The Worse it Smells, the More She Wants It

[tresh]

So, my beloved Ammy has a new habit that is absolutely and totally disgusting, and one I wasn't aware of until I played the 'oh-dear-god-what-is-that-smell' game today.

She's been hiding food, and then dragging it back out when it's good and ripe. I wouldn't even have known if i hadn't had to move the couch today.

When you feed a lizard guts like livers and gizzards, you can imagine the smell. It is the worst smell I have ever smelled, and I've smelled weeks old summer roadkill.

So, now I have to ask, anyone else ever had this issue, of their tegu hiding food? And is it going to hurt her that she ate what is essentially rotten meat?

I don't think I'm ever going to get the smell out of that part of the floor. GAH! I don't even know how long she hid it...she typically eats all of her food. So for all I know, she could have been hoarding food there for awhile and I just never saw.

 

[dragonmetalhead]

Crocodiles do something similar. If the catch a a large prey item, they stash it underwater for a while until the meat softens and starts to rot, which makes it easier to tear apart and swallow. Since tegus are known to scavenge carrion, I would imagine a little ripened meat won't hurt. As long as it's not festeringly rotten, that is. Either way, it's still gross you have a cache of rotten meat under your couch, lol. I read about this on Ammy's Facebook.