# How to tame aggressive B&W tegu?



## Velimir (May 6, 2015)

*What kind of tegu do you have?* Argentine black and white tegu.
*How old is your tegu?* Juvenile. Exact age is unknown. It was a rescue.
*How large is your tegu?* Mid-size.
*What is the sex of your tegu?* Unknown. I will frequently to it as "he."
*How long have you had your tegu?* Three months.
*Does your tegu brumate or hibernate?* Unknown since he is so new.
*What size enclosure do you have?* 6 ft x 3 ft x 2 ft
*What kind of substrate is used?* Cocohusk fiber, sand, and dirt from petstore dehydrated bricks.
*What kind of UVB do you use (brand and coil vs bulb vs tube)?* Bulb. Soon to be tube.
*What is the wattage of your bulb?* 160.
*How old is your bulb?* Two months.
*How far away is the UVB?* Angled at the top of enclosure. Let's say 1.5 feet?
*Do you use a separate bulb for heat?* No.
*What are the temps (basking and cool side)?* Hot: 140 degrees (I know it is hot, this is why I am switching to tube light soon). Cool: 75 degrees.
*What do you use to measure the temps?* Temp gun.
*What is your humidity?* What do you use to measure it? 80% to 95%. I used hygrometer/thermometer combo.
*What do you feed your tegu?* Turkey, beef, eggs, fruits, and sometimes crickets.
*How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?* Every other day. Evening.
*Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements?* What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? Calcium supplement twice a week. The Reptical brand.
*Does your tegu have regular BM's?* What is this BMs?
*Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?* Vet check is yes. Fecal is no.
*Does your tegu share and enclosure with another tegu?* No.

I am wondering how to make my tegu tame? I am not certain of his history but he came to me extremely aggressive. I try now to tame him slowly by letting him come out of his cage when he wants to. Come to me when he wants to. Etc. He does very well when outside of cage and for a period he was very tame and willing. But then I gave him live pinkies and he has become VERY aggressive. He will attack the glass and shadows and even his tail. He will chase anything near him. He seems fine after a few minutes of being outside of his cage, but this is very scary to remove him from his cage.

I know now that the pinkies were a bad idea. I do not give him those anymore. I also have stopped feeding him inside his enclosure and he is now fed in the bathtub. I try to let him decide when he wants to leave cage, but he will charge at my hands and fall out of the door to the enclosure. I am afraid he will hurt himself one day and have tried putting up a ramp but this does not work.

He is gluttonous. I feed him every other day until he can not finish another bite. Is this enough? Maybe I should be feeding everyday? My vet said they are prone to obesity and he is already a little overweight.


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## N8bub (May 8, 2015)

My boy is a good gu, however if he goes more than a day without eating he becomes more prone to looking for food, kind of actively hunting. He hasnt bit me but he is attracted to quick movements that might resemble prey? Feed a little smaller meals everyday perhaps That will help. He might just be cranky.


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## Rebecca Stout (May 15, 2015)

That's true. I've noticed that about mine. Where when she is really hungry, she is on the hunt, hyper, and whips her head towards things that move. A little nerve wracking lol. When I want to spend a nice time with her, I do it after she's been fed that day, and I wait until she's hanging around the cool side and her body isn't super warm so she's slowed down. I had way more success with taming mine that way (she wasn't aggressive though, so I'm not sure how much this tip could help)


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## Velimir (May 15, 2015)

You guys are most awesome. I took the advice and his aggression has almost gone completely. I can now put my hand into the cage without him running to attack me. He just waddles closer.

I am wondering if this website - http://www.teguterra.com/tegucaresheet.htm - is a good one to reference. I was taking the advice: "Sub-Adults, between 1 and 3 years Feeding: Every other Day." This now does not seem like a good idea. Can anyone tell me what else (if anything) is wrong with that page? Or what I should be willing to change based on my tegu's charms?


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