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Thread: Benefits of Fruit

  1. #1

    Default Benefits of Fruit

    I noticed on Bobby Hill's care page that he mentions fruit being a wasted meal... I personally wouldn't agree with that seeing as wild tegus consume fruits and vegetation frequently and feeding fruits would add more nutrients and variety. He also said that there's no evidence supporting that Reds benefit from being fed fruits.

    Thoughts? Do Reds (or any other Argentine tegu) really not benefit from fruits like he states?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
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    I think you know my thoughts on this but my tegus love fruit. More so Dezie but when he was smaller like Lucy he was mostly meat but now he loves his fruit. Some fruit give him looser stool like cantalope but kiwi, red grapes, mango, strawberries, black berries, watermelon he will now eat it all. Plus it adds moisture to their diet as I rarely see my Dezie drink water. I offer fruit each day with their meals. Maybe there is no proof that reds need it more then black and whites or that they need it at all but it certainly won't do any harm and may actually offer more nutients to the tegus diet.
    Vanessa
    Ontario, Canada
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  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
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    Chesterfield, VA, USA
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    You also have to remember that Bobby Hill makes his living with a LOT of tegus, and he doesn't have time for all of them. It would be a lot easier to not bother with fruits if you just convinced everyone they weren't necessary. And everyone takes Bobby's word for law, just like the myth that if they don't hibernate then they won't breed later in life due to stretched gonads. That is BS btw, it just activated hormones and they're randy when they wake I've found.

    So maybe your tegus don't NEED fruit, but they eat it in the wild and they'll almost always eat it in captivity. It's a great way to get them moisture if they don't drink out of their water dish. It also makes feeding your tegu a little bit less expensive if you can dip into foods you already have in your fridge. Besides that, Red's have shown a tendency to have more troubles with shedding which just requires moisture and fruit does that easily. Lastly, if your tegu will eat fruit, why deny them?
    Money is NOT the root of all evil, LOVE OF MONEY is. Far too many people get that mixed up.


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  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
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    Citrus Heights, CA
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    There are a lot of people who don't agree with Bobby's statement that tegus don't need fruit. I know that ours would eat it readily, either right out of our hand (or from feeding tongs), or if it was mixed into their ground turkey. Regardless if they NEED it or not, they eat it in the wild, and it can't do any harm so long as you're feeding healthy options.
    "Why do blessings always come in disguises? If I were a blessing, I'd run around naked."

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  5. #5

    Default

    Thanks for the replies.

    It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who has been disagreeing with some of the things Bobby has written. To be honest, it bugged me a little when people would follow his advice like it was the bible...

    ANYWAY, I just wanted to know what others thought. I will be feeding my soon-to-be Red fruits and vegetation because I personally think that it's a wonderful addition to a varied diet.

  6. #6

    Default

    He never said you can\'t or anything. Bobby just stated its not needed in order to keep a healthy tegu. He has plenty and they look great and breed great and the ones he don\'t feed fruit too are doing good so theres proof there that they do not need it. Its a good thing to have in the diet to make it more of a natural diet and more varied but it is not needed really to keep them healthy. So if it is not needed than it is a wasted meal,we just add it in to give more of a variety,thats all.

  7. #7

    Default

    As a large scale breeder, I can understand that he does not want to feed that many tegus fruit but I don't agree with him to say they're wasted meals. For him to say that, to me, is like saying "don't bother" with it at all. And that's what really bugs me.

    Sure, they can do fine on a the minimum (they're successful scavengers) but to me, as a pet owner (not a breeder), that's cutting corners when you just don't want to feed it them. Unless your tegu just absolutely will not eat fruit/vegetation.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
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    Finger Lakes, NY
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    the only reason his tegus dont need fruit, is because he feeds them a diet with large amounts of Beef Liver. (i think it's a 2:1 of turkey:beef liver)
    Beef Liver has a higher vitamin content Ounce for Ounce than any plant matter or fruit. So he is right on that point they dont need fruit as long as you feed them what he feeds them.

    Reds feed on a normal Diet would need higher amounts of fruit to maintain healthy skin/sheds compared to other tegus, but again on Bobby's Beef Liver/Turkey mix they are taking more than enough Vitamins for their skin.

    I myself love his mix (only because it's easy 8 tegus, 3 snakes, 1 frog, 5 toads, 2 kids & a full time job makes it hard sometimes), but i also feed them a largely varied diet too, not all of mine will eat fruit, some will even go a month or two of not wanting the turkey beef mix. Wich is why for my reds every "rat day" they get a rat ot 2 stuffed with liquidfied beef liver to off set any chace of low vitamins.


    I hope this helped
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  9. #9

    Default

    It helped a little, I guess.

    Though beef liver is only abundant in vitamin A and B12... so are those the only vitamins they need extra of because beef liver doesn't really offer any other vitamins in any sort of large quantity (other than some B vitamins).
    Last edited by LittleWiseOwl; 03-30-2011 at 01:49 AM.

  10. #10
    Join Date
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    all of this is based on an Adult Human DV% (so for a Tegu it's a lot)
    and you're right it doesn't have a lot of different vitamins, but he (and I) also add fish liver oil which add more of other vitamins.
    from what i've seen it's the B & D vitamins that will promote healthy skin in the reds (so it does hit key spots)
    but again i also offer fruits & other meats.... i may not agree with bobby on a lot of what he says/types, but he does have proved his diet works & works well.
    Even if i only feed them meat it would be - Turkey/B Liver mix it would only be 3 days a week & offer rats/mice/chicks/fish/bugs/and other prey the other 3-4 days...... because i do not agree with his once a week prey feedings
    I've had tegus for years now & never have i given the less than 2-3 prey meals a week (unless they're out side & it rains all week)
    never had an impaction or sickness, only thing is Jonesy eats a lot of fatty prey and the "fatty deposits" in his lower jaw gums swell up (thats a genetic problem & not a health issue)

    Vitamins
    You may not think of beef liver as having vitamin C, but it supplies 2 percent of this antioxidant. It's a tremendous source of seven B vitamins, providing 162 percent DV of riboflavin, 72 percent DV of pantothenic acid, 72 percent DV of folate, 66 percent DV of niacin, and 54 percent DV of vitamin B6. With 13 percent DV, liver is also a good source of thiamine. Beef liver has two vitamins in quantities that exceed all the rest. It provides 338 percent of the daily value of vitamin A and a substantial 988 percent of vitamin B12.

    Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin, which means that excess amounts are stored in tissues in the body and can become toxic. According to the Merck Manual, chronic toxicity in adults can develop if 150,000 to 350,000 IU are consumed daily, although osteoporosis may develop if more than 4,500 IU are consumed on a daily basis. For comparison, one 100-gram serving of beef liver provides 16,898 IU of vitamin A.

    Minerals
    Beef liver is a great source of most essential minerals but provides a huge amount of copper (488 percent DV). It also supplies selenium (57 percent DV), phosphorus (39 percent DV), iron and zinc (27 percent DV for both), and manganese (16 percent DV). Beef liver provides smaller amounts of potassium (9 percent DV), magnesium (5 percent DV), sodium (three percent DV), and calcium (one percent DV).

    Other Nutrients
    It doesn't quite balance the amount of cholesterol, but beef liver also provides some of the heart-healthy fats. It has 7 mg of omega-3 and 318 mg of omega-6 fatty acids. Another important nutrient found in beef liver is choline. It supplies 333 mg of choline and that's almost the entire amount of the recommended daily intake of 425 mg a day for women and 550 mg a day for men.
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