BTS doesn't care for treats?

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albinogomora
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BTS doesn't care for treats?

Postby albinogomora » Fri May 22, 2020 5:12 pm

Afternoon everyone. Zuko is about a 7 month old Halmahera (Seller said that she was born in November last year, but they were in general pretty fishy so she might be captive born)
20200522_165514.jpg

Ignore the Chemistry HW!
She is timid, especially early on, but warms up to me after a while being out of the enclosure. She's very alert, curious, and loves to use me as a mountain to climb no matter how bad she's at it.

She eats good; a mix of wet cat/dog food ( Blue Wilderness ), endives/dandelion greens and sometimes some fruit. However, I guess it's a pro, but she never eats the fancy stuff. She won't eat insects (I've tried dubias, mealworms) live or dead, bananas, chicken, or anything you'd consider a "treat".

Any idea why? Her appetite seems fine; eating every other day (she'll actually eat some of this stuff if i hide it in her dish good enough) and cleaning her plate. Heat is adequate, the hot spot reaches 100 F, ambient temp in the mid 80s in the day and high 70s at night. Maybe she's just ascetic.

Please let me know what I can do to spice up her diet, and make her more accepting to new foods. Other than endives, nothing really works her jaw muscles, so I'd love some suggestions on harder foods as well.
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albinogomora
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Re: BTS doesn't care for treats?

Postby albinogomora » Mon May 25, 2020 10:38 am

Such great advice :/
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kayla990
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Re: BTS doesn't care for treats?

Postby kayla990 » Mon May 25, 2020 1:13 pm

Tricky to say - if they are eating every other day, then I'd say it's more likely they aren't hungry enough to want the 'treats'. How long have you had them and how are you trying to give the treats? If you're offering them by hand; it may just be a case of building up trust on their side.

As they get older, many people only feed their Bluey a few couple of days a week (for example, if we feed ours on a Monday, we won't feed again until Thursday etc). Maybe it's being picky - or them only wanting to eat what they already know (especially if you've not had them long, can't tell from the post).

I'm curious - why are you specifically looking into treats? For bonding time, mainly enrichment or something else?

Another thing to add - if they are out of the tank too long, they can cool down very quickly with no extra heat source. As a general rule, reptiles won't have much appetite when too cold. Inside the tank, we keep our hot spot slightly warmer at around 113F, though I don't think that would have an impact of the question

I'd say just keep trying different things over time. Some days our little guy will be loving a particular food, then just 'meh' about it another day. You'll figure out with more experimentation :D
- Hons. Degree Animal Management -4 years volunteer in a Zoo -10 years volunteer in animal shelters -Enclosure enthusiast

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