JBW Exotics
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I started to train my '08 B&W Argentine (and my '10 blue) tegu to associate a target (a piece of pvc cut at a 45 mounted on a pole) with feed response a few months ago by putting food in the pvc piece and letting her eat from it, in her cage at first and then out of her cage at various times, sometimes several times a day, sometimes once a week, but always putting it beside her food when she eats and making sure she only sees it when i feed her (or when she finds it after it was hidden for her to find with a treat in it when shes roaming). Now she can be on the other side of her cage, watch me put her food bowl in, and doesnt immediately go for it until i pull out the stick and put it near her food. She will set there and pay no attention to me putting her food in (unless i let it set there until she smells it or sees the food in the bowl), then when i put the target in BAM she goes for it. I havent worked with the baby as much and she almost always does the same. Ther was a little opening her cage, standing there with an empty bowl, putting an empty bowl in, setting bowls around her cage and around the house,etc. involved also. But it didnt take much time in days or time of my effort for both tegus, and now I dont have to worry about being nipped at.
