# Do I leave him be??? Need opinions please...



## SnakeCharmr728 (Jul 13, 2012)

Its been 7 years since Ive had a baby tegu, so I feel like Im learning the ropes all over again.... Im reading a lot of contradicting info out there when it comes to feeding/taming babies... I have 1 baby columbian, and hes TINY!!!!! like barebly big enough to choke down pinky mice.... and I have a hybrid arg hatchling coming from Laurafl next week....
I know everyone has their own way of doing things so my question is what works for you, and what would you recommend...

Ive had my columbian about 1.5wks now --- he is very calm when handled, not flighty at all and seems to be very healthy... however since he is still a tiny little baby he stays burrowed ALL day long... he has the proper setup,heat,humidity the whole deal as Im no newbie to keeping tegus -just not babies... I really want to do right by this guy so that I end up with a very tame columbian...everything Ive read is that never to unbury them or take them out of their hide because you'll lose their trust... however how do I do that if he never comes out? He needs to eat every day, and I feed in a seperate feeding tub but in order to get him out to feed him, I have to unbury him... I do it gently and I don't grab him up, I gently unburry him and let him crawl into my hand, then put him in his bin to eat...he will then stay out to bask for a few mins then goes back to being burrowed... is this a way of doing it without breaking their trust??? Should I not unbury him and only feed him when he comes out on his own? or should I continue to gently wake him and bring him out to eat???

Now with my hybrid arg that Im getting in next week, I'll assume that she'll be out basking more since in my experience the argentines dont burry themselves quite as much as columbians do ....so I'm hoping that I wont have to worry about this as much with her but if not, she's another that I need help with this for... Im not sure if Im wording my question correctly... if anyone is confused on what Im trying to ask, please let me know and I'll try to clarify...


----------



## Neeko (Jul 13, 2012)

My red is always buried... I'll jump up and down to definitely let my presence be know. If she's not out I'll move stuff around in the cage to get here out. In my honest opinion I rather have a healthy wild tegu vs a dead one... She's come around now and usually is out but still is a pita.


----------



## HeatherN (Jul 13, 2012)

i had to chase my new extreme around to get him to eat, big mistake on my part, having to disturb him in his hide, now he hasn't shown his little face for a loooong time, just my experience, and ima leave him be now lol


----------



## james.w (Jul 13, 2012)

Earning their trust is the best way to go in my opinion. Let them come to you, spend time around the cage and with your hand in the cage, cleaning, feeding, changing water, and simply rearranging so he can see you are not a threat. Try tong feeding, it worked wonders with my Savannah monitor.


----------



## dragonmetalhead (Jul 14, 2012)

If he's hungry, he'll come out. Once the trust is built, occasionally pulling them out of a hide won't bother them too much. At least that's how it is with Kodo.


----------



## Vince (Jul 14, 2012)

I leave them be when they're burrowed. I had to take my last tegu to the vet, and had to dig her up out of her burrow once in order to get her to the appointmnet on time. She was a very unhappy lizard. Pretty much had to start the taming process over from scratch after that.

My new vet has a drop off service in the morning, so after that I was able to get the tegu out the evening before when she was out and about and just let her sleep in a large tub the night before and run her in and drop her off tub and all the next morning.


----------

