Will an 8 month old Tegu overeat ??

[Jennessy]

Hello, I was told that Tegu's should be allowed to eat as much as they want until they are about a year old. Would you guys agree with this? I feel that my 8 month old Tegu may be overeating? Thanks!

[Herpetologic]

There are a lot of tegu keepers that offer this advice, however they fail to recognize the inherent dangers of it. The most obvious problem is without having to hunt, tegus are prone to obesity. Many feel this is more an issue with adults, but learning to over eat and be lazy start in youth. But the worst problem is that with abundant eating comes rapid growth. If there isn't sufficient calcium in their diet, that rapid growth comes at the expense of low density bones. And considering the typical nutritional advice I see offered on tegu diets (ie. just dust with calcium....), this is a guaranteed outcome. Being hungry is natural, and it isn't going to harm your tegu. Being obese and not being offered a good diet are something to avoid.

[Teena]

I just have a couple of questions:
What type of food are you feeding?
How much are you feeding?
Are you feeding everyday?
What type of Tegu do you own?
What is the enclosure set up?
Are you using UV lights?

Teena