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I had a red tegu who recently died due to substrate indigestion. I have a b&W still and want to know what is a good food dish to avoid this again

Thanks

My tegus have a sheet that I lay out on the floor then I place thier food dish on it. They have a very aggressive feeding response once I place them on the sheet. I believe they know it means food. That is how I keep them from accidently getting substrate plus it also keeps my floor clean. Good luck and I am sorry to hear about your red.
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Beau W.

"There are no athiests in foxholes. It is not an argument against athiesm but rather one against foxholes." James Morrow

Concerning impaction, it is not a matter of what kind of feeding dish you use, but a matter of what kind of substrate the dish will be on. It can also be related to illness. Did you have an autopsy done? Tegus will regularly make a mess, as you probably know. My tegu doesn't have very good table manners, and will often toss food all over the place. He drags his food through the substrate, smashes mice into the ground, etc. You can pretty much expect your tegu to ingest some substrate if you feed on the substrate itself. Some people feed their tegus outside the cage, but I would rather not because I do not want my tegu associating regular feeding outside his cage (I don't want my foot chomped when he is 25 lb)! My top level of my cage is tile, so I feed there. 0% chance of impaction of any sort. Although even when he was in his all-mulch enclosure, there was never a problem. Look into some good substrates (cypress, aspen, etc.) and replace whatever impacted the other tegu.

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-Bill

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I personally don't use one. My Tegu isn't full grown yet so I put it into a large rubermaid container (He's 30 inches, the container is probably around 48 inches long). Currently, no matter how hard I try, he won't touch fruit. (But he's also under a year old) So I usually just toss a pre-killed mouse into the rubbermaid container and let him finish it.

But like Russ, mine has a very aggressive food response. Sometimes (I very rarely feed him in his cage) he'll lunge at me when I open his cage. Not out of aggression, but rather he thinks food is coming. Recently, he actually got a whole of my thumb. And let me tell you, it didn't draw much blood, but the jaw pressure was enough to make my tear up--It hurts.

Definitely a good reason to always use hemostats when you feed your tegu.

Does all the substrate accumulate in its stomach? Even the tiny pieces? I have fed him inside his cage before and noticed a few tiny pieces of substrate stick to the mice before he eats them, but it seems like it was small enough that it would simply pass through. I don't feed him inside the cage any more, but I am wondering if even those little pieces will be in his belly for life.