Most tegu lizard owners prefer not to feed spinach to their pet. Tegus can eat spinach but it can be harmful in large amounts so you should keep consumption to a minimum or avoid feeding it altogether.
Despite being a nutrition-packed dark leafy green, spinach has an extremely high content of oxalates which bind to calcium and prevent it from being properly absorbed. Calcium deficiency can lead to a variety of diseases from tail rot to metabolic bone disease which is potentially lethal for reptiles.
One cup of raw spinach can contain 700-800 milligrams of oxalates, which is way too high for safe consumption by tegu lizards.
Things to consider when feeding spinach to your tegu
- Spinach contains insane amounts of oxalates, a compound that can prevent calcium absorption. Consuming spinach regularly may lead your tegu lizard to experience calcium deficiency or, in the worst case, metabolic bone disease, which is potentially lethal to reptiles.
- A better alternative? Kale should be your go-to dark leafy green for tegus. One cup of raw kale has less than 20mg of oxalates, so it can be fed a lot more regularly than spinach without problems.
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PetsWithScales.com is an informational website about big lizard pet care. We collect and provide information from different sources across the web on how to keep and care for reptiles as pets. The species we mainly deal with are tegus, monitor lizards, skinks and geckos. Our aim is to provide high quality information to help pet owners make better, more informed decisions about their animal’s diets, health and life.