When should I switch to fuzzies? And another food question!

[Draco D Tegu]

Just an off the cuff question.....about what size should my gu be before I switch him from pinkies to hoppers/fuzzies? My guy's about 2 feet long already, and can hammer down some pinkies if I let him. Should I give him pinks or move on up to a larger size?

Any advice on getting him to eat beef liver? He ignores that and any fruit, although I've been reading that ignoring the fruit is not such a big deal. Now he WILL eat collared greens. I tried when I was feeding my Ig and Tortise, and he gobbled them right up.

 

[Toby_H]

Fruits nor vegetables are a critical part of a young Tegus diet.

Try a variety of meats and use what your Tegu tends to prefer. My adult Tegu hasn't seemed to enjoy beef liver the few times I've tried it, so I offer it rarely.

You will be the best judge of what sized prey items you should feed your Tegu. I personally do not like feeding lizards a "large" prey item (based on the lizard's size).

 

[Strange_Evil]

Well i would say you should not feed your lizard any thing bigger than it's head i kind of go by this rule with some of my reptile's and it works. Im not to experienced with tegu's yet but im sure some one can give a more accurate answer than me hope i helped!

 

[CaseyUndead]

If he's gobbling the pinkies down really fast, then he should be able to eat bigger ones.

 

[tora]

You should move up as seen as you can, if he's inhaling the pinkies then deff move up. Pinkies are all fat, the older the mouse the more nutritious, especially as far as calcium goes. My tegu is 32" and wolfs down weanling mice (small adults) so, I can say that pinkies are too small for yours with a good deal of confidence.

Most people go by the distance between the eyes. If it's smaller than this, than the lizard can eat it no prob.

 

[Draco D Tegu]

Thank you all for your replies. Tora, I'm actually thinking of trying hoppers this week The one thing that always confused me about the space between the eyes thing is ....well which WAY between the eyes, like the length of the rodent or how wide the rodent is? I'll try a hopper and see how it goes, I don't think he'll have a problem though, I just wanted to get a double check for my own security.

 

[tora]

Just how wide the mouse is. Length doesn't matter. You just don't want it too fat, and have your tegu have issues breathing.