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He needs whole prey at least once or twice a week for proper nutrition. Foods like turkey don't have all the nutrients that he needs. I can tell you right now that his feeding response to a rodent will be much more violent, although I never have problems with aggression while my tegu is eating. He walks up calmly and eats everything except whole prey. He doesn't shake pinkies, but fuzzies he shakes for like 2 minutes strait before he eats them. I think this makes them easier for him to swallow after he breaks all their bones with his wild shaking. I notice before that they look much larger than after he shakes the crap out of them. Over time he will calm down to the whole prey. He just instinctively sees a mouse and thinks he has to kill it before he eats it. This is totally normal, and will pass with time. He will figure out that none of them are alive after a while. Tegus are pretty smart creatures.

Dont deprave him of whole food just cause you don't like his feeding response to it. He needs them for nutrition, and his feeding response will lesson and become much more calm over time. The tegu I had before was fed live food his entire life, and it only took about a month of feeding pre-killed before he stopped shaking them every time. After that he would just walk up and gobble them down in about 10 seconds.

It just takes time.

<blockquote data-quote="simon021" data-source="post: 50368" data-attributes="member: 1085">He needs whole prey at least once or twice a week for proper nutrition.&nbsp; Foods like turkey don't have all the nutrients that he needs.&nbsp; I can tell you right now that his feeding response to a rodent will be much more violent, although I never have problems with aggression while my tegu is eating.&nbsp; He walks up calmly and eats everything except whole prey.&nbsp; He doesn't shake pinkies, but fuzzies he shakes for like 2 minutes strait before he eats them.&nbsp; I think this makes them easier for him to swallow after he breaks all their bones with his wild shaking.&nbsp; I notice before that they look much larger than after he shakes the crap out of them.&nbsp; Over time he will calm down to the whole prey.&nbsp; He just instinctively sees a mouse and thinks he has to kill it before he eats it.&nbsp; This is totally normal, and will pass with time.&nbsp; He will figure out that none of them are alive after a while.&nbsp; Tegus are pretty smart creatures.Dont deprave him of whole food just cause you don't like his feeding response to it.&nbsp; He needs them for nutrition, and his feeding response will lesson and become much more calm over time.&nbsp; The tegu I had before was fed live food his entire life, and it only took about a month of feeding pre-killed before he stopped shaking them every time.&nbsp; After that he would just walk up and gobble them down in about 10 seconds.It just takes time.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="simon021, post: 50368, member: 1085"] He needs whole prey at least once or twice a week for proper nutrition. Foods like turkey don't have all the nutrients that he needs. I can tell you right now that his feeding response to a rodent will be much more violent, although I never have problems with aggression while my tegu is eating. He walks up calmly and eats everything except whole prey. He doesn't shake pinkies, but fuzzies he shakes for like 2 minutes strait before he eats them. I think this makes them easier for him to swallow after he breaks all their bones with his wild shaking. I notice before that they look much larger than after he shakes the crap out of them. Over time he will calm down to the whole prey. He just instinctively sees a mouse and thinks he has to kill it before he eats it. This is totally normal, and will pass with time. He will figure out that none of them are alive after a while. Tegus are pretty smart creatures. Dont deprave him of whole food just cause you don't like his feeding response to it. He needs them for nutrition, and his feeding response will lesson and become much more calm over time. The tegu I had before was fed live food his entire life, and it only took about a month of feeding pre-killed before he stopped shaking them every time. After that he would just walk up and gobble them down in about 10 seconds. It just takes time. [/QUOTE]

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