I don't know how you guys do it!

[turtlepunk]

ok so I've had my extreme hatchling for a week now. during that time I was feeding inside the enclosure (and not touching him at all).
WELL ATTACK OF THE ANTS!!
I couldn't leave his plate of food in his enclosure for no longer than a few minutes!! the ants would find it right away and SWARM!! it was a huge problem yesterday!!
after much cleaning and different tricks (spraying vinegar around the enclosure, cinnamon, you name it..) the ants went away.
SOO this morning was my first time (after a week) feeding outside his enclosure.
HE PUT UP A HUGE FIGHT.
I lured him to my hand with his food and grabbed him. HE DID NOT LIKE THAT ONE BIT!!!
I put him in a pretty long, pretty tall cardboard box with his food.
HE DOES NOT LIKE IT ONE BIT!
needless to say all he is doing is freaking out and NOT EATING =/
HE LOVES his liver, but now he's not touching it.
he's definitely not happy with me at all!
How long should i leave him in his food box?
what if he doesn't eat today?
I have him in his box and left him in a different room so no one can disturb him, I checked on him once and the food hasn't been touched and I can hear him scratching and jumping at the box trying to escape.
all he does is FREAK OUT! =/
can you guys let me know what your first experiences were with your separate feeding bins?
we're both so stressed.....
AND i have to try this with the red tegu today too =/ I just got him yesterday and I don't even get to do the "hands off" approach with him.
STUPID ANTS!!

 

[katoeLAZARO]

Idk what to say I have a red and he's calm the first time I got him I manhandle him untold I read how to tame them here. But I think a good way for them to eat is crickets and such things like that. I find they like things that more. I feed mine cherries with tans because if its still he wouldn't eat it. Pet him when you grab him I use to manhandle mine and he skaworm I pet him until he closed his eyes and relax but idk the situation with yours :/

 

[turtlepunk]

hm i Tried feeding him little roaches but he wasn't interested at all. I just checked on him and it looks like he ate a little bit...at least he ate that little chunk of liver i placed in there. I have some newspaper down in there also so he can hide whenever and feel more secure.
Im just bummed about this whole situation, but then again its good to get some handling and interaction in.
When i fed him in his enclosure he liked to eat a little, bask, eat a bit more, bask and continued with that until he was full.
but now that he's in a feeding bin he can't bask in between bites like he used to =/ unless I set up a heating bulb but that just seems like such a hassle for a temporary situation every day.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

The one I had an issue with feeding and taming was my AA Tricky,.. more so than my first Colombian Spaz and Korben now. Not all of them like the feeding bin. Some times it takes a little more time in the bin as well as between meals. Have you tried covering or closing the box? With Tricky I had to cover it in the beginning, walk away and keep the dogs away from it. Or else he wouldn't calm down enough to eat. After wards I removed the top and let him catch some rays while inside of it, which also helped him relax and get use to it.

 

[turtlepunk]

I covered half of the box with a towel (the half that the food was on) and thats when i noticed he ate that chunk of liver. He has a fat belly on him so he had to have eaten something. =)
He doesn't like my hand coming near him, he whips his tail pretty hard! it made such a loud "THWAK" noise i thought his tail was eventually going to break off!!!
I placed my hand underneath him and picked him up a couple inches, he seemed to tolerate it.
I put him back into his enclosure and he's basking now =)
my red is much more shy. he's definitely a burrower (my b&W isn't much of a burrower at all! he likes to be out and about)
so i didn't do the feeding bin with him. (the red).
I placed the plate in there, he quickly came out and ate a little, and was burrowed again. so i quickly took the plate out.
Next week Ill try the feeding bin with the red. =)