Help with a Colombian?

[Ditzee]

Yes yes I've read they're hard to tame. But in other forums people say it can be done, and I'm determined to try.

Taz doesn't gape but she does get a little hissy.
She doesn't charge but she also doesn't like me. Lol

I haven't had her long but we have our good days and bad days.
Today was a bad day.

She skootered under my bed and we just played cat and mouse for a good 20 minutes. I felt bad for her >:

After I caught her I held her for a few, and gave her a chicken gizz when she didnt squirm from me.

Are there other taming techniques besides putting articles of clothing in their cage? I reward her when she's been good after a handleing sesh but I feel like our progress went backwards today.

Her temps are 105 in the hot, 85 in the cooler. She's just shy of 2 feet long, but still skinny from when I adopted her.

 

[james.w]

Time and patience are you friends when it comes to taming.

 

[Dirtydmc]

Work out the attitude. Out enough warm water in your tub so she has to swim. Let her get tired. That's what they did to Dozer. He's good with Lisa. Hates me.

 

[babyyitslove]

I had a hard time getting ganja out of his new enormous enclosure... by the time I chased him around to get him out for a bath, he was FLAMING pissed off. We now use a snake hook to aid in luring him toward us. Yesterday he crawled right onto my husband's hand after he slowly slid his hand under his chin, pet him and stayed there for about five minutes. This is HUGE for ganja, as he hates my husband and only relaxes when being held by me. We put him on a leash and take him outside to bask... so he's really great about allowing us to harnass him, as he knows it leads to fresh air and natural sunlight. He's just a little Guy.. almost two feet, a little less. He's been through the ringer. ...from pet store to owner, back to a pet store, then to us.

He really has calmed down in the 2 months that we've had him.

It is very possible to tame them. Just be patient and perssistent.

 

[MCoakley]

There is a general belief that the Columbians are hard (or harder) to tame. I don't agree with that at all though. I have a feeling that a lot of people who say "Columbians are hard to tame" have never really worked with them. Yes, I have heard people say that they had really aggressive ones back in the 70's and 80's and that may be where the reputation started - but, let's think about how many people own only Argentines and say things like "Columbians are untamable". I'm not saying every Columbian you meet is going to be receptive and easy to tame - but, with work and effort it is not typically as difficult as people say.

I mean, if you get email "chain" forwards or use facebook you will see people posting silly things like "facebook is going to start charging" without even looking up to see if it's true! People often repeat things they hear without first hand experience...

Also, I have 4 reds (2 of them are babies that I just bought at Daytona NRBE) and one of the babies is harder to calm down than any of my Columbians have been.

That being said, the more you hold and work with your tegu the more comfortable he will be. Think about what the tegu is afraid of - they think they are prey. You can start by showing him that you are not a threat - I am sure this seems like a strange thing to do, but letting the tegu see you with your eyes closed WILL show him that you do not consider him prey (sometimes you might even get your tegu to trust you so much that he will close his eyes when he sees yours closed. My Uro does that all the time - in fact, she closes her eyes first now and opens to check if mine are closed).
Also, think about another thing that most lizards have in common: they are curious! Tegus are no exception, they are very curious - so, let him explore and check out the house (within reason & as long as you are right there with him - even if you are holding him, let him see the surroundings and it doesn't hurt to talk to him in a calm voice "look, this is the bathroom, this is the kitchen, here is the fridge" - it doesn't matter what you say, he is just getting used to you and the house).
When my oldest male Columbian was small I used to sit on the couch with him rolled up in the bottom of my tshirt. He was comfortable because he was "hidden" but he was also close to me and getting used to my scent and being around me.

I take both of my male Columbians to educational talks and they are fantastic around people. I have raised them both for a long time (the oldest I have had for almost 8 years).
I just took home an adult female (34 inches and about 3lbs) from someone I met at a Repticon show... I was told several times that she was really aggressive and she bites. But, she is as sweet as the two males. She went from house to house and I don't know how much handling or taming she has had but she is super sweet and completely tolerable to handling. She will actually sit with me longer than either of my males will! She hasn't huffed at me and doesn't mind me touching her tail at all. The only difference I notice is that she doesn't know what "no" means and she doesn't have name recognition.

My two boys understand "no" (they will try to walk under the couch or slide off the bed and I say "no" and they stop etc) and they both have name recognition. So, you can tame but you can also train. I have read really impressive accounts of training lizards and I think it's fantastic and I believe the Columbians can be trained to the same degree if enough time and patience is put in.

The most important thing, I think, is to enjoy this time with your tegu...

 

[Ditzee]

Lol...funny you said that about facebook posts. I was so tired of seeing them I told people I would start taking them off my friends list if I saw it again.

Good to know! I should be more patient. Also happy she doesn't bite. She's still pretty young, probably 20-22 inches. I'll give her more house tours That's a good idea. Everytime I let her free roam she gets into something she shouldn't. Like a garbage bag.
She does really like bath time so I'll try that for longer as well.
Any tips on harness training? I do live in Oregon and the weather just went down South, but next Spring or Summer she'll be big enough I don't have to worry about her wiggling out of one.
She's very sweet and she has potential. Thank you all for tips! They'll all be put to good use

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Time and patience is your friend, not a lot of people have it (patience) these days but they need it. They want everything now, don't want to work for it and want to be spoon fed information instead of looking it up for themselves. But that's a whole other issue.

Just like every other animal Colombians have their own personalities and some are harder and easier to tame than others. But closing your eyes (softening) and going to sleep in front of them actually works for quite a few animals. It's a non threatening signal as opposed to wide eyes and staring.

It worked with my first Colombian Spaz and Korben responds to it even though I haven't actually fallen asleep in front of him. He's still in that I trust you but don't touch me stage. I can do any and everything I want around him without him moving or huffing, just don't touch him. He has his days when he'll let me slide my hand half way under him and he'll run halfway up my arm. Sit there for a min then jump off,.. but those are few and far between.

I have to really watch him when he does, because he's usually plotting to make a run for it. Lol he'll sit there and look around for a min, then he'll look at me then at the floor, me then back at the floor. But I don't mind,.. I have more than enough patience, we'll get there eventually.

 

[dragonmetalhead]

Kodo is an absolute sweetheart. A bit high-strung at times, but he's never given any sort of trouble. I always put him in his harness when I take him out. I recommend a harness as opposed to an iguana lead as I have found that lizards REALLY don't like to be noosed around the neck, lol. In time, your tegu will get used to being leashed and it will be easier for you to control.

 

[Piercedcub32]

My colombian has never bitten, or even open "his" mouth at me. I have handled him since day 1. He is def. more high strung than my extreme, and can be a handful sometimes. The trust I have with him doesn't always seem to be there as is it with the extreme either. The Col. still gets flighty if I move unexpectedly and there is no way in Hates, I am touching his tail LOL. One thing you may want to try is instead of using the food as the reward, try feeding PRIOR to handling. When I was taming mine, I had a basking light set up next to a chair that I sat in, I would feed him and then pick him up (or waited for him to climb on) and he would sit for a good 45 minutes a day on my arm with the basking light warming him and cooking me LOL. Each lizard is different, but this worked for me. Good luck!

 

[m3s4]

A few things I'd like to add:

I would warm up the UVB light and let it warm up the area beneath it before getting my Columbian Sam out of his hide. The older he got the easier it was to get him out of his hide and put him under the light.

I never try to do ANYTHING with a cold Tegu. They need to warm up in order to be receptive to any kind of taming and/or handling.

I found a good time to bond with any Tegu is when they are soaking in warm water. The water relaxes them and makes things a little easier when it comes to flighty Columbians - as in they can't just run off and try to hide. I think petting them and rubbing on them in warm water isn't so intrusive to them either.

Sam was tame as can be and never required a leash outdoors but only after he was 3 yrs old. Prior to that, he was freaked out by leashes and he was still some-what flighty.

It took me about a year to get things squared off with Sam. No real magic or secret, just spending quality time with him and being very patient, very observant and very um...action-re-action oriented.

The biggest thing is grabbing them as opposed to handling them - they don't like being grabbed and most Columbians are very fond of their tails and don't like them touched.

Also, I'd take him all over...I'd put him in a carrier with mesh sides so he could watch everything everywhere we went.

I think the more you treat them like a companion, one that will readily go where you go, the more they will associate you as a companion so-to-speak. It = win/win for both pet and owner.

Lastly, consistency, consistency, consistency. Let your Columbian get used to repetition, all day every day and you can't go wrong.

If your little guy still won't settle down, don't give up just adjust your approach and tune-in to your tegus body language/