Troubled eater...will only eat so much out of enclosure...

[Keeps]

Another help topic from me :s well, my girly has had no problem eating, she eats fine, is never picky (unless you try and give her veggies, then no bueno) I've fed her out of her enclosure ever since I've had her (since she was 2 months) and she has never had a problem eating. But, recently I started testing to see if she was still hungry, because she would only eat a few bites here and there when I had her in the feeding bin. Today, she ate 2 hearts or so, and a gizzard, then hopped out of the bin and started walking around, I let her roam a bit & when I got ready to put her back I tried to feed her in the bin once more before she went back in for the day. Just to test, I put her in with her plate of hearts/gizzard/liver and she ate some more, nearly finished the plate. Anyone else have this problem, or any ideas as to why she would rather eat in her enclosure? I wouldn't have a problem with this if my huge bag of mulch came in, but she's on loose bedding that will stick to the food and she likes to rub her face in it & cover the food in substrate...

:huh:

 

[hanniebann]

I'm probably not the best answer, but my guess is simple. She may be just more curious and adventurous than hungry. In her enclosure, it's just too familiar to her and she is eating out of boredom? I'd imagine that if she's hungry enough, she'd stuff her face, and if not.. well, she'll get there. My monitor is similar, he has to stop and notice the food in front of him, and if he doesn't he everywhere else instead.

 

[Toby_H]

I agree with Hanniebann on this one...

She sits in her enclosure all day with little to do, then she is offered free roaming or bin feeding at the same time. Since 'the grass is always greener on the other side', she eats a bit then wants to roam. Then after roaming a bit she would rather eat.

My pattern has become to let my Tegu out, soak him and poop him, free roam, then when he goes back to his enclosure I feed him. I didn't necessarily design this pattern, it is just the natural result of what has worked well for us.

 

[Keeps]

Alright, I'll switch things up and see if she'll eat more. Could there be any chances of her not eating enough at the moment? Doesn't seem to look like she's losing weight.

 

[Toby_H]

Think of it like this…

If you were hungry and arrived at an event that was full of things to do… Wouldn’t it make sense to grab a quick bite to take the edge off the hunger and then check out everything that’s going on. Then as you settle into things sit down and have dinner…

You coming home and opening the enclosure door is a big event for your Tegu

 

[reptastic]

I wouldnt worry to much about it, tegus have their days when they will eat til they almost burst and then days were they are finicky...if you are worried about your tegu eating inside the enclosure, dont feed him for a few days then you offer him his meal in the area in which you want to feed him.

 

[Keeps]

Think of it like this…

If you were hungry and arrived at an event that was full of things to do… Wouldn’t it make sense to grab a quick bite to take the edge off the hunger and then check out everything that’s going on. Then as you settle into things sit down and have dinner…

You coming home and opening the enclosure door is a big event for your Tegu

Makes sense, thanks for the input. I'll work on getting her out before feeding, so she can get her hearts full of exploring Then we'll see how she does on her meals. Thanks again.

 

[txrepgirl]

I wouldn't feed her inside the enclosure ( she could get impacted ). It's also confusing to her then if you let her eat in the bin and then in the enclosure, too. You might have a problem later on with her not wanting to eat in the bin at all any more. Have you tried to give her a bath after she ate the first time ? She might poop in the water and then is hungry again after that. Mine do that sometimes. Since you let her free roam around you could put the plate on the floor and let her go to it when she wants to eat.

 

[hanniebann]

lol I tried that with my monitor... he got eggs all over the wall and floor where the plate was. lol. Now he gets fed in the bath tub.