Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Tempest has a new trick for frustrating me... at feeding time, he comes *flying* across his enclosure to where I put his food, as fast as he can like he hasn't eaten in weeks. The first bite or two, he'll take from my hand before I can put it down. Then he'll suddenly rear back, close his eyes, and peep at his food... right at his feet. Even after I've closed his cage and gone away, he'll sit there, frozen, peeking out a squinted eye at it as if he couldn't possibly eat those killer attack greens. Eventually, he'll sllooooowwwwlly lower his head, sneak a leaf, then two, and then settle in to eat normally.

Nothing has changed in his feeding routine, no new pets, no moved furniture, anyone else seen this? I just feel bad that he thinks he can't eat his dinner

Joey sometimes will do exactly the same thing...rears back, stops eating, freezes, & gives his food the 'evil eye'. I think this is just a natural instinct. In nature, when an animal is stopping to eat, it becomes more vulnerable to predators. It seems like he is just checking out the general food area, and not moving until he is certain there are no surprises, before he relaxes and feeds.
It almost looks like Joey is saying..."yep, I see something red in there...could that be a raspberry?...ooooohhhh, look over there...is that a blueberry I see perhaps? Yep, okay it looks good, I'll take the risk and eat".
I used to think he was obsessing over his food..."okay, I see about 50% calcium rich greens, 40% good iggy veggies and 9% fruit; I guess that's close enough".
Just my experiences.
Kally & Joey

That is too funny. My iggys make me laugh everyday with their funny new personality traits. When I first give them food in the morning I hand feed them before I hold the plate up to them so they know I'm bringing food. Sam will close her eyes and turn her head and then just look at me like she's asking me "now what are you shoving in my face?". Gotta love those iggys.

My Endora does exactly the same thing--hurls herself on me and rips the greens out of my hand, then stops, examines them for several seconds and then apparently forces herself to finish in slow motion...I know it's silly, but I always feel guilty when this happens, it's like she was expecting some FABULOUS new food and then was horribly disappointed when she discovered it was just the same old boring greens...

SR

Mine does something similar...

He glares at it for a few minutes after I put it down, then he will walk around it still glaring.... And then he will pounce on it, grab a green and run off. Later he comes back and eats normally lol