tegu not eating much?

[Colin Vestrand]

my argie tegu seems to not eat that much... i'll feed as much as he'll eat, but i seems he'll only eat the equivalent of about a 1-1/2" square piece of food per day. i'm giving him ground turkey with mangos, kiwis, and other fruits mixed in with supplements as well as superworms. actually a superworm bit him and he hasn't eaten one since... but yeah - i thought these guys ate a lot more? even if he still is a baby...

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

Try mice too. A varried diet is best. hard boiled eggs as a treat are good. Crickets, roaches, and most any bugs

[mr~python]

keep your hands off and let him get comfortable and acclimate. he'll start eating more, start offering more insects like pork chops suggested.

have you been trying to handle him? a lot of people think if you just start handling the monitor it will start to like you and become tame but thats not the case. you have to gain their trust first, and let them come to you.

my ackie would only eat 2-3 crickets a day when i first got him. i didnt handle him and i let him settle in. now he eats a load of crickets everyday and a mouse pinkie once a week. im working on 'taming' him now. today i stuck my hand in his cage and he came up to it and started investigating and flicking his tongue, then he backed up and i took my hand out.

[Razaiel]

keep your hands off and let him get comfortable and acclimate. he'll start eating more, start offering more insects like pork chops suggested.

have you been trying to handle him? a lot of people think if you just start handling the monitor it will start to like you and become tame but thats not the case. you have to gain their trust first, and let them come to you.

my ackie would only eat 2-3 crickets a day when i first got him. i didnt handle him and i let him settle in. now he eats a load of crickets everyday and a mouse pinkie once a week. im working on 'taming' him now. today i stuck my hand in his cage and he came up to it and started investigating and flicking his tongue, then he backed up and i took my hand out.

That's right - I started off trying to handle too soon. It's hard but worth it in the long run (I'm told ) I only ever try and touch mine when he's out - yesterday he let me touch the side of his head.

Do you others find that certain times of the day they tend to be a bit more sociable? Also I've found I can read "monitor body language" a bit more now.

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

That's right - I started off trying to handle too soon. It's hard but worth it in the long run (I'm told ) I only ever try and touch mine when he's out - yesterday he let me touch the side of his head.

Do you others find that certain times of the day they tend to be a bit more sociable? Also I've found I can read "monitor body language" a bit more now.

LMAO!! The only body language I can get close enough to read is a hiss and a full hearted attempt to bite

[Razaiel]

Surely he has some moments when he erm "tolerates" his human companion? They seem to have mood swings - sometimes they're amenable to touching and sometimes they're not - and I just choose my moments. If he draws back and flashes his eyes red at me and puffs a bit I let him be. If he just stays right out there and shuts his eyes I've taken that to mean "OK, Human, you can scratch my head for a minute" (if I've got the time I then might lift him out on my lap for a minute and let him go back when he wants to). If he stays out and just looks - it can be touch and go - he normally tolerates it otherwise he retreats.

I learnt to read parrot body language to avoid being bitten - so I'm trying the same with him - so far it's worked. I got bit yesterday but that was feeding my smallest rankin dragon - it was so funny to see that little critter grabbing the end of my fingers and not letting him go - he thought it was a giant waxworm methinks!