# Rough day with Reptar :/



## CmoneyAA (Feb 21, 2013)

Rough day with Reptar *sigh*
So frustrating ! So this is my second consecutive day of try to take him out of his enclosure to eat. He huffed a little but let me take him out of his cage but once I lowered him to the feeding box he jet around my living room (behind counters and couches) I was picking up and moving everything trying to chase him . He bit me about 4 times that round but I was using the sweater trick so he didn't get my skin. He finally let me pick him up and I put him by his food which he just sat still at and stared at until he attempted to run away again I got bit about 5 more times lol ! He then let me pick him up again so I just soaked him and he pooped out a piece of cypress :/ which sucks because I'm trying to feed him outside the cage but he wouldn't eat (he did the first day) and I'm trying to avoid feeding him in his cage for that reason alone that he already had pooped out a piece of cypress which means he could have gotten impacted . Anyways , now I have to leave for work and I just threw some food on a plate in his cage and of course he came back out and ate :/ . He's a 4 month or 5 month old Colombian so I'm sure that explains everything . I'm just worried about an Impaction. Should I keep trying to take him out tomorrow after this big set back today ?


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## Dubya (Feb 21, 2013)

Put his food on a paper plate and feed him inside the cage. Taking him out seems to be stressing him. He will be ok eating in the cage. Gwangi always eats inside his cage and he is great. Just don't feed from your hands.


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## bfb345 (Feb 21, 2013)

yeah i was going to comment the same thing on the other tegu forum


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## CmoneyAA (Feb 21, 2013)

Hmm ok when will I know that I can start taking him out of the cage ?


I really thought I was doing good with him but ya the signs do show he gets pretty stressed if I pet or try and lift him up. He's fine when I'm messing around in his cage though


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## bfb345 (Feb 21, 2013)

while you are messing around in his cage just kind of pet him on the head move slow and slowly stroke him my tegu loves being petted on the cheeks lol after awhile you will be able to pick him up and you will progress from there


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## CmoneyAA (Feb 21, 2013)

Ok thanks ! I will just feed him inside and try and give him love while he is in there thanks


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## BatGirl1 (Feb 22, 2013)

Yes, and if you can gradually let him walk onto your hand, like pet him and keep talking calmly to him and then slide your hand under his chin area and push slightly...see if he'll willingly sit on your hand. In the cage. Baby steps of trust. Then try lifting when he's on your hand, etc. Just do a little more each day. I was told the remember everything...so let all interaction be pleasant and on 'his terms '. Let him *think* he is in control. If he starts to think of you as threat or predator now, when he is big how much worse will that be? So always try to make your interactions with him slow and safe for him. I do understand you had to kind of chase him so he wouldn't get away or hurt himself. That was not your fault. But now you must try to 'erase ' that from his memory. Good luck and don't give up 

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They* haha. That was driving me crazy 

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## CmoneyAA (Feb 22, 2013)

Thanks Batgirl ! All of this is very helpful. As of now I tried to pet him today and he was very huffy and puffy :/ kinda sucks but I guess it's just baby steps.The only 2 things I'm worried about is Impaction cause he likes to swing his food around and him not coming around or being pissy with me from now on. He always huffs before I'm about to pet him but usually stops if I pet under his chin but usually freaks if I pet on top of his head.


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## Dubya (Feb 22, 2013)

Gwangi was just like the others above. I just petted him and scratched his back and eventually, he started climbing onto my hand. He always liked to climb up to my head, but I had to put an end to that really fast. Now, all I have to do is put my arm in the cage and he will always climb on and up to my shoulder. You will make a lot of progress in the 3rd or 4th month once he gets bigger and calmer.


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## Scott_k (Feb 22, 2013)

One thing you can try to do is the shirt trick. Take an old shirt that you've worn and place it in his cage. I think this works. I've had great results with it and not just with my tegu. I usually put the shirt or pieces or the shirt in the hide. It helps with them getting to know your scent. When my guy was younger I also used tong to feed him part of his meals which I believed helped with trust and lowered his food aggression. I feed him rodents with the tong but in his early days I would take a few mealworms and tong feed them to him. Tongs are good for baiting them if they go in hard to reach places. Once he was comfortable with me I started feeding him inside and out. Now he will eat anywhere.


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## CmoneyAA (Feb 22, 2013)

Thanks for the tips guys ! I will try all of these !


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## CmoneyAA (Feb 24, 2013)

Yeah they certainly do remember everything. Now when I try to pet him he runs into his cave and hides lol damn this sucks. I was hoping my guy wouldn't be one of the difficult ones. I'm so jealous of everyone else's great stories ! Lol I just wanna hang out with my little guy you know ?!?!?


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## Aardbark (Feb 24, 2013)

No one really has a lizard that is perfect in the begining. It took a lot of time and work, just to get my Zilla to not freak out at me. She is still difficult, ans she is a year and a half later. But progress is always being made.

But its definitly worth all the work. Also, I love the name, Reptar.


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## CmoneyAA (Feb 25, 2013)

Thanks for all the tips and tricks ! I love the name Reptar too I had to name him that !


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## CmoneyAA (Mar 1, 2013)

**Update** For the past few days since the incident Reptar has been running to his cave whenever I open the cage or hiding from me when I move stuff around in his cage. Today like everyday once again I opened the cage to try and pet him and instead of running he rapidly licked my fingers and let me pet his chin and jowls. He huffed and puffed just a little and mostly when I pet him on the top of his head or back( I'm finding out he hates this right now probably won't when he gets to know me more though). I pet him for a while and he seemed a little more comfortable with me again. I was on the way to work so after I pet him and talked to him for about 10 min I put some food in his cage and left. I'm really trying to work more twords feeding him outside the cage but he comes out a little before I have to go to work so I don't have time to take him out and spend time and feed him and by the same I get home around 4 or 5 pm he's back burrowed in his cave . This tiny progress excites me though


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## KritterKeeper (Mar 1, 2013)

I believe most of the rest of the people who commented have argentines so you cant really compare their tame tegu stories to a columbian. My columbian took awhile to warm up to me and hes still not completely tame. Ive had him for 5mo. and he still cant stand it if i touch his back or tail but he will sit on my hand as long as im not trying to restrain him and he likes to chill on my shoulder. I feed mine in a rubbermaid tote and when i first started doing that he wouldnt eat if he could see me or hear me and now he doesnt care and he'll jump right out of his cage into the tote lol. I tried feeding him in his cage and i stopped because he started going for my hands so im sticking with the tote feeding. Hes at least 25" now and id like to avoid being bitten if at all possible...


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## CmoneyAA (Mar 1, 2013)

Yah I totally know what you mean Kritter... The only thing keeping me from trying it everyday now is the fact that Im always in a rush when I work morning shifts. Maybe I will just have to wake up earlier and see if he's up to try and feed him in his box.


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## KritterKeeper (Mar 2, 2013)

I work early in the morning too so my guy eats in the evening after i get home. Do the best you can but I think its hard for alot of ppl to always feed at the exact same time so i wouldnt worry too much about it as long as hes being fed ya know. I used to have to take him out from under his rock because by the time id get home he was hiding but hes out alot more now and he knows the routine so when he sees me putting stuff in the feeding tote he gets all excited lol


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## BatGirl1 (Mar 2, 2013)

I'm so happy for you! I know that with time and patience he will come around.  yes I have an argentine...but for example I have a cuban knights anole which was crazy scared aggressive rescue. He used to flip out if he even saw me.snapped at me. Now at times I can hold and pat him (with gloves just in case  )... sometimes I feed him a supplemental mixture so it was imperitive that I be able to hold him.


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## CmoneyAA (Mar 2, 2013)

So you guys are suggesting that I feed him outside of his enclosure even if I have to dig him out of his cave when I get home ? This morning he was awake but still I didn't have enough time to feed to wrestle around and get him calm so I could move him to his feeding tote so I just have him a good petting and talking to once again and then put his food in his tank. He doesn't even seem to care at all when I put food in the tank he doesn't even budge from his basking rock. He never seems in a huge rush to eat but he eventually does. So I'm thinking he has no cage aggressiveness at all YET but I still will try my hardest to get him feed in his tote so he doesn't develope this aggression. 


He seems to be coming around again. He doesn't freak out at all or breathe too hard when I lift off the screen and he lets me pet his jowls and chin with very minimal huffing but he hates to be pet on the back or top of the head. I figure this has to do with the fact he doesn't like my hand coming up from behind because he is not fully comfortable with me yet. Tomorrow I will wake up extra early and hope he is up to feed him in his tote. I really do not like the idea of digging him out tho.


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## BatGirl1 (Mar 2, 2013)

I don't think anyone would advise digging him out. I was told not to. Also, I know some on the forum feed in the enclosure with no problems. I don't know specifically how columbian behaviors differ from argentines, but I read they do tend to burrow and hide more. I think your work schedule maybe isn't on 'his ' schedule and so you miss interaction, am I right? I wonder if maybe his 'daylight ' time could be adjusted to your 'at home ' time? I believe others on the forum have done this right? I'm not sure what thread it was on. Just some ideas.


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## KritterKeeper (Mar 2, 2013)

I know its frowned upon to dig them out so i wont say you should do that but what about leaving out his food after you get home? Perhaps after a bit he'd come out looking for it later in the day. From the very beginning my guy has preferred to be under the slate in his cage rather than burrow so ill admit i used to just pick up the rock and take him out and in my opinion its done no damage as far as how he 'feels' about me. I felt it was necessary at the time and he knows feeding time is in the evening now and hes usually out.
As far as feeding in the cage, as some people have said, its totally up to you. My guy recognizes his food bowl and launches at it and ive had to yank my hand out of the way multiple times to avoid being bit. Hes not nearly so crazy when he goes in the tote so thats just what im sticking with.


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## CmoneyAA (Mar 2, 2013)

As of now my guy doesn't react at all when I put food in the cage he doesn't even bat an eyelash . He even won't go after it for like 20 min then eventually he moves slowly over to the plate and eats. Still I would like to get him on a regular feeding schedule outside of his cage. The crappy part is that my work schedule always changes some times I work day shifts for a week then all of a sudden I will have night shifts. Tis the restaraunt life lol. Even on the days I don't have time to take him out I will make an effort to pet him and talk to him for awhile before I leave for work


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