# arg! question!



## Dirtydmc (Jul 18, 2011)

Dozer came home three days ago. If I'm not supposed to take him out of his hide, and I'm not supposed to feed him in his enclosure, how do I get food to him? I feel bad for the little guy.


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## Rhetoric (Jul 18, 2011)

Some members feed inside the enclosure until they gain trust with their tegu. They put the food in when the tegu is in its hide so it can't start to associate them. Some pull the tegu out when its not in its hide and feed it in another tub. Its up to you and what you feel comfortable doing.


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## Piercedcub32 (Jul 18, 2011)

I wait until my little guy wakes up, then I transfer him to a feeding tub, where the food is already waiting for him when he gets in. I have done this since day one, and its been about 7 months, Now when I put my hand in the cage, he walks up my arm and just hangs out. There are times when either he won't eat in his tub, or I don't have enough time (2x in 7 months ) I put the food in the cage while he is buried and the food is gone when I get home. You two will work it out, and find what works for you. just make sure you hold yours everyday, they don't have the reputation they have for nothing, just make sure u work with him to the fullest.


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## Dirtydmc (Jul 18, 2011)

Well, put some scrambled eggs and turkey in there. Hopefully he's a good gu'ber and eats it. 


Piercedcub32 said:


> I wait until my little guy wakes up, then I transfer him to a feeding tub, where the food is already waiting for him when he gets in. I have done this since day one, and its been about 7 months, Now when I put my hand in the cage, he walks up my arm and just hangs out. There are times when either he won't eat in his tub, or I don't have enough time (2x in 7 months ) I put the food in the cage while he is buried and the food is gone when I get home. You two will work it out, and find what works for you. just make sure you hold yours everyday, they don't have the reputation they have for nothing, just make sure u work with him to the fullest.



I want to hold him! He's a sweetheart. But I gotta let him come out. I just don't want to make any mistakes. Next week the Argentine gets here and I want to have the begginings in order. These guys are more amazing than I thought.


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## Toby_H (Jul 18, 2011)

It is not true that you are not supposed to take your newly acquired Tegu out of his enclosure... It is not true that you are not supposed to feed your tegu in it's enclosure...

There are pros and cons to everything in life. Thus, there are pros and cons to taking a newly acquired Tegu out of his enclosure and there are pros and cons to feeding a Tegu in it's enclosure...


It is very true that a newly acquired Tegu is easily stressed and that it is important to minimize stress on your Tegu, especially when he is newly acquired. There are many techniques commonly used to help your newly acquired tegu get used to you so that handling and interaction is no longer stressful for your Tegu. Likewise there are things you should not do which will certainly stress your Tegu out. 


Some people believe that feeding in the enclosure can lead to cage aggression, though others feed in the enclosure with absolutely no problems with cage aggression. It is important to ensure that mulch does not get mixed into your Tegu's food as ingested mulch can cause impaction (internal blockage).

Feeding in a seperate feeding enclosure removes both concerns (cage aggression & ingesting mulch), but comes with it's own impracticalities, as you are now seeing... 


again, everything in life has both pros and cons........


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## hoosier (Jul 19, 2011)

i feed my tegu in his enclosure and find that now when i come close he thinks there is food and thus has a bit of cage aggression. however a lot of the times i am on the go and feeding him comes down to me putting whatever i have to feed in with him and then running out the door and clening up when i get home. a pro to this is it is easier for me to do this and i have learned to deal with the initial cage aggression and now is just routein. however food does tend to get mixed in with the mulch and cleaning it is a bit of a chore but i also do half cleaning of the substrate every month due to urine, food, poo, water and shed skin getting mixed in causing some shall i say stinky smells. but this is just my experience and either way works for people and i would say choose the one that fits for you  

they are wicked smart and have an easy time associating things with food. mine has noticed that plastic baggies usually bring thawed rats or turkey and i also use them to clean up poop but he gets super excited when he sees a baggie and now i have to take him out if i want to do a spot clean. :-/


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