Tegu lizards can safely eat shrimp, prawn, crab, and most kinds of shellfish and crawfish. Not only these are a great source of protein but they can also provide much-needed calcium from their shells and bones.
It is best to feed seafood to tegus whole, raw and unshelled, checking first that the shell is not too hard. Sometimes frozen products you get from the grocery store are pre-cooked and have a hardened shell, in this case you may want to remove the shell in order to avoid the risk of choking and impaction.
Taken the necessarily precautions, seafood is one of the best and healthiest food option for tegu lizards, for it contains all the necessary vitamin, minerals and nutrients needed by a reptile, and they can substitute other common whole prey reptile food such as pinkie mice, rabbit and chicks.
Unfortunately, most types of seafood is very high in sodium, which means it should not be fed on a regular basis. Ideally, you will offer your pet tegu different types of protein in the form of fish, insects, eggs and white meat (poultry).
Another healthy alternative is reptilinks, a type of “sausage” made specifically for reptiles meant to substitute whole prey that often contains added calcium.
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