Feeding Turkey

[Herpgirl]

I was wondering how old my tegu should be before I feed him ground turkey.I know I was told crickets should be his main protein source he is not big enough for mice. Also they had some roaches my guy is under 10" does it matter what size cockroach I feed to him? I would say mine is under 10" I just got him so I will measure him tommorrow.Thanks for the help.

[Rhetoric90]

You can feed the ground turkey right away, I started feeding mine ground turkey the day after I got him. All meats can be fed raw, the only thing that I've cooked (or seen anyone else cook) is eggs. I like to mix the calcium supplement into the ground turkey, otherwise he picks around it. I would feed him the smaller roaches, ones that are about the same size as his head. Insects are easier to feed than rats or mice because they can be torn apart by the tegu if it is too large. Most roaches should be more nutritional than crickets, I have only tried dubia roaches, lizards love them lol.

I just got 2 more (these are girls) on Sunday, I haven't tried ground turkey with them yet but I'll be offering it tomorrow. It might be a couple days before your tegu eats anything btw. Some have a harder time adjusting to the move change. My male ate right away, one female ate a mouse right away, the other ate a little bit of eggs today but neither have them have eaten much yet.

[Herpgirl]

Awesome . I hate dealing with the crickets with my chameleons. I figured they could chew the roaches up but the guy who helped me said they were to big. I got my tegu from a reputeable reptile breeding center here NERD in NH. As weird as this sound I would rather have cockroaches in my house than crickets. I will call around I will have to go out of state to NH the only pet stores around here are petco and petsmart and they do not have roaches. Thanks for the info.

[laurarfl]

Just be sure to add calcium to the turkey since it has a awful Ca: P ratio.

[Herpgirl]

Yeah I have to dust with calcium everyday for my chameleons. I also dut 2x monthly with vitamin w/out d3 and caium w/out d3 looks to me from what i read on the care sheet you should do this more with tegus? Also can I try pinkies.

[Herpgirl]

I just cannot believe how mellow he is cuddling under the blanket with me watching tv. Every once in awhile he pops open one eye but stays right where he is love it when I rub the side of his neck. I am in love right now. My husband is starting his 8'x3'x3'enclosure. We are going to build it for the family room so the flat screen can go over it. LOL it is going to take up 1/3 of family room

[joelgriz8124]

Did u get him at zoo creatures!!!!!

[Herpgirl]

I did they were great there.

[Rhetoric90]

Yay I'm glad its going well for you! Tegus are a blast! For tegus I do it every 2-3 days depending on how varied the diet has been. It seems to be working great on our end.

[laurarfl]

It seems that so many tegus have had calcium issues. For my tegus, I add calcium to any meal that doesn't have bones. My goal is to bring each meal closer to the optimal Ca: P ratio of 2:1.