Tegus can eat small amount of broccoli without health implications, but they should not be stables in their diet.
It is recommended to only feed broccoli to tegus sporadically.
In terms of nutrition, broccoli is healthy, but it contains substances such as oxalic acid, which may become harmful to reptiles in larger quantities.
Things to Consider
Broccoli is a nutrient-dense vegetable that can offer several health benefits for your tegu.
It is packed with essential vitamins such as A, C, and K, all of which contribute to maintaining your tegu’s overall health.
Additionally, broccoli is a good source of minerals like calcium, phosphorus, and potassium.
Unfortunately, it also contains oxalic acid, which can pose potential risks for tegus.
Oxalic acid has the ability to bind with calcium and prevent its absorption into the bloodstream.
An excess of oxalic acid in your tegu’s diet can lead to metabolic bone disease, a serious and life-threatening health condition.
Here are some tips for feeding broccoli to tegus:
- Cut the broccoli into small, bite-sized pieces.
- Steam or blanch the broccoli before feeding it to your tegu. This will make it easier for them to digest.
- Offer broccoli to your tegu as part of a varied diet that includes other vegetables, fruits, and protein sources.
- Avoid feeding broccoli to your tegu too often, as the high oxalate content can lead to health problems over time.
Better alternatives
While broccoli is a good source of vitamins and minerals for tegus, there are some better alternatives that you can offer them.
These alternatives are lower in oxalates and other compounds that can be harmful to tegus in large amounts.
Asparagus, cabbage, leek, and greens such as chicory, and carrots make for good alternatives to broccoli which can be fed to tegus regularly.
Dark-leafy green are especially suited for a tegu lizard’s diet and they can be fed as stapes. These include collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, dandelion greens, and kale.
Additionally, spinach should be avoided due to its high oxalate content, which can lead to health problems in your tegu over time.
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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.