Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey. I have a female red tegu (Nivea...nicknamed baby-girl...noy living up to that right now!). I recently brought her out of her hibernation and since I have she has become a ravenous food fiend. Normally I've got no problems with this, but I'm having to limit her now and she's STILL HUNGRY!...Some of you might say "give her as much as she'll eat...but in the past week...she's eaten about 10 mice, 3 bananas, like 2 dozen crickets, a canary, small can of Wellness canned Dog Food and some reptolmin Gel! SHE'S ONLY 30"!..She looks bloated. But that's not really the problem. The problem is I have been classified as food! I know B&W females can be aggressive when they first come out of hibernation but this is the first time she's done this with me and she's bad enough that when I walk in the room she dives at the glass trying to get me and feeding her doesn't help. After 2 mice, and some fruit she still looks at me like food and snaps at me through the cage. Anyone have any suggestions or a good place to buy gloves ?

I use the same dish to feed my tegu every time. He knows when he sees that dish, it's FEEDIN TIME! Otherwise he is as calm as can be. Try a bright dog bowl or something else you can use everytime that your tegu will associate with food, could work? It may take a while, especially if it is a youngin' In the meantime watch those fingers
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Peace!
KofSeattle
Reptile-Like
Here lizard lizard.........

there is one thing you might try it works on my tegus and snakes also.i dont feed them in the cage they live in.i move them to the tub or to another container to feed. this way they learn im getting them out to feed and not im the food.haveing 4 tegus i have learned one thing they never have enough food,mine will eat till they bust lol and next day eat almost as much

First off, NO FOG FOOD. it is very high in fat for tegus. Second for what it's worth, some folks believe that if you feed a tegu out of it's cage then it will learn it has to get out to get food. Then they become escape artists.

As to the feeding response, I would use F/T or F/K small rats not mice. Are you feeding live? You can use a forceps to get a little more reach. some tegus are not such good shots. I just got nailed by my 3 1/2 foot male OUCH! If you establish a routine that might help too. Always feed at the same time so the other times you come by with no food it is for petting.

Just my opinion,
good luck

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Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com

Yeah...All my mous are frozen thawed and the mice are frozen thawed. I don't dangle them in front of her (seems that's what you were thinking...the whole problem is she's so ravenous now that I can't even open the top of the tank to drop it in now!. She catches it before it hits the ground. And she does have a schedule...unfortunately she's used to eating when I get home from school and work...Which is the only time I CAN feed her...and cause she's used to this now...by the time I get home she's back to psycho tegu!...In the morning she's fine....but yeah...So anymore suggestions from anyone?...I want to get her trained to eat outside of her cage or something to cut down on aggression but by the time I get home she's too aggressive to take out!....HELP PLEASE

Maybe she needs breakfast. If she's calm in the morning, put as much food in a bowl as you think she'll eat and try to put it in before her lights come on. That way, maybe she will get up, bask to warm up, and then eat, and not be so ravenous when you get home. She will also start to associate food with her bowl, rather than with you, hopefully. It just sounds like she's planning a big growth spurt (but then baby tegus seem to always be in a growth spurt). If that doesn't work, maybe try to put some sort of barrier in between her and the bowl (and you!) when you put the bowl in, so she can't get to you. She should learn that she can't eat when your hand is in the cage, as she'll just bump her nose. When your hand comes out, the barrier comes out and it's ok to eat. I really think that in your case the bowl is the way to go, rather than taking her out of the cage to eat. It may be messier, but she won't associate you taking her out with eating, and will be willing to visit with you when you take her out, rather than looking for food. Bowl should mean food, and hands should mean petting and visiting.

I've no guarrantee that this will work, but young critters always seem to wake up hungry, so maybe feeding her early, even if you have to get up a bit earlier, may calm her down a bit.

Leslie