Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have noticed my Uros seem to prefer to have their food handed to them or placed in my hand when they want to eat. They certainly eat MORE when food is offered by hand. They eat more if I touch them and talk to them while eating as well. Strange.

I think this is an unusual response since they are not born with mothers there to feed them nor do they have voices.

They also are more inclined to try new foods when offered by hand. At least mine are. Anyone else experience this? If so, why do you think they behave this way?

Pavlog's dog, I reckon. Once your animal associates food with your hand (& opening the cage door), it's apt to accept whatever your hand has to offer, within reason. My kat Claymore is no different. Saturday's I open the pantry & he knows it's canned food day. Once that door is opened, if I stuck a carrot in his mouth he'd probably woof it, no thoughts to it. It's just all about conditioning & what they come to expect.
Hopefully, your Uro has more good sense than Claymore!!
D&L.

But that is the point, cats have mothers who do feed them so you would expect they would develop and continue this behavior. One would expect reptiles would not develop this behavior. I have even had toads learn and become eager to feed from the hand.

You are correct that they dont have mothers who provide, but they need to learn to provide for themselves and recognize where the food comes from. Through trial and error they learn which plants are the best at certain times of the year, which rocks or logs provide juicy grubs and how to forage for them, or that tasty treats come from a big pink five pronged thing that enters their territory every day. Just like Dannyboy9 said, its learned response to associate your hand with food, like they would associate a certain part of their territory providing good forage.

Interesting. I have tried some experiments over time and had unexpected results. I noticed if presented with a bowl of food and the choice of the same food from my hand the uro prefers 'finger' food. Even if I position the food far back in my hand to where they have to make much more of an effort to get at it, they prefer hand feeding.

I wonder what Pavlov would think of that?

Sometimes I have seen other strange behavior and usually with very young uros. When a bowl of food is set out they become so excited they fling it all over as if they are digging. Yet their mouth is open and they are eating at the same time. The older fat uros do not do this.

Just my wintertime/cabin fever musings...

My little guy is the same way with hand feeding. I think it also has something to do with having a bigger target. When you hand feed him, the food is higher up then it is in the bowl, and closer to eye level. Most shrubs they would eat in the wild would be off the ground, as well. For the first year of his life, I thought we would have to hand feed him forever, which was cute when we were in college and had free time, but once we both started working... Needless to say, he didn't starve, but sometimes I still have to pick him up and put him next to the bowl before he realizes that there is someting good in it.

I would say we are both very lucky to have such friendly Uros, since I know some people can't even handle theirs. So, keep up the hand feeding, but make sure you don't spoil him too much.

When I get a new Uro, I try to let them know where their food comes from and that I'm friend, not foe. I approach the enclosure slowly, tilt the bowl of greens (with my face right behind it) and talk gently to them. It lets them associate me with food. Just passing it on, for what it's worth. Works for me!

They are enjoyable to interact with. Uros also seem to be able to distinguish familiar people from strangers. Well, even my old plated lizard does that. But, I can't think of too many reptiles that will maintain eye contact like a uro does.

Same here... Two of my three Uros like to eat out of my hand, especially if it's a treat like a lima bean or an edible flower

My adult male WC Saharan ate out of my hand from the first day we had him. We were so lucky in that he didn't go through an adjustment period like so many wild caught Saharans do. Then again, he was from a pet store that actually DID take good care of their reptiles, and we had everything completely set up at home with proper temps and habitat before bringing him home.

One of my baby CB Saharans loves to eat out of my hand, she comes running to my hand any time she sees me. The other baby CB Saharan keeps her distance and seems to prefer my husband hand feeding than me.

Andi

They sound cool, Andi!