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Thread: Feeding Whole Ground Prey

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
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    Default Feeding Whole Ground Prey

    Hi Everyone,
    I'm finally getting serious about getting a tegu and I've started doing some serious research on them, I never let myself bring a new species into the house unless I've done extensive research. Anyway, I want to provide the best diet possible for my future animal but I absolutely disdain feeding whole prey items. It's whats kept me away from snakes for so long, I love em but mice completely freak me out. After doing some digging around I came across the website hare-today. As I'm sure most of you know they sell many types of ground up animals that would include all the bones, hide, intestines, etc. Is there any way I could get away with feeding a variety of ground animals (mice, rabbit, goose, turkey, quail, etc.) and whole fish as opposed to feeding mice, rats, and chicks? I really love tegus and they've been my favorite species for a long time so if there's no way the animal would be healthy then I'll just suck it up and feed whole prey but I really want to investigate all the alternatives. Thanks for the help everyone!
    Last edited by The Liberal Science Nerd; 02-07-2014 at 08:37 PM.

  2. #2
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    Dec 2006
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    Abbotsford, BC
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    Default

    Whole prey is an important part of a tegu's diet, ground or not, I don't think it matters much. But remember that tegus, unlike monitors, are not carnivores, they are omnivores. In fact, one study indicated that around 70% of a wild tegu's diet consists of vegetation. You must include fruits and vegetables in their diet as well. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done as most captive tegus prefer meat over vegetation, with the exception of some fruits. This is where the whole ground prey comes in handy, you can mix in the vegetation.

    One note about feeding frozen fish. It is a good idea to supplement with vitamin B1 (thiamin) when you feed frozen fish. The reason is that many species of frozen fish contain thiaminase, an enzyme that degrades thiamin, but no actual thiamin and over-feeding with frozen fish without this supplementation could result in a thiamin deficiency. I guess this more concerns animals who are strictly fed frozen fish as they have no source of thiamin in other areas of their diet, whereas tegus could receive thiamin from leafy greens, etc. Just something to be aware of.

  3. #3
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    Jan 2014
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    New Jersey
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    I wasn't planning on exclusively feeding fish but I'm glad to know about the deficiencies that it could cause. A far as the vegetation goes I was aware of that. I figure I can handle that whole aspect of their diets and just buy extra fruits, veggies and greens that I use with my current reptiles. Between the lizards and I kale, collards, mustards, romaine, bok choy, kiwis, apples, carrots, cucumbers, spaghetti squash, butternut squash, bell peppers, green beans, blueberries, cantaloupe, mangos, bananas and grapes can all be found around the house on a regular basis so I think that should be sufficient. If I feel the vegetation isn't varied enough I'll just add a few more things into rotation. I was mainly concerned about the whole prey. Actually after taking a closer look at the hare-today website I think by using the ground whole prey I'll be able to provide a much more varied diet this way.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
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    San Antonio,TX
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    Yes, you can use the ground up animals to feed your future Tegu. The ones from hare-today are good because it's the entire animal ground up ( like you mentioned ). I'm glad to see that you are doing your research first before getting a Tegu. I wish more people would do this. I'm also glad to see that you have a very nice variety of fruits and veggies on hand. Do you know yet where to get a Tegu ?
    Rich is not how much you have, or where you are going, or what you are.Rich is who you have beside you.

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  5. #5
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    Actually no, I don't know where I plan on getting my tegu yet. I've spent so much time researching husbandry, diet, and housing that I've neglected that aspect. There's only one decent expo near me and it's mostly beardies, ball pythons, and leopard geckos- nothing too exotic. While doing my reasearch I did find Tegu Terra, Captive Bred Creations, Underground Reptiles and LLLReptile occasionally has some available. Although I admit haven't researched all the breeders yet but those are my current leads. By the time I get my enclosure built though I might have missed this breeding season so I might be looking at getting a juvenile or waiting until next year's breeding season. These guys grow so fast I want to make sure the adult enclosure is ready, the baby cage is ready and test the temps and humidity in both of them for a couple days before bringing the animal home.

  6. #6
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    If you want to you can check these breeders out ( in the link below ). LLLReptile doesn't breed them. They get the Tegus from breeders or other people and resell them. Underground ( I'm not to happy with ). The other ones you have mentioned are very good.

    http://www.thetegu.com/showthread.ph...-Tegu-Breeders
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  7. #7
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    What about Ty Parks? I've heard good things about him but I can't seem to find a website.

  8. #8
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    Actually, I was just browsing the tegu terra website and I found out they OCCASIONALLY come to my local show so looks like I'll be buying from them

  9. #9
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    This is even better ( him coming to your local expo ). This way you can pick one out. I would call him and see when he will be coming and what kind of Tegus he will be bringing. Sometimes the breeders just bring one type ( like a red or a b/w ) to our expo.
    Rich is not how much you have, or where you are going, or what you are.Rich is who you have beside you.

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  10. #10
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    Calling him ahead is a good idea. I'll make a point to do that. I have had my eye on his Chacoan Giants so I'll make a point to ask for them. One date in particular caught my eye, he'll be there November 1st at which point my enclosure will definitely be done and I think I might be buying myself an early christmas present

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