questions fellow members

[wyattroa]

Well i got my little girl on tuesday and she is beautiful. now for my questions..

My girl went into hiding for an entire day when i first got her.. she has now come out. if she is basking when i come in the room she takes off into her hide.. I sit there next to the tank and she comes out and starts sun bathing again..now after sitting there for about 5 minutes im able to stand up next to the tank open the top of it with out her taking off into her hide.

Now i put my hand in there slowly and get it near her..this is when she sorta starts to flip out..she gets real flighty.. i am able to pick her up.. the one time she started rattling her tail..she has never tried to bite, hiss, puff up, or tail whip me though.. she does calm down and is able to then be pet. i have taken her into the tub and sat in there with her so she can crawl around me and on me.

I have put her in the feeding bin and she will not eat in there.. all she does is sit there like a statue. i read its ok to feed crickets in the enclosure but any meat need to be fed in a feeding bin..i gave her a doesnt crickets today that she ate in her enclosure and i was afraid that she was going to swallow some of the substrate. Now if she wont let me take her out of the cage do i just not feed her? i know you should let them be for the first week.. But i have seen this question asked a bunch of time with no real answer.

For the first week should i leave her be and feed her in the cage or take her out and feed her in the feeding bin.. and if it is take her out and feed her in the bin...what if she doesnt eat in the bin, what should i do then.
robert

 

[Ratchet]

i can't post this with confidence because i've seen this handled a number of ways...most people wil feed their tegu's in their cage for the first week then gradually start taking them out and feeding them in a bin...other let them starve =(....but people like me put them in the bin for feeding...i feel there is a difference between handling and relocating...handling is for time ranging from 5 minutes to 3 or 4 hours....relocating is usually in short incraments(10-30 seconds)which is enough time for the taming process to begin(slowly) I'm sure other people have their own opinions so it really just depends :chin

 

[MIKE-ZILLA]

It sounds to me like you have a normal hatchling tegu(hiding when you enter the room,ect.) It just takes time.your doing a good job sitting near the enclosure.then standing up ect. The Idea is to get her used to your presence.after that she will be alot easier to handle.What I do sometimes (with various new reptiles) Is once you get to where you can stand by the cage, pick them up (loose grip) but dont raise them off the ground more than a few inches.she will probably run out of your and but thats ok .keep doing it. but also give her space and time alone. feed her in a feed bin. I think when she gets good and hungry she will eat. feed her in her cage only if she refuses food,and has started to loose mass.

 

[wyattroa]

thansk for the reply.. ill keep feeding her in the bin.. i figured she would eat when she got hungry..
robert

 

[ddegatano]

My new Tegu is almost the same. He has started to come out more and more during the day. He is getting more comfortable with his enclosure. I too have been moving him to his feeding tank. He is fine when i pick him up and get him to his food. After he eats he gets a burst of energy and gets a bit more flighty. I still have my t-shirt in the tank, he sleeps in it most of the time. I never bother him while he is in the hide. The only time I move him when he is out. I sit by the cage and watch. I even leave my arm in the tank for awhile, using the ignore method. Its def a slow process, and I have to remember he is a baby and has only been with me for 3 days. I'm new at this too, hopefully we can share some success stories.

 

[wyattroa]

yeah... i just tried feeding her again inside her feeding bin.. she took one bite of the ground turkey..ignored the egg and that was it..sigh...i dont want the poor thing to starve.. but i think if it gets hungry enough it will figure out to eat whats in the bin.
robert

 

[hndrsnbrn]

Here is what I have been doing (which is probably wrong). I work during the day and mine, which I got about two and a half weeks ago, is not out in the morning or in the afternoon when I get home. You can't take him out of his hide so here is what I do. He is on Cypress mulch bedding, so I lay a piece of cage carpet down over a large area of the tank and then place his food in a small bowl. After about 5 minutes he must smell the food so he comes out and eats. I put the cage carpet down when he eats so he does not accidentally eat any of the substrate. When he is done eating I take everything out and play with him in the cage for approx. 30 minutes. He will crawl through my hand and lick my fingers. But if I go to pick him up he tailwhips bad and tries to get out. I have only been able to get him in a feeding bin once. I try to leave my hand in the cage for long peroids of time to build trust. I am hoping that since he does not see me put the food in the cage he thinks of the bowl as food and not my hand until I can get him to trust me a little more. I have a cage that opens from the front, which is kind of a drawback when it comes to picking up a new lizard. The one time I had him in the bin it seemed to be no trouble coming in from over the top to pick him up. I had to have emergency dental surgery last week, so I had to go a few days without interaction other than my wife feeding him in the cage like I mentioned aboved. Sorry to be so long winded, but if you guys have any feedback that would be great. :doh

 

[MIKE-ZILLA]

I cage fed mine the same way the first summer I had him. because I too left for work early. hes now 30-32" and he was so cage aggressive I had to start bin feeding.as long as he doesnt see you with the food its not so bad, but I would be carefull about handling him after he eats(just my opinion).

 

[wyattroa]

yeah im still trying the whole feeding bin thing...

it got better yesterday...i tried the two shirt method of putting her in between for about an hour. then i set him down back in his cage right infront of his hide..with in 30sec he was back out... i then sat by the tank with my hand resting maybe 8 inches from him basking on the stone and he didnt mind..i even got up a couple of times and came back in the room and he didnt run into his hide...but that is yesterday.. today is a new day..lol.. we will see.
robert

 

[wyattroa]

well tried to get him out to feed in the bin today and she freaked out.. ended up going into her burrow..i let her be.. ill try again later.. she has yet to come back out.
robert

 

[wyattroa]

tried feeding her again in the bin today and didnt take one bite...i really do not want to have to feed her in the cage..if she doesnt eat tomorrow, i think i might have to feed her in her cage. i put a call into bobby and left a message.. im just waiting for a call back
robert

 

[Two Bananas Marinade]

I take my little guy Blender into the bathroom with his food already there. I just sit with him while he eats. When he got done today he walked around the room and eventually just climbed over me.