Reptile & Amphibian Forums

when my tegu is on my computer desk (this is where i feed him) before i feed him hes practically jumping for my fingers and walking around like crazy, sticking his tongue out like crazy till i feed him. hes fine tho when i walk into his cage to pick him up. do you guys put your tegus in a different cage when you feed em?

I put mine in a rubbermaid bin whenever I feed him (He's still rather small right now)

And when I do, he goes absolutely nuts. It almost bugs me because if he's this way when he's full grown, it might be kind of dangerous for my hand and/or fingers.

He'll literally jump out of the bin and run up my lap if he sees the food in my hand. He knows what it sounds like when I'm dusting the crickets, or when I'm ripping the paper bag open that contains fuzzies. So it drives him wild.

I guess I should be smarter about it and just start putting the food in before he gets there. I just don't want to risk the crickets escaping. (The container isn't the deepest there is.)

From what I've read Tegu's do have a moderate feeding response, and they can learn their feeding times. My suggestion is to either put him in a box to feed him (which can fit in the cage, and he can crawl out on his own) or to have a means of getting the food into the cage without him knowing.

If you feed him crickets, you can very carefully remove their jumping legs and put them in a dish for him to eat out of. Mealworms cannot escape either.

My suggestion is to feed him out of a bowl, but not let him see your hand, so he doesn't associate your hand with food so when hes much bigger, you dont recieve nasty bites!

Also, if you build a cage, my friend told me that you can have one end of the cage devoted to feeding. Such as having a board seperating it, and you can remove it from the outside (like a castle gate or something lol). It doesn't need to be a large space, just big enough for the bowl. Its kinda hard to explain, but the concept is that he never sees your hand go into the cage, rather just the door open to his food area.
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£v£®LïGh†

Currently have: Antherystic Corn Snake, Amelanistic Corn Snake, Oakatee Corn Snake, Leucistic Texas Ratsnake, and an Eastern Fox Snake

Have had:
Ghost Corn Snake, 2 Japanese Firebelly Newts, 3 Green Treefrogs, Cuban treefrog, Eastern Box Turtle, 3 Leopard Geckos

Saving for:
Red Tail Boa, Jungle Carpet Python, Large Lizard

You should feed your tegu in its cage out a bowl.
That way you are providing him with everything he needs in his own enviroment . Having these needs met is what makes these animals feel comfortable . By taking him out of his inviroment to feed him you are inadvertently teaching him that he must somehow escape his home in order to find his food .
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Stella St.Pierre
www.bluetegu.com

think ill start feeding him in a bowl in the cage, that'll also keep him from pinching loafs on my computer desk, lol (he actually goes to the bathroom within seconds of finishing his meal, its kinda annoying). thanks everyone, justin

I used a brightly colored dog food dish and my little (4') fellow has it associated with feeding time. He knows when he sees it coming it's time to eat and he comes a runnin'. Wroks for me anyway, give it a try. It does not take long, they are some smart critters!
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Peace!
KofSeattle
Reptile-Like
Here lizard lizard.........