Draco is a male Argentine B&W, hatched in 2019. I got him last September, and he went down for brumation in October. He’s now back up, and seems to have developed a whole new personality. Every time I reach a hand out to him, we play his favorite game show: “Is He Curious, Or Is He Hungry?”
So, some specifics. He eats well—he’s primarily eating pinkies, Reptilink (uncased megablend, ‘cause he’s still too small for the links), and chopped up chicken hearts and gizzards with veggies and fruit. Since he’s come back up for the Spring, he’s been a much more aggressive feeder, and absolutely attacks whatever I put in front of him. I don’t typically feed him from my hands (with the rare exception of offering a piece of fruit that way), and either set a bowl of food in his enclosure, or tong feed him. He’s not a huge fan of being picked up yet, so I haven’t been removing him from his enclosure to feed.
I don’t try it until he’s finished eating because I know it’ll end in tragedy, but sometime after he’s eaten, I will put my hand in and hold it out to him to see if he’ll climb up. He doesn’t seem afraid or aggressive, when I do this. He’ll come right up to me, tongue flicking like crazy, look at me from several angles, then chomp. I can pet him, as long as I get behind his head to where he can’t see my fingers—he will sit still, and seems to enjoy it (or at least tolerate it), but if he sees my fingers, they’re finger food. And I do make sure I either haven’t touched food with my bare hands, or I’ve washed my hands before trying to handle him, so I shouldn’t smell like food.
I am extremely pale—maybe he’s confusing my fingers with pinkies? Or maybe he’s just a jerk who likes to bite the hand that feeds him. I don’t know!
Any ideas on how to convince him that fingers are friends, not food?
So, some specifics. He eats well—he’s primarily eating pinkies, Reptilink (uncased megablend, ‘cause he’s still too small for the links), and chopped up chicken hearts and gizzards with veggies and fruit. Since he’s come back up for the Spring, he’s been a much more aggressive feeder, and absolutely attacks whatever I put in front of him. I don’t typically feed him from my hands (with the rare exception of offering a piece of fruit that way), and either set a bowl of food in his enclosure, or tong feed him. He’s not a huge fan of being picked up yet, so I haven’t been removing him from his enclosure to feed.
I don’t try it until he’s finished eating because I know it’ll end in tragedy, but sometime after he’s eaten, I will put my hand in and hold it out to him to see if he’ll climb up. He doesn’t seem afraid or aggressive, when I do this. He’ll come right up to me, tongue flicking like crazy, look at me from several angles, then chomp. I can pet him, as long as I get behind his head to where he can’t see my fingers—he will sit still, and seems to enjoy it (or at least tolerate it), but if he sees my fingers, they’re finger food. And I do make sure I either haven’t touched food with my bare hands, or I’ve washed my hands before trying to handle him, so I shouldn’t smell like food.
I am extremely pale—maybe he’s confusing my fingers with pinkies? Or maybe he’s just a jerk who likes to bite the hand that feeds him. I don’t know!
Any ideas on how to convince him that fingers are friends, not food?
