My new babg Tegu!

[Aardbark]

Im so happy, I just got my new baby red tegu!

Ive been reading the forums and reasearching the care of them for a while, and its an amazing lizard. She is my first and I want to make sure she is as happy as possible.

Looking her over, she seems healthy. Clean eyes and scales, no missing toes or lumps. Nothing that I can see that looks unhealthy.

She is getting used to her new cage, for now a 20 gallon tank. Im useing a mid cheap heat bulb and uv bulb, but I orderd a really good and expencive one and its on its way here. The temp on the hot side is about 95-105 and the cold side is 75-85 degrees. I turn on the air conditioner (for me) and each side goes down about 5-10 degrees, is that ok?

The humidity right now is only 50, and Im trying to make it go up. I dont have a mister so I emptied out a 401 kitchen cleaner spray bottle. I washed it thuroughly and rand it through the dishwasher 2 times, but when I test spray, I think I still smell some of the cleaner, so I dont dare use it on the cage. Are there any good ways to raise the humidity?

She has a nice big water bowl so she can drink and soak, and a hide that she likes hideing in. And Im useing cyprus mulch for bedding. I got a rock from the backyard for a basking spot, and its pretty warm right under the heat lamp.

I got her only on friday (yesterday) so I know that she needs time to get used to her new envyronment. But I just wanted to ask the experts some questions.

She lays around a lot, in the cage. Either in the warm spot or in her hide. She explored only a little bit. Is this normal? Also so far she doesnt like being touched in places. I tried to pet her but she doesnt like being touched in the head. When I try she skitters away from me. I pick her up from behind and she will sit in my hand and go to sleep. I tried placeing her on the bed with me, but she didnt like that either and ran all over the place. I know your not suposed to chace them, so I didnt like that. I also tried to take her into the bathtub, and just sit with her for a while. She didnt explore much and stayed as far away from me as possible, and under my leaky faucet.

She didnt eat the first day, but I saw her eat a few crickets today. I dusted them. I tried to give her some ground turkey, but she didnt like that. I tried some banana and she ate one tiny bite of it. Im going to try some egg tomorow.

How long will it take for her to get used to me? And how much do growing babies eat? Id feel better if i saw her eat some more.

Anyway, Im really happy with her, if a bit worried I wont be able to tame her.

Anyone have any tips or comments Id love to hear them.

---

A picture of her.

 

[kellen.watkins]

Your temps sound ok to me as long as the basking spot is 100-110, as for humidity I live in nv and have had trouble with it as well, I have a reptifogger from zoo_med that works amazingly well another thing I did was cover the screen cover on the cage with duct tape and cut outlines out with a knife I have heard of other people using aluminum foil, I also once a week wet down all the bedding except for the top 1/4" which I leave dry, my humidity almost never drops below 80% you wanna shoot for 70 (some people say 60 I personally believe 70) don't worry about him being skittish and not exploring a lot this is normal and he might be this way for up to a couple month especially reds (they are more skittish than black and whites) try and be consistant with turkey and for a bit he might not eat a lot, my baby I feed twice a day or as needed, you can tell if they need to eat by looking at the stomach, a full tegu. will have a round plump smooth belly, as they digest and deficate you will see wrinkles and folds on the. sides of the stomach which is a indication that they can and most likely will eat more. As for taming in general just spend time with him, put your hands in the tank and level out substrate change water just get as much time with your hands in the tank but don't touch him until he comes to you, when you can take him out with no problems let her roam in a tegu safe room and just sit and read or do whtever you can to ignore him his curiousity will bring him to you and just handle you lil guy a lot after that and the older he gets the tamer he will get after puberty.
Hope this helps a lil bit

 

[Aardbark]

Thanks a lot.

Oh I forgot to mention. During feeding I put about half a dozzen crickets in the cage. Some of them are still wandering around. Should I pick them out? I plan on later getting another cage for feeding, but right now I cant afford it.

 

[kellen.watkins]

You should pick them out for 2 reasons, 1. They can stress the animal out and 2. Its not unheard of about crickets feeding on reptiles

 

[Piercedcub32]

i hand feed my crickets one at a time. Worked to tame my colombian and is working very well with my extreme! Something I can add is if you put your hand in the enclosure, and u pull away, it really sets you back, so just leave your hand/arm in the enclosure until they walk on you. I posted a video of my extreme doing just that in 2 days! I'll post another video of him climbing on my hand out of his enclosure and off my hand into his feeding bin!

 

[Aardbark]

Thanks all.

I was slowly making progress this week. She spends most of the time in her hide and undergound. She comes out rarely. Usualy to eat, at around 10 am and 2 pm. After she would eat, I open up the cage and stick my hand inside and just leave it there or mess with the mulch. She never came over to me, and she would be tence looking.

I sometimes would slowly approach her from behind, and pet her back. Yesterday she didnt seem to mind, and even closed her eyes and relaxed while I was petting her.

Today however was a step backwards. I did the same, leaveing my hand in the cage, and slowly move to her. She seemed more tence than yesterday. I was planning on trying to pick her up and do that 'put her inside my shirt' thing but she reeeeealy didnt like being picked up and jumped from my hand. She crawled all over the floor and almost into my air duct vent. She was trying very hard to get away. I wouldnt mind her being on the floor, but my room has a lot of boxes and wires and junk on the floor. She can also crawl under the bed or dresser where I wouldnt be able to get her. I managed to pick her up and she didnt struggle, and I placed her back in her cage. She cowered from me and then went into her hide.

I feel bad. Im trying to do everything I can for her. The only comfort I have is at least she is eating.

Please help me. I placed a sock in her cage, but should I use a shirt instead? I dont know what to do. She doesnt like my hand being in the cage, it seems like its just making her more tence. What am I suposed to do?

 

[Jwcorn126]

First off, the best info you can get is like others have said. Just spend time with the little guy/girl. Theyre extremely amazing animals, but they do take a bit of time to come around to being held/handled. If you have had it for less than a week there is definitely nothing to worry about. Sounds like its just getting used to its new home.

About keeping your hand in the cage can be tricky. If you move your hand too slowly towards her she may feel like its a predator stalking her, but also if you move too quickly it can startle her. Just give it some time and keep working at it.

The fact that you care enough to take the time to make this post and worry about her is a very good thing. But it sounds like youre doing everything right. These little guys are pretty resilient. As long as theyre eating and pooping you have little to worry about if your temps and humidity are as you say they are.

So... just try to calm down, hang out, watch, and enjoy your new little guy Hell come around and you guys will be best friends in no time lol.

 

[Aardbark]

Thanks, that makes me feel a little better.

She is underground right now, and looking like she is trying to tunnel her way out of the cage. Its cute.

Should I just put my hands in the cage and kind of ignore her? Its a little hard to do just because of where the cage is. How long should I have my hands in there? If she is out of her hide and I put my hands in the cage, she freezes. Should I try to pet her or pick her up? I just dont want to reinforce bad feelings in her. Today she surely didnt like me.

Oh, I had one more question. Today when I pet her, she wagged her tail (not like a dog wagging its tail, more like wagging how a snake slithers). It was really cute. But what does that mean?

 

[Neeko]

Looks great. Snake wagging to me is distraction. Eat my tail not me. Or could be to mimic a snake ward off a predator. Simply I think its defensive, correct me if I'm misinformed.