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John
12-30-2004, 03:37 PM
Well I've started to try many different fruits and other foods. So far if it's not a mouse he's not interested! I tried scrambled eggs the other day as I made a little extra to see if he would like it. That was a no! I even tried roaches, didn't like those either. I'll keep trying but as of now looks like a strictly rodent diet.

Rick
12-30-2004, 10:11 PM
Tux will eat just about anything I have tried. The ONLY thing I know he will refuse is ladybug (and no.. I didn't try to feed him one).

I was sitting in the livingroom. He was basking and he jumped up and ran from one side of the enclosure to the other, he stopped.. (at this point I noticed what he was after, but I knew I couldn't make it before he ate it.) He got to the end and stopped short of the ladybug. He smelled the ladybug and he closed his eyes and quickly started rubbing his nose in his substrate.

I took out the ladybug and tossed it outside. The smell it left on my fingers was none to pleasant. I understand fully why Tux reacted the way he did.

Rick
theTegu.com

FutureVet
12-31-2004, 10:20 AM
Tessa loves her protein. She will eat crickets, superworms, mealworms and mice the second they are dropped into the cage. She does not like much else though. She is definitely a little carnivore. :P I have tried, collard greens, escarole, grapes, pineapple, banana, carrot, and apples. Out of those, she took 2 little bites of a grape and licked the pineapple. lol And that was a week ago. I may try the scrabled egg thing, but not too sure if she'll go for it.

John, for an all rodent diet, do you feed rodents every day? Or what is your schedule with that? I'm curious because I'm still trying to figure out how many mice a week I should feed Tessa. I may do something like feed mice Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Does that sound reasonable or should I do Tuesdays and Thursdays since I feed crickets and worms every day I dont do mice, so she's eating pretty much. Anyways, didnt mean to ask all these questions but figured you, or Rick or someone may have an opinion on this. thanks
~Christie

Rick
12-31-2004, 03:25 PM
When I watch Tux I can generally tell when he is hungry, I'll call this hungry mode, (his stomach isn't bulky, he is rarely basking, he is normally hunting for food, etc). I can tell when he has a full belly, I'll call this digest mode, (his stomach is bulky, he is always lounging/basking, he rarely goes hunting, etc) and by using these behaviors I seem to be able to tell when he is hungry and roughly how hungry he is.

I know how much it takes to make him move from hungry mode to digest mode by feeding him as long as he will readily take the food item. Once he stops talking the food quickly I know he is filling up and reaching digest mode. I know from my experience with the tegus I have now and have had in the past that if you feed a healthy young tegu, one with a good feeding response, a cricket. He will eat it then begin to hunt for more crickets. If you feed him another he will grab it, eat it, and continue hunting for more. As he starts getting full he will stop grabbing the food source as quickly and will be a bit more interested in moving his way towards the basking end of the enclosure. This is a sign he isn't hungry anymore.

So, that's how I feed my tegu. Doesn't matter if it's crickets, pinkies, hoppers or fruit.. he will always do the same. So using his behaviors I try to gauge what he needs or wants.

Keep in mind, the information is from my experience and is not fact from a book of raising tegus. It may or may not work for you. I hope you find it useful.

Rick
theTegu.com

John
12-31-2004, 03:29 PM
is a stubborn little pig! I judge his food intake by his size. I jumped from hopper to adult mice within a few days. An adult mouse is still a pretty big food item for him but he's still taking them down. I measured him the other day and he was 2ft 4inches. I thaw out 3 adult mice everytime for feeding, whatever he doesn't eat gets left for the next day. I generally feed every other day or every other other day (lol 2-3 days). Again it all depends on him. I do find that he prefers live over f/t. He'll eat more live as it throws him into feed mode. F/t just sits there lol. I also tried the bowl method. I had it in my hand with 3 F/t mice in it and went to put it in. At first Mr. Magoo wasn't happy as I got a bit of a threat display (head high up, tilted, body up, no open mouth :) he kind of did a charge type thing...he was like 4 inches away and hit my hand with his head/body. It was pretty weird. I'll have to be more careful now that he knows his bowl means food. He climbed in and grabbed a mouse. Then ran under the heat light and thrashed it around a bit trying to find the head. Then when he did he crushed the skull (he really enjoys that, does it to all of them!) and took it down like a champ. I can really see his teeth starting to come in! Ryan at underground reptiles (owner) has TONS of Tegus! Infact I believe it's something like 30 of them. I'm working on getting a trip over to his place (he also lives in parkland). He said his tegus have been burmating (all live outside) and they haven't been fed in a month! When things heat up I'm going to have to check out his tegus! Anyways...I'll stop rambling on!