My Tegu poops tree o.O

[boyd1955]

Yes eating substrate CAN cause problems ... But god knows what they eat along with their food in the wild ... These are scavengers ... They do tend to spit out anything large, but obviously swallow some substrate occasionally ... I've seen mine do it deliberately for no reason at all apart from to stress me out with a mischievous look on his face
Having said that feeding in the viv is just messy and unnecessary most of the time apart from when you first get your beast ... Put his food outside the viv where he can see it and he'll soon come out and eat when he's hungry

 

[kellen.watkins]

My extreme seems to not wanna eat unless its dipped in substrate lol I feed in the enclosure or used to she's hibernating now I plan on starting target training when she wakes up out of it. But anyways she hurls her food in substrate then looks for it and uses her tongue to get most of it off, kinda concerned me at first but she passes it no problems. @ bubblz its not always prevetable what if you can't get the tegu out of the enclosure without "manhandling" him or her? Riplee isn't recommending it just saying its somewhat normal or common.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Read back,.. he said it was Normal more than once then posted in red that it's 100% okay for it to do so. To tell someone that, when constipation and impactions from eating something they shouldn't have like substrate happens so often and can be prevented is wrong,.. Period.

Why not try and find out why he's eating the substrate and if that doesn't work change it out completely to something less problematic and harmful. Instead of saying it's okay and allowing it to continue. Especially when it's not okay and will only lead to a much bigger issue.

I'm not saying it's not okay to feed inside the enclosure, I've never said that and the Op said they don't. Some times it's the best thing to do but even then you take precautions by supervising the feeding and covering as much of the substrate as possible, then cleaning the mess after wards. If you need to remove some substrate that food touched so they don't smell it and try to eat it later then do so.

Does it happen,.. yes.
Is it normal,.. no.
Common depending on the situation,.. yes and should be prevented because it will only lead to a bigger issue.

Telling someone it's okay, validating, recommending,.. what ever you want to call it,... same difference.

 

[slideaboot]

The whole "a tegu probably does this in the wild" argument really doesn't do any keeper in captivity any good. Nobody cares (or notices) if a tegu in the wild does something that will cause it harm because it's not THEIR tegu. If a tegu in the wild does something to make it sick (like ALL animals are capable of doing), that tegu is on its own. However, if a tegu in captivity is capable of doing something that could make it sick that could be prevented, it should be prevented (if nothing else, for the vet bills alone--not to mention the sake and safety of the tegu). Just because an animal does something "in the wild" doesn't mean it's a good idea--animals screw up, too.

PS: "poops tree" is probably my favorite new term.

 

[kellen.watkins]

maybe its normal from his point of view, I have read this whole thread sounds like he gave out his opinion validating recommending are not the same. I would go as far to say its normal for them to ingest a lil substrate cage feeding, doesn't mean I like it I would rather have it different but no harm has came to my tegu. Still kinda rude to just attack someone calling them wrong for giving opinion and answering another members question.

Either way imma stop on this subject

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Why is it when ever there's a disagreement someone's being attacked? Seriously everything else aside it boils down to this,...

"I still wouldn't advise someone to continue doing or allowing something harmful to occur. Especially when it can easily be prevented."

Read more: http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=10110&page=2#ixzz1cmqVGknO

 

[Kimmie]

I bought some better bedding and Cookie seem very happy he is digging and is all dirty

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

What did you switch to? Soil wise it's okay as long as there are no fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, vermiculite, or perlite and things like that in it.

 

[Deac77]

Id Agree with bubblz it seems the main way herps (lizards primarily) are lost is impaction if my beardie or gu started showing any sign of comsuming substrate id switch it just to be safe ive seen to many ppl lose their lizards to impaction to take a chance with mine, and soil is awesome love to see'em burrow think its cute =P

 

[omgtaylorg]

I just read this whole thing laughing, bubblz is clearly in the right by saying its not normal because its not normal or okay. Is it common? Yes because some people dont try preventing it. My adult female has been compacted before due to a piece of mulch being ingested with the food and it was a problem. I no longer feed in the cage because of this and as simple as that it has been prevented. Sure wild tegus may eat substrate every now and then, but they too like a captive tegu can and will eventually become compacted and being a wild tegu they have nobody like us to care for them and will either end up passing it or dying from it. Simple as that so that argument is so irrelevant. If something can easily be prevented then it should be for the care of the tegu. But as for the OP pooping trees, pieces of trees, subtrate, etc...is not normal, should be fixed before it becomes a problem(impaction), and should have nobody saying its 100% okay for tegus to poop trees or substrate. End of story

 

[boyd1955]

I love this strand ... Best title ever ... I think we need to take into account here the size of the tegu ... A hatchling is going to have trouble with ANY substrate he ingests, though will often pass it... How do you feed a tegu outside his viv if he's a wild thing ... People have to do it sometimes ... Its just the only way apart from getting in there with a glove and dragging the beasty out and risking it getting a heart attack ... Some people are going to say put carpet down on one side of the viv, but you know darn well the gu is going to drag it over to the other side on roll it in the substrate before he eats it COS HE FEELS LIKE IT ))
If a tegu is bigger it doesn't seem to be as worrying ... Mines one year old and only about 30 inches or so ... I got bit the other day wrestling a florescent orange ear plug out of his mouth that he'd found somewhere on his wanders : ))
I think the answer to this should be TRY YOUR BEST TO STOP YOUR TEGU INGESTING SUBSTRATE but don't expect him never to do it cos it WILL happen

 

[Kimmie]

I dont know if it was to me but I never feed my tegu in his cage that is just a no and he have never hisset bited or shown any agressive signs, just saying.
He ate it randomly even right after he got put in after dinner but I changed it now, here is some pics it is called Terrabark very fine small pices he tho gets dirty but I guess all tegus love to dig

Sorry he was sleeping on the pics

Before

atleast if he tries to take a nip of that he can poop it out with no problems