# How to potty train



## Redman (Apr 3, 2011)

See I would like to have a tray of sand or something absorbent in the corner of the tank ,when i get my tegu, where he will frequently go.so i am asking how to potty train a tegu?


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## montana (Apr 3, 2011)

If you can`t get him to go in his bath then you can see what he does and learn how to work with that ...

It will take time and if you have to work or be gone a good part of the day it may be far more difficult..


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## Moondust (Apr 3, 2011)

You cant potty train a tegu....their not like a dog or cat even though they are highly intelligent. However, people usually put their tegu in a warm bath so they poop in there and its easy to get out/drain.


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## reptastic (Apr 3, 2011)

You cant potty train a tegu persay like a ferret or a cat, however you can get your tegu to go somewere other than the enclosure. What i did that worked for me was i would take my larger tegus outside and let them roam in the yard until they pooped, eventualy this became the norm for them, during the winter months and for the smaller tegus i used the tub with warm water. I rarely had a tegu poop in the enclosure and even then only the smaller ones did. You have to be persistant and get a schedule and you stick with it. I have noticed tegus like to get a routine and they arent to happy when it changes.


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## Toby_H (Apr 3, 2011)

As others are saying, you cannot potty train a Tegu....

But you can learn what your Tegu prefers and set things up so that it works for you and him. 

My Tegu does not like to use the bathroom in his enclosure, and he does like to use the bathroom in warm water. So when I take him out of the enclsoure I put him in a warm bath and he uses the bathroom. Then I can safely let him free roam the house. Accidents happen but are rare.

This process is much more like our Tegus training us, than us potty training our Tegu.


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## Kebechet (Apr 4, 2011)

When you see your tegu about to go potty (they start doing the little butt-raise dance) scoop them up, and get them into the bathtub (this if if they're free-roaming at the time) Otherwise, before you bring them out to eat, or do anything, take them straight to the bathtub with some warm water. Make this your routine, and eventually your Tegu will understand that is where it should go potty. Mine actually comes up and scratches at the glass of his cage to be let out and taken to the tub to poo. He doesn't get fed, or roaming time until after he's been in the tub for about 10 minutes to see if he'll poop. Usually he goes within the first couple of minutes. 

Sometime in the future, I'll be getting a litter pan, or a sterilite tub and putting water in it for when he free roams. I'll start taking him to this instead of the bathtub, and I figure he'll probably start to understand after a bit, that he goes potty there. They're pretty smart lizards. They respond really well to routine.


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## jmulley6 (May 8, 2011)

maybe mine is just an odd ball but he has paper trained himself. i noticed him only pooping in one spot of his enclosure for a while now so i have just replaced that spot with newspaper or paper towel for easy clean up.. i m working on getting him to go to the paper while free roaming now.


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## Skullson (Jun 7, 2020)

I bought puppy pee pads when I first bought my little dragon. A year later and I can tell you she prefers to go on the pad or water bowl then her substrate. She is still young and I plan to keep it up! They are so smart!


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