Daily Tegu Contact

[josep]

Hi there, I'm new to to tegus but not reptiles and other pets. Ive had my tegu for about 5 days now and have him in a routine. Lights come on automatically at 9 am, he comes out to bask around 12 to 1. After he's been out for about 30 to 40 min I take him out, put him into a large storage bin to feed. When I put him in there he jumps right out of my hands and into the wall of the bin, he poops on the paper towel in there when I'm not looking then spends the remainder of the time looking for a way out, completely ignoring any food in there. He's doing this as I'm sitting here typing next to him, ignoring ground turkey balls and sliced chicken gizzards.

 

[Skeep]

I know my girl never eats if she feels trapped. Food is not the priority in that case! When she was younger I would feed her inside her enclosure on top of a clean tile, and now that she's bigger I feed her outside the cage on the floor using tongs and have good results.

 

[josep]

Ok thanks. I did this yesterday as well and put the pinky on a plate in his tank. He ate it after awhile I'm just worried about today because I work as a bartender and won't be able to take the uneaten portions out before the lights go out.

 

[Skeep]

If you can setup a routine where he eats at the same time every day it might be helpful. That way he'll know when it's food time and eat his meal. On days when he is not interested in eating at meal time I would remove the food and save it for the next day. He'll definitely eat it the day after if he's hungry!

 

[Walter1]

I would follow Skeep's advice. Yhegus and people like routine. Find what works for both. If young, feed day. If adult, even young adult, maybe every other day. Maybe set the food just off the basking site. Your new pal will benefit from routine.