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Ding ding ding ding. The 1000 dollar winner. Bobby made this post on Jan 14 2008 on the 1st page of this thread.
He hit the nail on the head. Pretty much end of discussion.

Tegus, or any other predator for that matter that react to movement is displaying a reaction called "prey drive".

This is the same action that makes a dog chase a ball, or go after someone if they are protection trained. Its the same behavior that makes a Lion chase a Impala, or a Hawk pick off fish in a river, or rats from a field. Nothing more.

For captive safety this has been work out of "pet" type animals. By safety I mean safety for the animal and its handler. There is a level of aggression and confidence a predator has to exert when putting basically its life on the line to kill another animal for food. This behavior could have negative effects on its life in captivity and the person, or people responsible for the animals care. Feeding p/k or f/t helps tame this to a degree.
Proof is basically my large collection of snakes in witch 85% of eat right off the floor of the cage. No biting, no constricting, no invenomating. In essence, no killing, or hunting. Also, no aggression. Just swallowing to eat.
These behavior patterns are not instinctual, they are learned with repetition and time.
As a result, my snakes never show signs of feeding response, yet they eat every time food is offered.

<blockquote data-quote="Herplings" data-source="post: 66115" data-attributes="member: 1353">Re:Ding ding ding ding. The 1000 dollar winner. Bobby made this post on Jan 14 2008 on the 1st page of this thread.He hit the nail on the head. Pretty much end of discussion.Tegus, or any other predator for that matter that react to movement is displaying a reaction called &quot;prey drive&quot;.This is the same action that makes a dog chase a ball, or go after someone if they are protection trained. Its the same behavior that makes a Lion chase a Impala, or a Hawk pick off fish in a river, or rats from a field. Nothing more.For captive safety this has been work out of &quot;pet&quot; type animals. By safety I mean safety for the animal and its handler. There is a level of aggression and confidence a predator has to exert when putting basically its life on the line to kill another animal for food. This behavior could have negative effects on its life in captivity and the person, or people responsible for the animals care. Feeding p/k or f/t helps tame this to a degree.Proof is basically my large collection of snakes in witch 85% of eat right off the floor of the cage. No biting, no constricting, no invenomating. In essence, no killing, or hunting. Also, no aggression. Just swallowing to eat.These behavior patterns are not instinctual, they are learned with repetition and time.&nbsp; As a result, my snakes never show signs of feeding response, yet they eat every time food is offered.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Herplings, post: 66115, member: 1353"] [b]Re:[/b] Ding ding ding ding. The 1000 dollar winner. Bobby made this post on Jan 14 2008 on the 1st page of this thread. He hit the nail on the head. Pretty much end of discussion. Tegus, or any other predator for that matter that react to movement is displaying a reaction called "prey drive". This is the same action that makes a dog chase a ball, or go after someone if they are protection trained. Its the same behavior that makes a Lion chase a Impala, or a Hawk pick off fish in a river, or rats from a field. Nothing more. For captive safety this has been work out of "pet" type animals. By safety I mean safety for the animal and its handler. There is a level of aggression and confidence a predator has to exert when putting basically its life on the line to kill another animal for food. This behavior could have negative effects on its life in captivity and the person, or people responsible for the animals care. Feeding p/k or f/t helps tame this to a degree. Proof is basically my large collection of snakes in witch 85% of eat right off the floor of the cage. No biting, no constricting, no invenomating. In essence, no killing, or hunting. Also, no aggression. Just swallowing to eat. These behavior patterns are not instinctual, they are learned with repetition and time. As a result, my snakes never show signs of feeding response, yet they eat every time food is offered. [/QUOTE]

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