Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had my uro since February 20, and I've tried to feed him/her(I'll call it a him) by hand, but he just ignores the food. He eats food from his dish like a pig, but never from my hand. Whenever I put my hand in the cage, he looks at it for a while, then goes and hides under a rock. Any ideas? (Oh, by the way I've tried the food he likes most so far, hibiscus, but still no luck)
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-Ryan

"Are you feeling stupid? I know I sure am."
-Homer Simpson

you just have to keep trying. i have had helga since may and it took awhile for her to eat peas (her favorite) out of my hand and it has not been until recently that she will eat whatever out of my hand. i know it feels like you have had him for a long time, but it really has only been a month and a half and that really isn't much time for their little brains to realize that you are safe compared to the thousands/hundreds of years of ingrained instinct telling them you are not. he will eventually come around
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vonnie
***There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it. Mary Wilson Little ***

It probably thinks your hand is a bird trying to swoop down and snatch it up. I was bitten on my finger while feeding my guy a greenbean. It didn't hurt, but the strength of his jaws and me not expecting it made me jump. It freaked him out more than me though-he ran into his hide.

doug dix's caresheet says to try handfeeding superworms, that they really like those (and that way the things don't escape!)...I may try that with mine sometime but at the moment I'm just happy she's eating somewhat coinsistently, as long as I put the food in front of her hide

I have a pair of small yellow tongs that I use for hand feeding some of my animals. Maybe if you started off with a pair of small tongs and got him used to that, then you could move your fingers farther down the tongs, a litte further every day, until eventually he'd be eating from your fingers and you could stop with the tongs?

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Lyns Lair
WNY Herpetological Society

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Well, like the thread I started below. It seems to me that my little guy doesn't have the best depth perception and likes to close his eyes and lunge at his food. And, I don't want him to hurt his jaws by tring to clamp down on my finger.

Hi!
If I hand feed my uros, they will eat much more than if I feed them from a dish. And they don't try to bite.
At first I found it very problematic because it seemed like they expected me to hand feed them every time! (I don't have a time for this! )
So I started to keep the dish on my hand, and let them eat from that.
And now they eat from the dish without my hand, but still, they would eat much more from my hand... weird o_O?

My baby egyptian, Mosca, will eat out of my hand, and I have been using it as a bonding experience, since he will otherwise run away from me. However, this past weekend, I decided it was time to get him to walk up my hand on his own. So, instead of pinching thefood in my fingers and giving it to him, I just placed it in the palm of my hand. I had done this one before with no problems. This time though, dear little Mosca, MISSED! Instead of the greens he bit my hand, my first Uro bite! It startled me more than hurt, though it did draw blood. The amazing thing is he wouldn't let go! Out of reflex I moved my hand real fast, and he still hung on, then he let go. It was sort of funny in a disturbing way, lol. Just wanted to share.

Elizabeth
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