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 #1747678


Greatballzofire
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 An Annoying Feeding Technique

My rescued from the cat kingsnake would not eat the lizard scented pinkie again. So here I am stuck with a perfectly good food item I had to go buy. Then I thought, well, it is meat and it is clean, somebody (besides the cats) might eat this thing. So I cut it up in little pieces, put my alligator lizard in the feeding container, and annoyed him with a piece of the pinky held with forceps. He struck at it and once he got a taste, ate it with gusto. I had been a little worried about him eating. The poor alligator lizard just hid and was not eating until I fed him the pinky. That seemed to cheer him up (as much as a lizard can be cheered), and now I can annoy him with other food items as well! LOL.



05/27/08  12:08am

 #1747740


L1z4rds rul3!
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   Message To: Greatballzofire   In reference to Message Id: 1747678


 An Annoying Feeding Technique

You know, pinkies are not a good staple for allies, very fattening and you can’t gutload them either. That is kind of gross, cutting it up like that, and then it is stressful for the lizard to be teased into snapping and then eating. Will he eat crix? If it is, please don’t stress it out anymore by annoying it. If he won’t eat, maybe there’s a problem with him. Have you checked the temperature and humidity? Has he been eating before you had this problem, or did you just get him?

All I’m saying is make sure you are taking the best possible care of him. Don’t be cruel, or don’t get a lizard.



05/27/08  02:15am

 #1748164


PrinceSushi
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   Message To: L1z4rds rul3!   In reference to Message Id: 1747740


 An Annoying Feeding Technique

Like L1z4rds rul3! said, pinkies aren’t a good staple, but fine as a treat,. It sounds like you already know that. Pinkies make a good energy booster which is why they are good to feed to ill or picky animals.

Allies don’t like people and most won’t eat around people unless force fed, which is stressful for them. Its best to feed them inside their cage and keep track of how many crickets/worms you threw in.

L1z4rds rul3!- Yes, it is gross, but sometimes you just have to do things for your lizard. When I was fostering a sav monitor I used to have to stun live mice, and boil frozen ones. As a fan of mice and a follower of the AFRMA, it wasn’t easy for me.
05/27/08  03:37pm

 #1748359


L1z4rds rul3!
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   Message To: PrinceSushi   In reference to Message Id: 1748164


 An Annoying Feeding Technique

Really, you used to have a savanna monitor? That’s awesome! How big was it? (sorry if I jacked the forum)
I don’t mind gross things that much, but it wasn’t really necessary to cut it up was it? I’m sorry I’m not a fan of mice, but did Greatballzofire really need to feed the pinkie? (btw, do you have a snake? I’m sure the snake would take it) If not, you probably did the right thing, cutting it up then. It might have been better if you tried to feed in the cage as opposed to stressing it out in the feeder cage first.

Does he need to be teased into eating now? Or will he take crix now?
05/27/08  06:41pm

 #1748419


Greatballzofire
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   Message To: L1z4rds rul3!   In reference to Message Id: 1748359


 An Annoying Feeding Technique

To all who replied:
Yes, he will eat little grasshoppers I catch and put in his terrarium now. He just seemed to need a boost, and the pinky meat got him recharged. I had to cut the pinky up because the lizard is too small to eat anything much bigger than a small grasshopper. I have a blue belly lizard in a separate habitat; he eats the grasshoppers with gusto. I am just keeping the lizards for their scent, which is to apply to the pinkies for the snake. Their terrariums are bottom heated on one end with a thermometer for cool and warm, water, natural bark hidey spots, light, rocks and branches to climb on. A 4 inch pot of green grass for the grasshoppers, who need to eat, too. Aspin shavings for substrate, as that is what I have for the snake. The lizards like to burrow in it.. They seem content, eating and getting used to me. I try not to disturb them any more than I have to.
I’ll talk about the snake in the king snake forum.
I really like the way the members here care about their pets. If I do a wrong thing, I know someone will speak up, so good on you all! The welfare of the animals is more important than my ego. LOL.
05/27/08  07:26pm

 #1748655


Greatballzofire
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   Message To: Greatballzofire   In reference to Message Id: 1748419


 An Annoying Feeding Technique

An update on feeding the alligator lizard; while working in the garden I found a big fat wire worm. This sort of creature will burrow into the earth never to be seen again, but I knew my lizard would really enjoy eating it. So I carefully took the lid off the terrarium, and moving slowly, offered the wireworm with the hemostats, just holding the squirming worm within strike range of the lizard. He grabbed it and wolfed it down, then gave me the oddest look, like "You aren’t so bad afterall!"
I am really beginning to enjoy this little dude, a fellow creature with attitude!
05/27/08  09:52pm

 #1748667


PrinceSushi
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   Message To: Greatballzofire   In reference to Message Id: 1748419


 An Annoying Feeding Technique

L1z4rds rul3!- Yes, I rescued it from a local pet store. Normally I won’t due so, but it was a special case. After I ask to handle it, I witnessed something horrible. First of all, he has been given LARGE mice as a staple and they had never been stunned. He had chew marks all over and was unable to shed so he got fungus. The man yanked the think so hard by the neck, I thought he just about killed it. $120 of my money for him and some supplies was well worth it in order to save him. He was very mean the first 3 days or so but then calmed down enough to only hiss instead of tail whipping and charging. I was surprised how tame he was, well as tame as monitors go, since he was so badly abused for 6 months. Once the I got him fat and a vet treated him, he was re-homed to a county rescuer who would care for him long term, if not keep him. Savs are my all time favorite lizard.

Yes, for a lizard that size, cutting would be best. You don’t want any choking to occur. Mice aren’t fun to feed when they are big or alive. Ugg! It was horrible having to whack the things, but he(the sav) wouldn’t accept pre-killed in the beginning. He was so picky. I actually had to start cooking him meals until he started to accept bugs, eggs, and pre-killed mice.

Here he is. He was roughly 20 inches. The gloves were not to protect from biting, he never showed signs of wanting to strike, they were because his nails were VERY sharp and he always scratched me when I tried to balance him in one hand while holding the camera in the other.




Greatballzofire- Sounds like you know what you are doing and have common sense when it comes to caring for your pets. Keep up the good work.
05/27/08  10:08pm

 #1748974


Greatballzofire
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   Message To: PrinceSushi   In reference to Message Id: 1748667


 An Annoying Feeding Technique

PrinceSushi,
What a splendid creature you rescued! A big fatty:)
I’ve rescued dogs and cats from dire situations as well, and even once a dairy cow who was destined to the slaughterhouse just because she had a broken horn.
My little kingsnake is a rescue from my cats; the cats are in a fenced acreage but the fence does not keep out the little critters that come in to the yard and get caught by the cats. I am always saving some poor little soul. Usually I can rescue the animal before the cats have mortally wounded it, but not always. I have NO mice or rats on my property, that’s for sure!
The snake has completely healed from it’s wounds, as is settling in to life in it’s terrarium. I am going to build a wire screen cage habitat for use on the porch deck so I can provide it natural light during the day, and the same for the lizards. At night I plan to put them back in their glass terrariums, for warmth at night. So far I have been able to put the glass terrariums on the porch in the morning, and watch the temperature carefully. The animals really like the sunlight, but I need to provide safer ventilation over the long run, and the full spectrum light will get through the screen better than through the glass.
Oh, about the pinkie, it was a thawed out one. The very thought of cutting up a live creature...YUCK!
05/28/08  09:11am

 #1749130


PrinceSushi
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   Message To: Greatballzofire   In reference to Message Id: 1748974


 An Annoying Feeding Technique

He wasn’t fat when I got him. That was taken on the day he went to his long term foster/possible owner. He had gone through 2 weeks of intense care.

I love cows. We have tons of dairy farms in the area, one is right next to a highschool. When I used to go to that highschool, I remember watching the female cows give birth in the morning.

Most of my animals are rescues, but few aren’t what I would consider rescues(pet store, in good condition, etc.).

I own 4 outdoor cats. Only one is a true hunter, but the others will participate if its an easy meal. In the past two years they managed to get about 3 finches, a dove, and 2 gophers. The most surprising was a HUGE pigeon. They didn’t even eat it, just killed the poor thing. Then again the pigeons around here are pretty stupid, stupid enough to let my cats get close to them all the time. I could probably run over and grab one. As for reptiles, I have never seen one in my neighborhood. Wetlands just aren’t the right place to look for reptiles.

Those outdoor cages are wonderful. Just make sure your screen is large enough. Most screens are able to block out UVB.
05/28/08  01:45pm

 #1749607


Greatballzofire
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   Message To: PrinceSushi   In reference to Message Id: 1749130


 An Annoying Feeding Technique

I plan to use wire window screen. It is tough and will resist damage. I had been thinking of using quarter inch hardware cloth, but I am afraid the little snake will somehow manage to squeeze through it, although it is hard to imagine how, as the snake’s head is bigger than the holes in the hardware cloth. The clever snake has already escaped once, but I found it right away. I put nylon window screen over the top of it’s terrarium and taped it to the outer walls, then put the regular lid back on and bungee corded it on; no more escapes! Kind of a pain to untape to do chores, but better than having the poor little dude dry up in a corner of my house, or get caught by a cat again.
What sort of screen would you recommend that is escape proof and will let the UVB light through?
The lizards are becoming accustomed to me. I caught another batch of young grasshoppers (we are having a good hatch in our dry grass this year) and when I went to empty the jar into the bluebelly lizard’s terrarium, he watched me intently, and as soon as the grasshoppers hit the ground he nabbed one before I had even removed my hand and the jar!
The alligator lizard will accept wire worms on hemostats, which is a lot of fun! Finally a use for the darned wireworms!
05/28/08  09:08pm

 #1749776


L1z4rds rul3!
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   Message To: Greatballzofire   In reference to Message Id: 1749607


 An Annoying Feeding Technique

Well, I hate to tell you, but most everything ISN’t escape proof. Of course, do your best to keep the snake in. How big is the snake? If it’s a hatchling like it sounds like, 1/4" might be too big. Try 1/8, that should let in the UVB. Also, since the snake is wild-caught, it might get restless and rub up against the wire and get its nose raw and scraped up. Don’t use metal if you don’t have to.

Good job with the lizards, sounds like they’re doing well. What exactly are wireworms? Post a picture, I night have seen one before and called it by a different name.



05/28/08  11:47pm

 #1750465


PrinceSushi
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   Message To: Greatballzofire   In reference to Message Id: 1749607


 An Annoying Feeding Technique

As far as I’ve been told, window wire blocks UVB. What about using window wire on the sides and larger wire on top? You could also try creating a litter pan/box type thing on the bottom that is solid.

Ah, way back when I was an elementary student, I remember playing with click beetles. They were rather entertaining. Do you collect the worms or breed click beetles?



05/29/08  08:33pm

 #1750521


Greatballzofire
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   Message To: PrinceSushi   In reference to Message Id: 1750465


 An Annoying Feeding Technique


Wireworms are the soil-dwelling larvae of click beetles.
The alligator lizards love these things. I have two alligator lizards. The smaller of the two is almost tame. I can put him in a big jar with an assortment of wireworms, grubs, and cutworms and he will eat until he is satisfied, then I put the jar on its side back in the terrarium and let the lizard leave on his own. If I put the wire worms and grubs in the terrarium they hide. I suppose the lizards would find them, but the aspin shavings are not very conducive to the survival of the worms. The jar technique seems to be conditioning the lizard to handling; he is easy to catch, and is relaxed about the whole affair. The larger alligator lizard prefers the grasshoppers. He will do the jar thing, too, but is not as willing as his smaller partner, so I leave him be. I am calling all these critters "he" until I find a way to identify their gender.
The snake is about 14 inches long. The eighth inch wire should work. I will look for something that will not hurt his snout if he rubs on it. Tomorrow I am going to try the pinkie again; I have one last frozen pinkie, and if he wont eat that then I will have to get a live pinkie. The last time I tried to feed him a pinkie he actually took it in his mouth, but then spit it out. Hopefully the third time will be a charm!
05/29/08  09:20pm

 #1750677


L1z4rds rul3!
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   Message To: Greatballzofire   In reference to Message Id: 1750521


 An Annoying Feeding Technique

Oh yeah, I’ve seen those before. Click beetles are fun, I agree with PrinceSushi. I wonder if the hard shells could cause digestive problems.
Good luck with the pinkies! My rat snake I got when she was really little, and she was eating pinkies just fine, and now she is totally into mice. A year or so ago, I caught a baby sand lizard (that’s what we call side-blotched lizards around here) and she was unsure of it! I think the snake gets used to eating one thing, and then is reluctant to switch. Like birds on an all seed diet. Maybe rub them with a different kind of lizard? I don’t know.



05/29/08  11:39pm


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