Tegu Taming?

[Tiamat]

So I've had an Argentine red tegu for several months. I am having problems handling her and am looking for advice.

The situation(s):

• She does not run away when she sees me, in fact she normally looks at me
• I made her a hide with pieces of a shirt I've worn to get her used to my smell
• If I stick my hand in the cage, I can get it very close to her mouth. She just flicks her tongue but does not bite, run away, back off, etc...
• I can pet her head to tail with my fingers and she does not bit, run away, back off, etc..
• I can clasp my hand around her body like I'm about to pick her up and most of the times she remains docile
• BUT when I actually do pick her up, she almost always gets stressed out. She doesn't bite or get aggressive. She mainly squirms her body and starts moving her legs around.

At that point I put her down because I don't want to have her associate me with stress.

Any tips/tricks that I could use to tame/socialize her? Could my holding technique just be bad?

 

[Walter1]

Being off of the ground is not typical for them and takes getting used to. Could try while sitting on the ground, lifting and placing her on your lap, then chest , then shoulder.

 

[Tiamat]

Would picking her up to get her to the ground cause too much stress?

 

[Walter1]

Not if you ease into it.

Make sure that you aren't lifting her from above. Always sides and underneath. talk to her as you lift and place her on floor.

 

[ophidia]

To pick her up, slide a hand under her hips, lift, then, as she's coming up, slide your other hand under her shoulders. Make sure that her pelvic girdle and shoulder girdle are supported all the time, then either hold her gently to your chest or try to lay her out on your arm. This is what works best for me with my B&W. I can actually get away with just grabbing her then putting her on my arm now (she's pretty tame now) but if I do the above there's no drama. This is what I've done since I got her as a baby and it works.

Give it a try.