Tegu eating substrate.

[redtail2426]

Ok well my tegu is voluntarily eating his substrate I found two peices in his poop today. Last friday I actually saw him trying to eat a peice and stopped him before he did. Has anyone ever had this happen before or know why he would do this? His substrate is cypress mulch.

 

[VARNYARD]

The best way to keep this from happening is to feed him in a seperate contaner. I always try to get people to do this, he can not eat it if he has none in his feeding area.

 

[redtail2426]

I dont feed him in his cage he is voluntarily eating his substrate. I have been giving him calcium on everything except his rodents and he has rodents twice a week , he only has fruit twice a week mixed in with his turkey mash, and I give him vitamins on mondays. My plan of attack is to give him some blueberry activia yogurt with the gutflora promoting bacteria in it and im going to mix in raspberries which are high in fiber. He just got off of a 7 day baytril cycle so I figure the yogurt will help replace any lost gut flora. I am also going to try and get his basking temp up a few degrees right now its at 95-108. He was trying to eat his substrate before he went on the baytril aswell I noticed him trying to eat it last friday.

 

[VARNYARD]

You got me there, I have never seen any do do that.

 

[redtail2426]

Well I just gave him some blueberry activia yogurt (promote gut flora) with raspberries (high fiber) I mashed it all together into a goo and he ate alot of it. I also put in some more mulch under his basking stones to get them up a little closer to raise the temps a few degrees. Other then that I dont know what else I can do besides wait until 2moro and hope that he takes a big crap.

 

[dorton]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pica_(...n the fiber with the activia and raspberries.

 

[redtail2426]

Well he took a big poop today and I am not going to feed him today I am going to wait until he poops again tommorow to feed him because I know he still has a little more to get rid of. There was no substrate in his poop today either so well see how it plays out.