Hey all, I'm set to receive my new red from Bobby tomorrow! However, I've got a quick question regarding feeding. I leave the house at about 7:30AM and don't return till around 5:30PM, and I understand that feeding in the cage is not recommended, not to mention the bonding time with the tegu during feeding time is pretty important. My question is, should I just wait until I get home at night to feed him? If so, what is the best method for converting him to this schedule?
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Tegu Feeding Question
- Thread starter Zilch
- Start date
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- 62
Well I am in the same boat as you sir! I have to be at work by 7 am. What i do is, I wake up at 5, turn the lights on in the cage. Take a quick shower, and by the time I come out my gu's are up. I take them out and put them in there feeding bin (seperatly), i give them something i know they will eat quickley, Crickets. When I return home at 4:30, i feed them the good stuff like tilapia and strawberries, or maybe mice. Hope that helps!
- Messages
- 62
Another thing I also do to bond with my gu's is take them in the bath tub, and let them swim and I handle them while there swimming so I can get used to them.
Well, I got the little guy yesterday, I couldn't get him to eat anything last night (Which I can totally understand). I got out of bed an hour early and flipped on the light, but by the time I had to go to work he hadn't emerged yet, so hopefully I'll have a ravenous 'gu when I get home!
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- 4,285
- Location
- Connecticut
I put our hatchlings on newspaper, feed them crickets in the morning, and the good stuff in the afternoon.
Don't be surprised if he doesn't eat for a few days. He just spent 24 hours in a dark box getting bounced around, ended up in an unfamiliar tank and all his buddies are gone. I'd be stressed.
Don't be surprised if he doesn't eat for a few days. He just spent 24 hours in a dark box getting bounced around, ended up in an unfamiliar tank and all his buddies are gone. I'd be stressed.
Yeah I figured it's probably stress related. I guess if I can't get anything down his throat in the next few days I'll move him into a smaller, less natural habitat for a little while till he gets the feeding routine down. I've still got high hopes though, he was unbelievably relaxed yesterday. First thing he did when I pulled him out of the box was jump onto my chest and sit on my shoulder for about an hour haha (I was at work so it was either that or back in the box).
I will once I can get him out of his hide long enough for a photo-op 
So far the only pic I have is a fairly crummy iPhone picture that I took of him after he arrived. I moved him into a box we had in the office (it was bigger than the shipping box):
I put the turkey in the microwave to heat it up for 5 seconds... it cooked (haha) as you can see from the pic. After it had some time to get to room temp I put a new batch in there that I didn't ineptly burn. He wouldn't touch either but what can you do.
Right now I'm stuck in the office fiending to go home and tempt the beast with a thawed fuzzy mouse
So far the only pic I have is a fairly crummy iPhone picture that I took of him after he arrived. I moved him into a box we had in the office (it was bigger than the shipping box):
I put the turkey in the microwave to heat it up for 5 seconds... it cooked (haha) as you can see from the pic. After it had some time to get to room temp I put a new batch in there that I didn't ineptly burn. He wouldn't touch either but what can you do.
Right now I'm stuck in the office fiending to go home and tempt the beast with a thawed fuzzy mouse
- Messages
- 437
Are you sure it's a red? looks like a black and white to me... maybe its the picture quality. Nice looking guy you got there. When I fed my tegu for the first time, I fed him superworms. I think because it was live it stimulated him more. He wouldn't eat raw meat for a few days but he eventuall came around.
Sort of an update.
When I got home yesterday afternoon the substrate had been dug up all over the place, apparently he decided to go foraging while I was gone haha. When I went into the cage to fix his basking area (he created a huge pile of substrate there and the spot gets too hot if it isn't dug out a little) I partially uncovered him... I had no idea he was there. So rather than disturbing him I aborted my attempt to correct the substrate, he soon emerged. I didn't really want to bother him because I didn't want to have the intrusion associated with me, so I let him pace around.
The cage I set up has a little PVC "porthole" that I created to allow him to come out and investigate me while I'm at the computer, so rather than reach into the enclosure to get him out I just left it open and put some ground turkey near the opening, hoping he would notice it. After wandering around for a while he ducked back into his hide and didn't come out for the rest of the night... So I guess I'll try again tonight, if he emerges on his own I guess I'll do it the old fashioned way and fish him out of there.
When I got home yesterday afternoon the substrate had been dug up all over the place, apparently he decided to go foraging while I was gone haha. When I went into the cage to fix his basking area (he created a huge pile of substrate there and the spot gets too hot if it isn't dug out a little) I partially uncovered him... I had no idea he was there. So rather than disturbing him I aborted my attempt to correct the substrate, he soon emerged. I didn't really want to bother him because I didn't want to have the intrusion associated with me, so I let him pace around.
The cage I set up has a little PVC "porthole" that I created to allow him to come out and investigate me while I'm at the computer, so rather than reach into the enclosure to get him out I just left it open and put some ground turkey near the opening, hoping he would notice it. After wandering around for a while he ducked back into his hide and didn't come out for the rest of the night... So I guess I'll try again tonight, if he emerges on his own I guess I'll do it the old fashioned way and fish him out of there.
