Donatello will not eat :/ help!

[Kym123089]

I have had Donatello for around a week- week and a half. His temps and enclosure are all up to par, as is his substrate (Which is a soil mix). He is calming down for me pretty well and allows me to pet him and even stands on me sometimes until he gets distracted/excited. The only problem is that he refuses to eat out of his enclosure or even from tongs in his enclosure. I really do not want to feed inside it and cause any food aggression. Any suggestions?


Oh and I've tried feeding almost every feeder insect I could think of, pinkies, ground turkey, gizzards and liver(chicken)



http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=12311

 

[Logie_Bear]

Are all the feeder insects you are offering live?

 

[Kym123089]

Yes, I offered crickets, mealworms, super worms, hornworms, dubia roaches, night crawlers

 

[Logie_Bear]

Sometimes they can be shy eaters and won't eat with you watching. Has he eaten anything whatsoever since you've had him?

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Do what's best for the animal, if that means feeding inside the enclosure then do so. As long as you spend more time doing things with him around and inside his enclosure that doesn't involve food you should be fine. Food aggression is more of an issue when feeding live prey and very little human interaction other than feeding time, so they associate the two.

When feeding inside the enclosure use a plate or paper towels that cover some of the substrate around the food. They can be messy eaters so food sometimes flies and ends up on the substrate anyway. Depending on your soil mix that's not a huge issue. If or when food ends up on the soil just remove the soil around where it landed, to get rid of the smell and prevent them from smelling and trying to eat it later.

 

[Scott Hogge]

Do what's best for the animal...

ditto on that entire reply

 

[TegusRawsome80]

You should've left him alone and not tried to pick him up in my opinion. Could be part of the problem

 

[Kym123089]

Okay I will try feeding in the enclosure again. He ate off tongs the first couple days, that's why I was concerned. I didn't pull him out immediately it was after he seemed okay with it (no hissing, no tail whips) and was trying to climb my arm. He does have a "plate" that's his an I'll try feeding with it (it's large and plastic with raised edges).

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I appreciate the advice I really do... I adore him already and I would be devastated should anything happen to him

 

[sylvie]

we have a tegu. His viv has 2 sliding doors on the front. While Elvis is totally friendly and tame and comes out everyday we only ever feed in the viv. The right door is for feeeding the left everything else.... works a treat for us

 

[james.w]

What are the temps and humidity and what are you using for UVB?

 

[Kym123089]

Temps-130 basking, 93-95 ambient humidity stays in the 80's

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UVB I'll have to look, it's zoo med

 

[james.w]

What is the cool side temp? What bulb are you using for UVB? What size/type enclosure?

 

[m3s4]

If you've only had him for around a week, chances are he's still being shy and won't eat much until he settles down and feels more comfortable with his new surroundings.

Make sure the basics are taken care of - meaning temps and humidity level and let him settle down.

I think the #1 concern for all new tegu owners is this one: my baby tegu won't eat.

As long as your set-up is close, you don't try and handle him or stress him any more then is needed - your tegu will settle down, settle in and start eating.

Be patient, let him calm down and just know this a very common thing with new tegus.

 

[Kym123089]

If you've only had him for around a week, chances are he's still being shy and won't eat much until he settles down and feels more comfortable with his new surroundings.

Make sure the basics are taken care of - meaning temps and humidity level and let him settle down.

I think the #1 concern for all new tegu owners is this one: my baby tegu won't eat.

As long as your set-up is close, you don't try and handle him or stress him any more then is needed - your tegu will settle down, settle in and start eating.

Be patient, let him calm down and just know this a very common thing with new tegus.

Thank you. I figure I'm being overly concerned. But you can't be too careful.

 

[DITB]

I bought a tegu from the same clutch as you and I think we even got them on the same day last week. Mine eats in a large dark rubbermaid sometimes...and sometimes it wont. The times it wont I give it food inside its enclosure. So far he has been a picky eater and will only eat egg yolk and beef liver but it did eat some ground up turkey mixed with beef liver once I think he likes the strong smell. I am sure the tegu is perfectly healthy and is just acclimating to its new home and possibly new diet.
Here is a photo of my tegu in what was a way to tiny feeding box...he refused to eat unless he had a lot of space, darkness, and time. I leave him in his rubbermaid with food for about an hour before returning him to his enclosure and if he still has not ate i move the food to his enclosure with him.

 

[Kym123089]

Donatello will eat sparingly from tongs now and I have been leaving food daily for him as well. He will eat eggs, he ate one pinkie so far (he is interested in them still), he will try some worms, he for some reason has 0 interest in turkey so far, and loves scallops. Thanks for the update on his sibling how is yours as far as personality thus far? Mine is just about through with the shed he started right as I got him. He is soooo light compared to before! I'll post pictures tomorrow. I'm going to try a dark rubbermaid. A big issue I'm having is he wants to bury himself all the time so he doesnt even realize I've fed him or come up for much really

 

[Kym123089]

I bought a tegu from the same clutch as you and I think we even got them on the same day last week. Mine eats in a large dark rubbermaid sometimes...and sometimes it wont. The times it wont I give it food inside its enclosure. So far he has been a picky eater and will only eat egg yolk and beef liver but it did eat some ground up turkey mixed with beef liver once I think he likes the strong smell. I am sure the tegu is perfectly healthy and is just acclimating to its new home and possibly new diet.
Here is a photo of my tegu in what was a way to tiny feeding box...he refused to eat unless he had a lot of space, darkness, and time. I leave him in his rubbermaid with food for about an hour before returning him to his enclosure and if he still has not ate i move the food to his enclosure with him.

How is he eating now? How does he act? I'm curious if donatello is acting normal compared to his siblings. He wants to burrow and hide 24/7 and never wants food :/ I'm trying crickets again here in just a bit

 

[Deac77]

Kym when I get back to midland I have a idea on how to get him to eat do you have a blender? I'll pm you on fb too

 

[KABIKANO]

Maybe he's not hungry...

 

[DavidRosi]

When I first got my Gold, he wasn't a big eater... Or so I thought, for 2 weeks I made no real contact with him; just changed his water, general maintenance and cleaning in his viv and spent a lot of time with my hand near him etc. after he become comfortable in his new surroundings he began to eat a lot more, now he's a year old he'll always come out of his viv when he knows the food is near, will eat right next to me then bask happily.

I don't feed him on whole items or insects; did try but he ran a mile from a locust... Scared? Bless.

He eats a ground up mixture of turkey, fruit, veg with added nutrients... It's everything he needs in a single meal, sometimes he'll gorge through two but usually just the one

It's not the approach everyone has when it comes to diet, but from what I can see he is a very healthy 'gu
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