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Thread: What to feed my new tegu

  1. #1

    Smile What to feed my new tegu

    I just got a new baby columbian tegu, his names cohen...about 1-2 days ago i feed him a fresh egg (from my chickens) with the shells, he seemed to love it! But he doesnt seem to want 2 eat any mealworms, and realy anything else....well i've only tried mealworms and eggs. But any suggestions on what to feed him to get him eating? And how often would i have 2 feed him? He's only about 3 to 5 months old! Also 1 other thing, is that he seems to have 1 watery eye....just 1 a little bit more watery than the other, anything i should be worried about there? Thanks!


    -nathan

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    China
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    hello

    i think it's normal for tegus not to eat a lot when they just arrived at new place. i got my tegu when he was around 3 months, took him about a week to settle down. i fed him minced beef, beef liver, chicken hearts, minced turkey,pinky mice once to twice a week, dust calcium on meals without bones. since his prolapse,i include fruits and veges into his meals.

    i'm not sure about raw egg,i don't think it's a good idea to give raw egg to tegu to minimise salmonella incident. i would either boil or do flash stir fried egg so it's still a bit gooey.

    hope this helps.

    as for the watery eye,it'd be helpful if you could post a picture.
    Last edited by Sgun020; 02-10-2013 at 09:40 AM.

  3. #3
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    tegus dont really get sominilla btw. theres lots of articles about that alone, but eggs should still be cooked because there is a chemical or something in a raw egg that is potentially harmful but the heat destroys it when cooked... my columbian is a lil picky too and so i take raw eggs and chicken or beef or worms and basically make an omelet with them and thats about the only way that he will go after it

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Montegu View Post
    tegus dont really get sominilla btw. theres lots of articles about that alone, but eggs should still be cooked because there is a chemical or something in a raw egg that is potentially harmful but the heat destroys it when cooked... my columbian is a lil picky too and so i take raw eggs and chicken or beef or worms and basically make an omelet with them and thats about the only way that he will go after it
    ah..i see..thanks for the info montegu.

  5. #5
    Join Date
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    Avidin is an enzyme in the egg that people talk about. It isn't an issue unless you are feeding a diet high in eggs. Since avidin works against biotin, if you supplement with multivitamins, that part is covered. When you cook the egg, all sorts of other useful protein is denatured (destroyed) as well. So, it is a decision you have to make. As far as Salmonella is concerned, we have Salmonella bacteria living in our intestines all the time. It is when our body cannot contain an overgrowth of the Salmonella bacteria that we get sick.

    You can try F/T rodents like mice fuzzies, ground turkey or lean beef, fish, organ meats, even fruits such as papaya, mago, banana, berries. The idea is to offer a variety of foods, keep with lean foods, and supplement any food without bones with calcium. Make sure the overasll temps are warm enough for a tropical lizard to encourage eating, and have a good UVB light. Colombians do relish eggs. Too many can make them refuse other foods. But dipping foods in raw egg can also be a good way to get them to try new things.
    Laura R (FL)
    1.0.0 Colombian Tegu
    1.4.0 Argentine B&W Tegu
    1.2.0 Red Tegu
    1.2.0 B/WxRed Tegu
    1.0.0 Green Ameiva (yet another teiid)
    7 other lizards
    1 little gator
    3 FL box turtle
    1 Sulcata tortoise
    16 snakes
    5 fuzzy pets
    4 little frogs
    a bunch of creepy bugs
    and a partridge in a pear tree

  6. #6

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    Thanks, i'll try some of those soon, and with the eyes, if i post a picture you wont be able to tel because it's only wen he like blinks or when he closses his eye for a while and then when he opens his right eye, water comes out. Almost like a tear....

  7. #7
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    Thanks Laura i knew it was something like that. But its a columbian so it probably wont eat much fruit alone, you can blend it up though and sneak it into his food though.

  8. #8
    Join Date
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    Northern Nevada
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    If you can get fertilized eggs, they do not have the avidin - thus the reason they can eat eggs in the wild with no problem. We have one grocery store here that is carrying fertilized eggs, but there are a lot of people that raise chickens, so I think I am going to get with them =)

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Central FL
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    My Colombians love fruit and most of the time eat fruit before meat.
    Laura R (FL)
    1.0.0 Colombian Tegu
    1.4.0 Argentine B&W Tegu
    1.2.0 Red Tegu
    1.2.0 B/WxRed Tegu
    1.0.0 Green Ameiva (yet another teiid)
    7 other lizards
    1 little gator
    3 FL box turtle
    1 Sulcata tortoise
    16 snakes
    5 fuzzy pets
    4 little frogs
    a bunch of creepy bugs
    and a partridge in a pear tree

  10. #10

    Default

    you should also try lots of raw meat tegus mainly eat meat. try some ground turkey or chicken with some beef liver my Colombian loves it and ill even mix in that tropical fruit blend from the pet store. try papaya or mango.

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