my 4 year old doesnt pay attention/like dubias

[Neeko]

They are in a bowl with his turkey and he pays no attention to them. only wants his turkey (and possibly the plastic bowl)

 

[adam1120]

you feeding a 4 year old tegu dubias? he dont need dubias just wasting them need alot to fill him up there no need to feed dubia stick to turkey and such

 

[Neeko]

I have prob a 3:1 males to females and i was thinking better then killing them feed em to my adult since my babies are still to young for adult dubia. From what ive seen the baby tegus i have eat them whole and i dont want impaction.

 

[adam1120]

cut them in half then feed them

 

[Neeko]

ive seen a cut in half roach, it was messy. Not that im squeamish...

 

[adam1120]

i do that when i feed my males to my beardies or when i feed them super worms

 

[Rhetoric]

I wouldn't worry about feeding them to younger tegus, they'll mash 'em up. I might stay away from true adult roaches but various sized nymphs shouldn't be an issue. Guru never showed interest in insects, some tegus just don't bother with it.

 

[Neeko]

i only have adults and then 2.5 inch sub adults. i worry about impaction, I fed them a big sub adult before (against better judgement) and they seemed to like it. they bit it but it remained from what i saw pretty intact.

 

[jtpowers]

I would be very surprised to hear of anyone having had a problem with impaction caused by their tegu, monitor, our other lizard eating dubias. Chitin in their shells is low compared to other invertebrate feeders anyway, even IF there has ever been a case of chitin causing impaction.

I'm jealous of your dubia colony though. Can't get them here in FL, but they are one of the best feeder inverts for arachnids and smallish reptiles.

Have you tried offering both live and pre-killed? I agree that you don't really "need" them, but I don't think offering for variety is a waste. Try either putting a dead one in with his turkey, or coating it with raw egg, or on top of one of his favorite fruits. Once he gets a good taste he may be inclined to eat a few on occasion.

 

[Neeko]

I'll put roach sacrifices in his turkey so all their legs are moving. He'll prob just eat them bc its in turkey but its a good way to get rid of them. Jtpowers, are all roaches illegal in Florida? Or do you only want dubia bc they can't coin smooth surfaces etc.

 

[herpgirl2510]

You can feed your hatchling adult dubias but if your worried have you tried mixing them up with the ground turkey for the 4 year old. I know my one year old extreme will not touch them. I wonder if it is because he has never had them maybe your guy hasn't either.

 

[Neeko]

I stuck some in his turkey and he got a bite with one in there alive and spit it out.

 

[tora]

lol.
My tegu was never a fan of them either.