey or something else in single meal. If she eats around it, i crease to say 1/3 other things. By 50%, there win't be enough liver to satisfy her hunger and something else in the bowl to choose from will be eaten. Provide variety.

 

[EnjoysWine]

Have you tried pinkies? You can even dip them in the liver juice to make the taste more appealing if she won't eat them the way they are.

 

[dpjm]

High vitamin A, low calcium, and no fibre would be the three biggest worries with an all liver diet.

Does she eat it ground up or does it have to be whole pieces? If she does or at least will eat it ground up then you can start adding other things into the ground mix, probably vegetables and fruit would be the most beneficial. Start out with a high liver/low produce mix and see how that goes. If she goes for it then you can start upping the produce. I she doesn't go for it, then just lower the produce amount. If she goes for this then she might develop a taste for the produce you are adding and may eventually eat it on its own. You should be able to mix the calcium powder right into the ground mix, it doesn't have much of a taste or smell so it should hardly show up. (She just might not like the look of it on top of a piece of meat.) However, I would do the first attempt without the calcium, so if she doesn't go for it you will know it is not because of the calcium powder.

But keep offering alternative protein items like rodents and insects, those are the ones that you can use as staples.

 

[MrExotic]

Starve him for a few days try some super worms that usually work or some ground turkey cubed with raw egg yoke on top with crushed egg shells sprinkled on top smothered with a lil repti vitamins he will love it facts switch up his diet he will be spoiled and demand you to feed him what he wants and that gets real frustrating try this and you should be good to go

 

[AlphaAlpha]

Alpha would not eat anthing other than Insects when he was so young.

 

[Ali peirce]

Thanks everyone.... I've been trying and today will be day 7 that she hasnt ate anything but today she has been in hiding all day so far.

 

[EnjoysWine]

One other thought - is your basking spot nice and hot? Low temps will reduce their appetite.

 

[Th34cr0ws]

Same but mine will only eat crickets and mealworms, I got him from Ty on Aug 27th. But he’s healthy and strong.

 

[Jayne Warren]

My young tegu started with plenty of insects, but soon refused most offerings (unless offered on tongs, yep he’s lazy) decided to leave for a few days, started to offer a more varied diet of salmon, shell on prawns, snails, sprats, quail eggs, semi poached hens egg, turkey/ pork mince (mixed with fruit & veg), mice,chicks, & occasional liver - when the mood takes him, he’ll eat dubias, morios & locusts. It really is kin to feeding a fussy toddler. As mentioned, no tegu will starve to death all the while food is being offered, and everything else is fine, would try not to worry too much. Out of interest, what’s the poop situation like?

 

[Ali peirce]

My young tegu started with plenty of insects, but soon refused most offerings (unless offered on tongs, yep he’s lazy) decided to leave for a few days, started to offer a more varied diet of salmon, shell on prawns, snails, sprats, quail eggs, semi poached hens egg, turkey/ pork mince (mixed with fruit & veg), mice,chicks, & occasional liver - when the mood takes him, he’ll eat dubias, morios & locusts. It really is kin to feeding a fussy toddler. As mentioned, no tegu will starve to death all the while food is being offered, and everything else is fine, would try not to worry too much. Out of interest, what’s the poop situation like?

She has gone and it looks normal.... I offered her reptilinks and she kept licking it and I thought for sure she was going to eat and nope she didnt. So today makes day 7 of no eating.