HLEP! with feeding please....

[Khody]

I am a seasoned reptile owner, but new to tegus. i have a 12"+ arg. B&W. I started feeding him freshly killed crickets he loved them, and then moved to ground turkey with freshly killed crickets in it. He started out eating pretty well. I am trying to get him to learn to eat in a feed box rather than his cage, he is relatively calm most of the time so in and out of the feeding bin is easy, but so far he hasnt eaten in it yet.
Am i doing something wrong? is there any methonds to ween him into feeding bin feeding?
Should i try different foods?

any input would be greatly appreciated,

Thank you.

 

[Beasty]

Welcome to the forum!
A good thing to try would be to place him in the bin and have a rodent(frozen/thawed of course) in there on a plate. The plate is not necessary but helps to further associate IT with food. You can also feed with tongs or extra long hemostats. I have only had one of my 4 tegus turn down rodents and she was ill at the time. now everybody is on a cycle. They eat their fill and then go poop-rinse repeat for next tegu. Works like a charm for me. Once he gobbles down the rodent he'll get the idea and be more apt to associate the bin with food, which is a very good thing. Remember to have the food in the bin already and don't smell like grub. Wash yer mits. If they associate your hands with food you'll likely get bit as they are voracious eaters and get very excited at feeding time.
Give it a try and see how that works for you.

Oh, I don't kill bugs for mine. They are alive and moving but they're not warm and fuzzy like me.