# Great example of how live rodents bite tegus.



## VARNYARD (Feb 28, 2008)

And I must add, it is a very pretty tegu.

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## shiftylarry (Feb 28, 2008)

Yeah, I would never ever feed a hamster. Have you ever been bitten by one? Ugh!!! It's awful! I thought I'd never be able to go to sleep again. Unlike mice, when hamsters feel threatened, they flip on their backs and flare their teeth. Very dangerous animals.

I do find it funny though that people take so much offense to feeding hamsters, but don't get upset about a mouse. What's the difference? Is it because hamsters are more expensive?


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## jjollie (Feb 28, 2008)

I seen that video before I do not feed live just so that thing don't happen


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## DZLife (Feb 28, 2008)

Aww man, that tegu got bitten a number of times. 
If you're gonna feed a tegu a hamster, at least make sure it is dead first!


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## DZLife (Feb 28, 2008)

And yes, I have been bitten by many-a-hamster


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## ChristopherDayton (Feb 28, 2008)

I keep alot of frogs.. so movement is a good thing. and honestly I think fresh is best for the most part. I also have snakes.. and I do feed live but I basically kill the mouse/rat/gerbil first with a good whack on the head. it leaves them kicking but instantly KOd and I think that is the nicest way to do it. I cant see being gassed and frozen any nicer than an instantaneous death.


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## COWHER (Feb 29, 2008)

ChristopherDayton said:


> I keep alot of frogs.. so movement is a good thing. and honestly I think fresh is best for the most part. I also have snakes.. and I do feed live but I basically kill the mouse/rat/gerbil first with a good whack on the head. it leaves them kicking but instantly KOd and I think that is the nicest way to do it. I cant see being gassed and frozen any nicer than an instantaneous death.


i think the part that would suck is if you missed the table for some reason and just bashed it in the face lol that would suck


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## ZEKE (Feb 29, 2008)

i feel bad for the tegu  it got bit allot. 
i also feel a little bit bad for the hamster because i bet that hurt allot.

my friends snake got killed by a rat. the snake didnt eat the rat right away and my friend left it in the cage with the snake over night. the rat bit the snake really badly and it got infected and died. the rat never did get eaten. im not sure what he did with the rat lol.


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## Harveysherps (Feb 29, 2008)

I hate to say it. But I've always been a live feeder . But since I got these Albinos. LOL I give them a thump before they go in. I started doing it with my black throats too. I realized something. They can eat a feeder much larger than one they can kill. So they get more to eat if you konk them before you give them too them. It's weird droping a chunk of change for a reptile makes you rethink things . LOL I have seen the light. LOL


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## eddiezahra (Feb 29, 2008)

i love how he made two videos of live feeding with serenading music.... kinda strange. i hate how ppl advertise this over the web cuz it does give us good keepers bad names. also it looks like a chacoan if im not mistaken... when u check out the video.. on the right side there is "tegu eating rat" by same "emanthewee".


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## ZEKE (Feb 29, 2008)

in the second vid that eddiesahra pointed out it looks like that poor tegu is on sand!! i feel bad for that tegu. the owner seems to just like to watch it kill stuff. he doesnt care about whats best for the tegu.


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## ChristopherDayton (Feb 29, 2008)

as for missing the table.. if they have a tail I wont miss.. the other way is to put them in a bag and wialt he bag off the table or door jamb. alot of people cant do that to the cute little rodents.. but oh well.. honestly I think rat pups are the sweetest looking little babies.. but it doesnt make me hesitate when its time to feed the fat frogs


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## DZLife (Feb 29, 2008)

ChristopherDayton said:


> as for missing the table.. if they have a tail I wont miss.. the other way is to put them in a bag and wialt he bag off the table or door jamb. alot of people cant do that to the cute little rodents.. but oh well.. honestly I think rat pups are the sweetest looking little babies.. but it doesnt make me hesitate when its time to feed the fat frogs



I agree. They are cute little things...infact I used to own a pet rat...or maybe it was a mouse...anyway, I owned one when I was younger, but I don't hesitate when feeding my girl (gorgeous ball python.) I also used to feed live when I was younger...then I started prekilling/stunning. Now, since my ball python has been trained to eat dead rats (my previous snake wouldn't eat thawed), I only feed her frozen rats. (obviously I thaw them out)
That way, I can avoid parasites, etc.


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## ChristopherDayton (Feb 29, 2008)

parasites are a definite reason to freeze. my BP gets the gerbils cause it seems to really like them and they are a good medium size  and hey cant go wrong with the natural prey


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## Harveysherps (Feb 29, 2008)

ChristopherDayton said:


> parasites are a definite reason to freeze. my BP gets the gerbils cause it seems to really like them and they are a good medium size  and hey cant go wrong with the natural prey


Here is a question I have. I'm glad you brought this up. If you raise your own feeders and keep them clean and parasite free. Should you not have to worry about that. Or are you meaning another kind of parasite. I'm just curious. I am really begining to rethink this live feeding. I have learned some interesting things since I stopped doing it. My monitors don't rush you to get to the food now. They eat bigger prey cause I don't have to worry about it hurting them. But the freezing thing still puzzles me. Could you explain more about why you do it. My snakes are getting the same benefits and it is really making me rethink my whole idea about things.


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## Lexi (Feb 29, 2008)

That Tegu didnt seem to be hurt after....I raise my own Feeder rats..and feed live.. Iv tried feeding my snakes Freshly killed many times.. But they still wont take them..And as for my Tegus, When they wake up.. im gonna try to start feeding Freshly killed rats...I will never feed Frozen cause i hate the smell of them when you have to thaw them out.


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## Harveysherps (Feb 29, 2008)

I don't like the smell either.


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## shiftylarry (Feb 29, 2008)

Wes: Monitors are the garbage disposals of the animal world. I mean these guys eat food that has been rotting for days and have no health complications as a result. I would not worry about your black throats. Most cases of food related death and impaction are caused by poor husbandry, not because the animals are naturally incapable of handling them.


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## dorton (Feb 29, 2008)

Harveysherps said:


> I don't like the smell either.



I'm not a big fan of the tast of them warmed up, straight out of the freezer they're pretty crunchy!!


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## Lexi (Feb 29, 2008)

dorton said:


> Harveysherps said:
> 
> 
> > I don't like the smell either.
> ...


Hahah really Dorton? :crazy


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## snakehandler (Mar 1, 2008)

it is stupid to feed a big hamster to a small tegu. Both for the hamster and tegu.


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## ChristopherDayton (Mar 1, 2008)

I personally dont feed frozen most of the time.. but the process of freezing will eliminate any parasites that may reside in the food items.. this would be more important with say WC frogs and snails if you chose to feed those. I think a fresh piece of food with the blood still warm and pumping is 'healthier' but that has no real research behind it. just something I like to think. though I do go and collect tadpoles this time of year and raise them into froglets as feeders for my larger frogs. these I take the time to make sure they are healthy and good for feeding. however I am feeding american bullfrogs to african bullfrogs essentially. both of which can carry thr Chytrid fungus with no ill effects to themselves.


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## ApriliaRufo (Mar 1, 2008)

I've resorted to fresh rats off the nipple from the garage and a quick whompus on the head. Rat thinks he's dead, animals think they're alive. Nobody gets hurt, everybody wins. Although I do feel a bit sinister pulling a little pup off the nipple just to throw his punk a$$ in with a giant snake. LOL. Oh well I always wanted to be the villain in movies.


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## Harveysherps (Mar 1, 2008)

I only knock the bigger ones in the head. The ones on the tit. I just pitch them in. But if it can eat on it's own . Now it gets a good whomp and then goes in Now. LOL


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## Mike (Mar 3, 2008)

I just smack em and in they go. I admit I occasionally throw small live ones in there. I like to keep a feeding response with my lizards. I feed small hoppers to my large monitor and tegus, that way they get the exercise, but kill the mouse very quickly and do not get bitten.

Since they are so big, it's like a really big cricket, most of the time they don't even shake them to kill them. They can just swallow it whole.

I usually just knock them out or kill them, and use the tongs to make them jump for it etc. I do agree that a hamster of that size with a tegu is unethical and stupid, however.


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