Blue Tegu Hatchlings Eating!!!

[DaveDragon]

They're almost 2 weeks old. They finally figured out raw ground turkey is food. I've got to get some video of them chasing and eating crickets!!!!
MVI_1367_.flv - Video - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

 

[axeslinger39]

WOW!!Dood those things are insane!!Very cute! babies are frigging awesome..Nice!..Axe

 

[ashesc212]

Awww...How cute! I can't wait to feed mine this morning if he'll ever come out of his hide =)

 

[DaveDragon]

Awww...How cute! I can't wait to feed mine this morning if he'll ever come out of his hide =)

Any pics yet??!!

 

[ashesc212]

Nah - he only ate 3 crickets today and refused to eat the turkey. Despite his crazy glass dancing, he wouldn't let us come close enough to the terrarium to get a picture. Hopefully he'll let us get a little closer this week.

Although, we do catch him peeking at us when we are ignoring him lol.

 

[ashesc212]

This is the only pic I was able to get a few minutes ago. I think he finally tired himself out after all that running around.

 

[DaveDragon]

Nah - he only ate 3 crickets today and refused to eat the turkey. Despite his crazy glass dancing, he wouldn't let us come close enough to the terrarium to get a picture. Hopefully he'll let us get a little closer this week.

Although, we do catch him peeking at us when we are ignoring him lol.

AH!! You're learning!! Ignore him when you walk by, just let him see you move around (slowly) and act like he's not there. He'll learn you're not a threat, well less of a threat. This is a major change for him. It's going to take some time for him to get used to it

Cover 3 sides with mylar aquarium background for privacy so he doesn't feel he's living in a "fish bowl". He needs to feel more secure.

I'm setting up a separate tank for the little "runt" my wife calls Peanut. He's constantly getting run over and even though we've seen him eat, he needs to eat more. I have to get some more mylar background for him.

 

[ashesc212]

That's a good idea. I'll go get a background tonight after work. I can't wait to go home and see how the little guy (or gal) is doing!

Glad to hear that Peanut is getting his own tank. He's so sweet.

 

[DaveDragon]

Glad to hear that Peanut is getting his own tank. He's so sweet.

Thanks! He seems to like to snuggle in my hand. I'm hoping he's just trying to absorb heat from me and not something more serious. There's no guarantee that he'll live. I've heard many breeders euthanize all imperfect hatchlings, they don't want to have to spend lots of money on getting them healthy or keeping them alive. We're going to try our best. Like yours in going through, he may get stressed by being separated from his family and not want to eat. He's very small as it is and can't afford to lose weight.

 

[ashesc212]

How many crickets are each of your little guys eating? He ate 4 in front of me yesterday and a few legs (he's kinda of viscious ...I feel bad for the crickets!!!) Anyway, is this too few? He won't eat the ground turkey still.

Two side topics - I still don't have the Accu-Rite (I need to get to Walmart but it's in Long Island) so I am still basing the humidity on that cheap, ineffective hygrometer. Anyway, yesterday I got in and it said 25%!! Now we have another tupperware thing with a little bit of water and a paper towel in it to evaporate near the basking light (don't worry he can't get into it and it's not that full). We also went through and recovered the top so there is a hole where the light fixture goes (which is sitting on the top of the screen) and a hole where the UVB is. What else can I do to bring this up or is the hygrometer completely useless and probably taking an inaccurate reading? It now shows 35/40%.

The other side topic is that this little guy is a late riser which makes me paranoid. My beardie is up and at 'em by the time I leave in the morning and the little guy isn't even up at 8 when my bf leaves. What time do yours get up? I have a paranoid thought that I'll get home and he still won't be up if you know what I mean - I just want to make sure I'm doing everything right and that nothing happens to the little guy.)

One more side note: last night he was friendly with me and didn't run away. He even ate the crickets right in front of me and hunted and everything.

LAST, FOR REAL, SIDE NOTE: I set up the background two cover 2.5 sides of the terrarium.

 

[DaveDragon]

How many crickets are each of your little guys eating? He ate 4 in front of me yesterday and a few legs (he's kinda of viscious ...I feel bad for the crickets!!!) Anyway, is this too few? He won't eat the ground turkey still.

Two side topics - I still don't have the Accu-Rite (I need to get to Walmart but it's in Long Island) so I am still basing the humidity on that cheap, ineffective hygrometer. Anyway, yesterday I got in and it said 25%!! Now we have another tupperware thing with a little bit of water and a paper towel in it to evaporate near the basking light (don't worry he can't get into it and it's not that full). We also went through and recovered the top so there is a hole where the light fixture goes (which is sitting on the top of the screen) and a hole where the UVB is. What else can I do to bring this up or is the hygrometer completely useless and probably taking an inaccurate reading? It now shows 35/40%.

The other side topic is that this little guy is a late riser which makes me paranoid. My beardie is up and at 'em by the time I leave in the morning and the little guy isn't even up at 8 when my bf leaves. What time do yours get up? I have a paranoid thought that I'll get home and he still won't be up if you know what I mean - I just want to make sure I'm doing everything right and that nothing happens to the little guy.)

One more side note: last night he was friendly with me and didn't run away. He even ate the crickets right in front of me and hunted and everything.

LAST, FOR REAL, SIDE NOTE: I set up the background two cover 2.5 sides of the terrarium.

We dump a bunch of crickets in each tank, we watch them eat them for a little while, and later all the crickets are gone. It's hard to tell who's eating how much. Last night I put some turkey in each tank, and (you guessed it!) it was all gone a couple hours later. Yep, we find cricket legs!

If I knew it would be so hard for you to get the Accu-Rite I would have given you one of ours! I'm not worrying about the humidity much, they have water, they run through the water. Soon they'll be changed from newspaper to cypress mulch (which will hold humidity), but then they'll have to be fed out of the tank.

The hatchlings are very young and they probably sleep alot. I turned their lights on this morning at 5:45am and I got a few to open their eyes but no movement. They seem to be most active in the afternoon.

That's great that he ate in front of you! As long as he's eating and active he must be OK. I put the turkey on a small storage tub lid. He'll eat it when he wants to.

 

[ashesc212]

If I knew it would be so hard for you to get the Accu-Rite I would have given you one of ours! I'm not worrying about the humidity much, they have water, they run through the water. Soon they'll be changed from newspaper to cypress mulch (which will hold humidity), but then they'll have to be fed out of the tank.

I have not seen him drink any water =( His tail is shedding and I was going to give him a little soak but by the time I brought the water over he had gone to bed for the night.

That's great that he ate in front of you! As long as he's eating and active he must be OK. I put the turkey on a small storage tub lid. He'll eat it when he wants to.

We tried to leave the turkey on the little storage tub lid all day yesterday and we came home and he didn't touch it.

 

[DaveDragon]

My wife gives them baths every few days, I'm don't think they like it.

I think we'll keep them on newspaper for another week or so and then go to a couple of inches of cypress. Then they'll have to be fed in a tub.

I mix about a tablespoon of Cod Liver Oil and some calcium in a pound of ground turkey. Maybe he misses the fishy smell. DON'T get the oil on you! It stinks and is hard to get off.

 

[ashesc212]

Okay, that's my goal for today. I'm going to get the cod liver oil and see if that'll entice him.

 

[DaveDragon]

I had a hard time finding liquid Cod Liver Oil. All I could find were caplets. Then I found mint flavored! I finally found it at GNC.

It's supposed to help lube the innards and shedding.

 

[ashesc212]

I had a hard time finding liquid Cod Liver Oil. All I could find were caplets. Then I found mint flavored! I finally found it at GNC.

It's supposed to help lube the innards and shedding.

Unfortunately Chris bought the capsules instead of going to GNC so now I have to poke a hole in them and get the liquid out. Oh well, hopefully the little guy will eat some turkey then!

 

[DaveDragon]

EWW!! That's gonna get stinky! Make sure he pokes the holes!!

 

[ashesc212]

I actually went to GNC and got the liquid version anyway but he still won't eat it. He sure does love crickets though. The problem is I can't get him to eat them unless I drop them right in front of him and he sees my hand...I don't want him to become cage aggressive but I also feel like his nourishment comes first right now.

 

[DaveDragon]

Do you count the crickets you put in? He may eat some later without you knowing it. He probably needs to feel more secure in his tank. That'll come in time. He's probably lonely after spending his whole life (2 weeks) with his brothers & sisters. This is a big change for him.

Our little "runt" likes to kill the crickets but doesn't always eat them. It looks like he may have eaten a little turkey for the first time since he was moved into his own tank 3 days ago. He's going to be a challenge to get to grow up.

 

[ashesc212]

I just count the ones eaten in front of me...we only put in a few yesterday morning and we came back and a few were still in there. It's as if he wants us to watch him eat lol. He ate several crickets in front of me last night.

Glad to hear Peanut is starting to eat.