my tegu won't eat???

Hello,
Last week I purchades a 9" Argentine Tegu at the reptile expo in Manchester, NH. The vendor told me that the tegu has been eating well with a diet consisting of dog food, ground turkey, pinkies, crickets, meal worms, and scrambled egg. Since getting the tegu home it has only eaten 4 bites of scrambled egg.
He is in a 30 gallon long tank with EcoEarth substrate. I have kept his temp 80-85 during the day and mid 70's at night. He has a 24" UVB light, a basking lamp, and a night heat lamp. He also has a small heat pad under the tank.
I give him fresh water daily and regularly mist the substrate where it maintains a consistant 60-70% humidity.
I have offered him ground turkey, 3 types of dog food, crickets, fresh haddock, scrambled egg, and meal worms.
Does anyone have advice on how or what I can get hime to eat?

Copied from your other thread in General Talk:


It won't eat because the poor thing is extremely cold.
Basking temps should be between 115-125 degrees.
Ambient 85-95
Cool 75-85
Humidity 60-80%

Like most reptiles they have to be warm enough to eat.

For this species you shouldn't be starting with anything less then a 40 gallon.
Yes they're Omnivorous but Argentines really prefer and have more of a prey diet.
Babies /juvies should eat mostly insects with the occasion mouse. Feed crickets, superworms|mealworms, roaches, waxworms, silkworms, raw ground turkey (if you must, this is not a staple) mice, and the occasional egg (if you must). NO CANNED DOG OR CAT FOOD!!!!! Regardless of what the seller said canned cat /dog is so bad for them and is nothing but a useless fats. Not to mention they're digestive system is extremely advanced compared to a dog or cat. Last I checked dogs /cats CANNOT digest bone etc. So giving them canned mammal food is like someone taking a protein shake and having you drink that. Also this tend to give them really bad diarrhea which smells horrible. Whole prey items are best if you're feeding that.
Strawberries, kiwi, blueberries, grapes, and bananas seem to be major favorites.
Argentines though prefer mainly proteins such as insects and mice but have been known to enjoy fruits and veggies on occasion.

Other than my argentines have always eaten a lot of fruit, all great advice there. I fed mine a lot of chopped apples and grapes, as those were a favorite. No Citrus. Few bananas.

Hello,
Thank you for responding.
I guess his basking area temp is too low. I just moved the thero to that side and it is around 97. I was taking the temp from the cool end of the enclosure.
I understand that he will need a larger enclosure. This is a very temporary house for him. I have been planning many designs and looking at what others have done. What I have already decided was the enclosure's size, which will be 10'x5'x5'.
I will add another reflector for another heat lamp tomorrow....
Thank you again,
Butch

I have an red tegu, he eats a miz of chicken livers, pickie mice, minnows, and tegu meatballs. The meatballs are ground turkey, boiled egg, watermelon, cantaloupe, and raspberries all ground together and portioned in little balls... Let us know what happens

Tegu Meatballs... that sounds interesting, I'm going to try that. He just started eating crickets tonight, (he scarfed down 5 or 6). Hopefully he's coming around, I'm already attached to the little guy!
Thank you all for your knowledge and advice, I really appreciate it.
Butch