# tegu eating wood chips



## shabazz (Dec 30, 2007)

how do i stop my 15 month old 3ft female black&white from eating the wood chips in her cage.


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## ColdThirst (Dec 30, 2007)

Do you put her food on the wood chips when you feed it to them. When i fed my rat snake on the substrate, after he would eat he woul ig down into the wood shavings lookin for more cuz thats where the scent was. Maybee that helps if thats what you are doing


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## redtail2426 (Dec 30, 2007)

Mine is doing the same thing some people say it is a lack of calcium or fiber or vitamins. I give my little guy enough vitamins and calcium so i singled it out to fiber. I started giving him raspberries with all of his meals (high in fiber) and over the past week I dont find very much substrate in his feces as I did in the beggining of the week. Other then that I am not to sure what else you could try.


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## shabazz (Dec 30, 2007)

no i dont feed him in the cage


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## shabazz (Dec 30, 2007)

how do i know if it is a lack of calcium or fiber, or vitamins


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## ColdThirst (Dec 30, 2007)

What do you fed him and on what days?


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## shabazz (Dec 30, 2007)

i feed her mice, turkey, strawberries, and eggs


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## VARNYARD (Dec 30, 2007)

What kind of wood chips are you guys using? I have never seen a tegu trying to eat the wood.


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## shabazz (Dec 30, 2007)

i dont have the bag any more but i got it from the show and the guy told me it was good for the tegu


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## jntann (Jun 7, 2008)

mine is about the same age and it has always eaten small rocks about quarter inch in size. maybe it helps with the digestion.


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## angelrose (Jun 7, 2008)

I noticed my colombian eating pieces of wood chips lately. I use cypress mulch and she definitely does not eat inside her house. and tonight she pooed a couple pieces of gravel (daughter has fish).


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## Mvskokee (Jun 7, 2008)

feed outside of cage problem solved. and they wont have cage aggresson


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## angelrose (Jun 8, 2008)

but no one here feeds inside their enclosures here. all of them go to one spot (as pictured in tegu & sav) and they won't even go poo in their own enclosures.


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## DaveDragon (Jun 11, 2008)

Recently our male Blue Tegu was impacted and we saw him eat a piece of cypress. 

Bobby told us it was probably from the scent of food on the substrate. He suggested replacing the substrate with cypress sprayed with a vinegar/water mixture (1 part vinegar to 2 parts water) wetting it down a little at a time in a big plastic bag (not the enclosure). This will make the substrate less palatable and the Tegu shouldn't eat it. 

It took about a 1/2 hour per 3 cubic foot bag. 3 bags done, 2 more to go.


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## bige85tegu (Jun 11, 2008)

I use cypress mulch but my col. Bandw do not eat it at all.


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