i need some advice (long post)

[Anthony]

My work schedule is a little hectic i work 12 hr shifts and rotate from nights to days.... with that said it makes it very difficult on the days i work 3 shifts in a row to see my tegu when shes actually out... i have been feeding in the bin every single time since i got her BUT she only eats in there half the time a lot of times she hates it in there and tries to escape and lately its been worse.... THE reason im concerned is because i witnessed her trying to eat substrate on more then one occasion and this is rght after i offered her food in her bin.... bobby told me to keep crickets in there for her so she has food so i been doing this but i also witnessed her when she tries to atack crickets she always gets some substrate also.... Noww just the other day her poop had little peices of substrate in it... now im real concerned... i know a lot of u say dont feed in her cage but is it ok if when my tegu is hiding i just leave her a few small pinkies or some ground turkey on a huge plate so she dont have to chase it and eat substrate by accident??? the health of my tegu is my main concern .... if i do go this route should i just feed her tht way always or on the days im off work should i keep offering her food in the bin? i hope u guys get what im saying that when i work my 12 hr shifts im only up and home a few hrs before work and shes usdually under ground or when she is out and i offer her food shell deny it half the time then whind up getting hungry when im gone and either eat subsrate by accident chasing crickets or on purpose out of hunger,... i did my absolute best by not breaking any of the rules BUT when i saw subsrate in her poop i new i had to do something.... i dont want to keep bothering bobby and calling him about this...... by the way she ate 3 pinkies yesterday so i dont think theres anymore substrate in her.... sorry for long post but any advice guys i woulld appreicate.... and i spoke with toby and he feeds in his tegu in her home since day one and his tegu is AWESOME tame THANKS

 

[JohnMatthew]

I also could not do the feeding bin 1/2 of the time due to my work schedule. I think the main thing you need to worry about when feeding in the enclosure is sticky foods(turkey, fish, organ parts, freshly thawed but not dried, etc).. These foods when dropped will pick up all that sustrate like glue causing your tegu to eat a bunch of junk you don't want em to.. On days when I couldn't do the feeding bin I'd offer roaches, pinkies, crickets, mealworms in a dish(crush the heads on the insects and they won't get out). This is what I did anyway and never had any problems with impaction.

 

[hndrsnbrn]

I am in the same boat as you. I lay down a piece of cage carpet down over the substrate, which takes up about half of the tank. I put his food bowl down on that in the middle. If he happens to sling or drag any off it lands on the carpet and thus does not get substrate stuck to it. It seems to be working out. No aggresion yet. I am hoping he associates the cage carpet with feeding and not me. He is usally dug down into the bedding and does not see me put the food in. After about five minutes he must smell it so he comes crawling out, basks for a few minutes and then eats.I do feed crickets in the cage and he will get small amounts of cypress mulch in his mouth, but it is just tiny strands. He has pooped them out with no problems. However I feed turkey and beef liver everyday so I am cutting back on the number of crickets.

 

[Anthony]

glad im not alone on this one.... i guess i will lay down a towel inside his enclosure and put a big bowl on top with food.... luckily hes in a huge tank 75 gallon for a little baby tegu is pretty big... i still dnt know if i should let em eat crickets in there or not since i dont know if those substrates he ate were on accident from chasing crickets or on purpose..... also a lot of times the crickets hide between the rocks and she cant get to them.... so do u think i should keep trying to feed em in bin also?