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Thread: How MUCH to feed Tegu?

  1. #1

    Default How MUCH to feed Tegu?

    Hello friends!

    I have not posted in some time, but still this forum fairly often as a lurker. Anyway, I have wanted a Tegu for quite some time and it looks like I will finally be able to house one in the hopefully near future.

    I have found numerous care sheets and husbandry info with incredibly useful and highly detailed information on what to feed a Tegu. However despite my searching I still find it difficult to get some concrete info on how MUCH to feed a Tegu.


    I know they are often prone to over eating and this is why this is a fairly big concern of mine. And another question was how large a youngster needs to be before they can start on mice/rats of any kind.

    Sorry for all the questions, but I just thought I should come to the premier Tegu site on the net to find the info I require.


    Thank you for your time.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Chicagoland, IL
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    106

    Default

    This was always a big question for me starting off and to this day I still have not found an answer in measurement. Everyone I have asked says till they are full. since then I've sort of gauged it. Tegs at 35" will wolf down a whole fish fillet or about 4oz-8oz of chicken, lean beef, turkey you name it. Veggies and fruits are variable Tegs occasionally takes grapes and little red tomatoes blueberries from time to time, but not really much else.

    From what I understand most of the members on this site will feed until full and then usually have on off day, this caused a lot of meat issues and I wasn't sure what was healthy to be serving my Tegu with all the defrosting and reheating. I gotta tell you I saw some questionable stuff and with fish forget it!
    Last edited by Tegs Rex; 03-11-2010 at 04:05 AM. Reason: forgot a bit.
    Kelvin

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  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    PDX, OR
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    I think if you underfeed them wont they be more aggressive? I mean its probably not a huge difference, but i know when my tegus are full they're a lot more mellow.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Chicagoland, IL
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    106

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    Agreed I get a good snap when Tegs hasn't eaten lol check my pics got my thumb.
    Kelvin

    Arg. B&W ~Tegasaurus Rex~
    2 Green Tree Frogs
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    Snapper Wahmenitu
    Albino Cornsnake Nathan Scott Phillips II
    Black Pepper Roach Colony
    Seemingly a Billion Mollies
    Tropical Fish Tank

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  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    chicago,il
    Posts
    223

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    with a young or hatchling tegu you should be feeding them all they can eat within a 20 min. period everyday, with rodents the prey should be no wider that the with of the tegus head so that the tegu cant choke on it. personally i feed my tegus( that are woke) everyday but they are still growing so they need all the nutritions that they can get.btw its usually adult tegus that tend to over eat and become obese, thats when you feed them every other day. since they are not growing rapidly anymore they dont burn the food off like a baby would so they just gain weight. hope this helps!
    0.1 Black and white ~ Rayne
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  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Central FL
    Posts
    4,349

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    It is kind of an "eyeball measurement" for me. Plus I find that my tegus eat differently each day. I made a plate of food ready for them to wolf down and none of them ate more than a few bites. Then the next time I can't get enough food on the plate. I also find that individual tegus like different foods.

    My previous red male would eat 4 whole strawberries chopped up and then a small rat. He would still walk around a look for the others' strawberry crumbs. The other day my B/W female ate half a banana and a small rat. She'll also eat a few tablespoons of papaya and 1/2-3/4 cup ground turkey. That's about average for mine.

    I don't care for overfed tegus, so I feed mine until they're full, about 4 times a week. Like herpboi said, when they were young, I fed them daily. As adults I watch them and if they look pudgy, I back off a bit, if they need more, I feed them more.
    Laura R (FL)
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  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Maryland
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    what I've found is that it is easy most of the time to judge if you are feeding too much or too little.
    Zilla is smart when he is hungry he bangs on the top of his cage. If I didn't feed him enough he'll keep banging. i feed him quite a bit for instance: I large egg + 4 dozen crickets. But his activity levels are high I let him roam on my bed and in my room. Kinda like people alot of healthy food isn't bad just exercise enough!
    1.0.0 Argentine B&W Tegu
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  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Posts
    3

    Default

    When I got my b/w Argentine, I fed him until he stopped eating. After a few weeks I was able to judge how much to give him. Just make sure you vary the diet.

    Here is a video that may help: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXx-P...ature=youtu.be

    Good luck!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Dreamland
    Posts
    217

    Default

    Welcome to the forum!

    I appreciate that you were helping, but this thread is 3 years old. He hasn't been on in a long time. Great job though!

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