Feeding and age questions.

[Chris]

Hey guys, im new to the forum and new to tegus. I just aquired my first tegu , not my first reptile, I have 5+ years of experience, and i have a couple questions. First of all he is a columbian black and white tegu, hes super nice and tame. So he'll eat turkey,eggs, and fuzzies but he wont touch feeder insects. Ive tried dubias, crickets and mealworms but he doesn't want anything to do with them. So i was wondering, is this a problem? If so how can i go about fixing it. Also, my tegus about 22" inches long and i was wondering if anyone would have an age guess on him/her. Thank you

[txrepgirl]

Hi Chris. Welcome to our Tegu forum family and congrats on your new Tegu. To be honest with you it's hard to tell on how old a Tegu is. Females grow slower than males do. It also depends on how much he/she eats. If you want to you could buy a cheap used blender ( like of Craigslist.org or a Garage Sale ) if you don't have a old one that you don't use any more. I know it sounds gross. But you can put the feeder insects in the blender with some warmed up ( just a few seconds in the microwave. Don't cook it ) ground turkey or beef. You also could add some sweet fresh fruit ( like Strawberries or Mangoes ). Then feed it to your Tegu. I recommend feeding him in a dark bin or the bath tub and just put one feeder insect in there. To many of them might stress him out and he will not eat them.

[Chris]

Hi Chris. Welcome to our Tegu forum family and congrats on your new Tegu. To be honest with you it's hard to tell on how old a Tegu is. Females grow slower than males do. It also depends on how much he/she eats. If you want to you could buy a cheap used blender ( like of Craigslist.org or a Garage Sale ) if you don't have a old one that you don't use any more. I know it sounds gross. But you can put the feeder insects in the blender with some warmed up ( just a few seconds in the microwave. Don't cook it ) ground turkey or beef. You also could add some sweet fresh fruit ( like Strawberries or Mangoes ). Then feed it to your Tegu. I recommend feeding him in a dark bin or the bath tub and just put one feeder insect in there. To many of them might stress him out and he will not eat them.

Ok ill try taht asap, thank you, I really apreciate your help.