Tegu Food List

Tegus are omnivorous reptiles that require a varied diet to stay healthy and happy.

This diet should consist of approximately of:

• 70% protein and 30% greens (for adult Argentine and Red tegus), or
• 90% protein and 10% greens (for Colombian tegus and baby tegus regardless of species).

“Greens” include any sort of vegetable, but especially dark-leaved greens. Fruit and some other foods should only be fed sporadically or as a treat, and some supplements like calcium are also recommended to prevent common health problems.

Below, a comprehensive list of all the foods that tegus can eat and what should be avoided.

Whole Prey:

• Captive-raised insects
• Crayfish
• Chickens (baby)
• Crickets
• Freeze-dried grasshoppers
• Earthworms
• Frogs (feeder)
• Gerbil
• Hamster
• Horn-worms
• Lizards (feeder)
• Meal-worms
• Mice
• Pinkie mice
• Quail hatchlings
• Rats
• Roaches (canned)
• Silk-worms (canned)
• Snails (canned)
• Super-worms
• Toads (feeder)
• Wax worms
• Reptilinks (* get $5 off through this link or add code “petswithscales” at checkout)

Meat products:

• Eggs, raw, soft-boiled or scrambled
• Raw meats (poultry, lamb, venison, beef)
• Fresh fish filets (* some can be high in mercury)
• Organ meats (liver, hearts, gizzards)
• Seafood (crab, scallops, shrimp)

Fruits:

• Apples (in moderation)
• Bananas (in moderation, organic peels can be fed)
• Berries (blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries (in moderation, high in oxalates and goitrogens))
• Cantaloupe
• Casaba
• Cherries
• Concord grapes (higher in oxalate)
• Dates
• Figs (fresh or dried)
• Grapes (Thompson seedless, green and red)
• Honeydew
• Kiwi
• Mango
• Melons
• Papaya
• Peaches (high in goitrogens)
• Pears (high in oxalates)
• Pineapple
• Pumpkin
• Tomatoes (high in oxalates)
• Watermelon

Vegetables:

• Acorn squash
• Alfalfa
• Asparagus
• Bell peppers
• Butternut squash
• Chicory greens (escarole)
• Collard greens
• Dandelion greens
• Endive
• Escarole
• Green beans
• Green peas, snap peas
• Kabocha squash
• Leeks
• Mustard greens
• Okra
• Parsnip
• Prickly pear cactus
• Radish
• Rapini
• Snap peas
• Spaghetti squash
• Turnip greens
• Yellow squash
• Yucca root (cassava, should be shredded)
• Zucchini

In Moderation:

• Beets and beet greens (in moderation, high in oxalates)
• Bok choy (in moderation, high in goitrogens)
• Parsley (good source of calcium)
• Broccoli (in moderation, high in oxalates)
• Brussels sprouts (high in goitrogens)
• Cabbage (in moderation, high in goitrogens)
• Carrots and carrot tops (in moderation, high in oxalates)
• Cauliflower (in moderation, high in goitrogens)
• Celery (low in nutrition)
• Coriander (in moderation, high in oxalates)
• Corn (feed rarely or never, low in calcium and high in phosphorus)
• Cucumber (low in nutrition)
• Flowering plants (nasturtiums, dahlia, hibiscus, be careful of pesticides and herbicides)
• Lettuces (low in nutrition)
• Rutabaga
• Spinach (feed rarely or never, high in oxalates and goitrogens)
• Sweet potato (feed rarely)
• Swiss chard (feed rarely or never, high in oxalates)

Other Foods:

• Bread
• Cooked pasta or rice
• Whole wheat bread
• Lentils (cooked)

Recommended supplements:

• Calcium (without D3, free of phosphorus)
• Multivitamin

Foods to Avoid:

• Avocado
• Chocolate
• Alcohol
• Caffeine
• Processed and sugary foods
• Onions
• Garlic

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