Diet...Only likes to eat things that are soaked in chicken blood

[Kay]

So when I first got Freckles he ate ground turkey and some other mixes from the butcher. He ate a few pinkies. Then he stopped eating the pinkies. He has only eaten maybe two worms ever. Now he eats the butcher mix and chicken hearts and gizzards which he loves. I started trying to introduce him to fruit...he likes grapes. So I bought a piece of salmon and he wouldn't eat it. He went two days without eating and wouldn't touch it. Then I thought of dipping the salmon in the access blood from the chicken hearts and he ate it a few pieces. I tried it again the second day and he took it and then spit it out. I tried to give him blueberries...wouldn't eat it. If I let them sit in the container with the hearts he will eat it. I went back to trying the live pinkies and that was a no. I bought the frozen ones and he still wouldn't eat them. I again let one sit in the container with the chicken hearts and he ate it. Has anyone else had issues with their tegu not responding to variety? The only way I've found to get him to eat all these things with greens is making a shake. Thanks

 

[onnie0047]

Yea, I got one that refuses to eat much of anything and spits out what he dont like. Hates fruit, but will eat beef liver seem to like that and while not fond of gizzards he will eat the hearts. I have a mix of chicken and turkey I dont give too often seems to like that. Wont eat mice live or dead. He tried one mouse, after trying to eat it for 15 minutes gave up and now wont touch them. He wont eat every day, so I feed him every couple of days and often he goes 3 days before he decides to eat. He will sit in the dish but wont go near the food. If he goes too long, I add Egg in there, that usually gets him eating something even if its a little bit.

 

[Kay]

Okay so I'm not the only one going through this... Makes me feel a bit better. He loves eggs too but lately he has been turning that down and only eating a few hearts. I read about Repta Boost and ordered some of that and bought him a solar glo bulb. I feel like he is much smaller than other Tegus his age. I'm just going to try a little of the Repta Boost to see if it helps. Thanks for your response!

 

[Zyn]

No issues here but I haven't really tried fruits of any kind not till he's older at least but he gets a f/t med mouse twice a week variety of fish, dubia and turkey mash mixed with beef liver and cod liver oil. He's getting to the point of lunging when he sees the plate I feed him on. His growth and appetite have explode since coming out of hibernation. What's the temps at have you tried going hotter.

 

[Kay]

His basking spot is at 90. He is on his ledge in the morning when I leave but always in his house when I come home so not sure how long he sits there. I had it hotter but then he just sat on the cooler side on the corner. So yeah I'm increasing the uvb and trying the Repta Boost

 

[onnie0047]

Im going to say 90 for the basking might be a bit on the cool side from what I read. I have mine set at about 117 give or take depending on the temp of the room they are in, and it took a lot of trial and error to get it to stay in that range. The only time Ive seen him basking is after he eats. He will get his belly right in the light, if I see him there when he has not eaten usually he just has his head laying on the slap. I have UVB the whole length of the cage and the basking light to the left as I look in. He has a favorite spot, under the rock slap that the basking light hits. Now its not that simple, as his enclosure actually has two floors. The second floor is roughly 1/2 the width of the enclosure and 3/4 the length. He hides and sleep on the first floor directly under the slab (which sits on the second floor). During the night he does not burrow for the most part, he wraps himself around his bowl of water and sleep next to it. He does go to the cooler part of the enclosure, 72 to 84 degrees, give or take depending on room temps, but generally only when he wants me to interact with him, The temp under the 2nd floor ranges between 85 and 94, but that seems to be the temp he seems to like the best.

 

[Walter1]

Im going to say 90 for the basking might be a bit on the cool side from what I read. I have mine set at about 117 give or take depending on the temp of the room they are in, and it took a lot of trial and error to get it to stay in that range. The only time Ive seen him basking is after he eats. He will get his belly right in the light, if I see him there when he has not eaten usually he just has his head laying on the slap. I have UVB the whole length of the cage and the basking light to the right as I look in. He has a favorite spot, under the rock slap that the basking light hits. Now its not that simple, as his enclosure actually has two floors. The second floor is roughly 1/2 the width of the enclosure and 3/4 the length. He hides and sleep on the first floor directly under the slab (which sits on the second floor). During the night he does not burrow for the most part, he wraps himself around his bowl of water and sleep next to it. He does go to the cooler part of the enclosure, 72 to 84 degrees, give or take depending on room temps, but generally only when he wants me to interact with him, The temp under the 2nd floor ranges between 85 and 94, but that seems to be the temp he seems to like the best.

That all ties together well. They seem to need to bake as they need to at 110F or so, wander about in the mid-80s, and cool off in the 70s. You've provided all three.

 

[Kay]

We will see how he does with the extra temp because the uvb bulb also has heat so that will raise the temp as well. Like I said he didn't like the higher temp before but we shall see. I moved the original uvb to the left of the enclosure where the regular light was on the cooler side. So now he will have two uvb lights in the enclosure. He also has two levels and generally basks on the top level so he is directly under the heat and uvb. He ate three hearts this morning and I stuffed a piece of squash in each one. I also gave him the Repta Boost which he wasn't happy about.

Im going to say 90 for the basking might be a bit on the cool side from what I read. I have mine set at about 117 give or take depending on the temp of the room they are in, and it took a lot of trial and error to get it to stay in that range. The only time Ive seen him basking is after he eats. He will get his belly right in the light, if I see him there when he has not eaten usually he just has his head laying on the slap. I have UVB the whole length of the cage and the basking light to the left as I look in. He has a favorite spot, under the rock slap that the basking light hits. Now its not that simple, as his enclosure actually has two floors. The second floor is roughly 1/2 the width of the enclosure and 3/4 the length. He hides and sleep on the first floor directly under the slab (which sits on the second floor). During the night he does not burrow for the most part, he wraps himself around his bowl of water and sleep next to it. He does go to the cooler part of the enclosure, 72 to 84 degrees, give or take depending on room temps, but generally only when he wants me to interact with him, The temp under the 2nd floor ranges between 85 and 94, but that seems to be the temp he seems to like the best.

 

[onnie0047]

yea they can be persnickety buggers from time to time. I read and read and read and do what is best for the two I have through trial and error using what I see and what others suggest, sometimes the suggestions are GREAT, other time they kinda suck. Good luck!

 

[Kay]

Thank you...Ill see how it goes and post an update if I see changes. Thanks again!

yea they can be persnickety buggers from time to time. I read and read and read and do what is best for the two I have through trial and error using what I see and what others suggest, sometimes the suggestions are GREAT, other time they kinda suck. Good luck!

 

[Zyn]

If he was outside the direct light he was just thermoregulating properly staying in the heat gradient that he needed. Like others have said I'd go back up in temps

 

[Kay]

Soooo...I measured Freckles on March 4th and he was 22 inches. I started using the Solar-Glo bulb and used the Repta-Boost (every few days). I measured him last night and he is now 25.5 inches. Not sure if it was the bulb or the Repta-Boost or a combination of both. He still does not like the high temps though. Using the Solar-Glo bulb increased his temps by 10 degrees. He is usually basking early in the morning before I leave for work. Now when I wake up he is in his house. Butttt....he is growing so....

 

[Walter1]

You've given him a thermal gradient. He's now settling in to when and where he wants to thermoregulate.

 

[Kay]

Forgot someone mentioned that....That makes sense. Thanks!

You've given him a thermal gradient. He's now settling in to when and where he wants to thermoregulate.