# My red is just a jerk...



## Styx (May 26, 2013)

I came to the realization the other day that I'm pretty sure I will never have the tame sweet tegu I always wanted. I am pretty sure my red tegu, Guts, is just a jerk at heart. I've had him over a year, and he's a little over a year and a half now, and he is generally just not a very nice tegu. I've tried all the tips and tricks there are and he really would prefer to be left alone (and I do mean ALL the tips and tricks, I've had over a year to try all these). He doesn't like to be pet, he give me the stink eye whenever I open his enclosure, he actively dislikes being picked up, and he runs like hell if he sees me coming and it's the end of his free roaming time and if I do something he really dislikes (getting him out of the bath) he doesn't have any issues with gaping and biting. Don't get me wrong, he's not aggressive, he just wants me to leave him alone and never bother him, and merely tolerates me when I take him out to get his food, take him to have a bath, ect.

This doesn't mean I will get rid of him by any means; I'm just a little disappointed that I love him so much and he so obviously dislikes me. Does anyone else have a tegu that's just a jerk? Or, maybe, is there anyone that had a tegu that was a jerk and just took longer to grow out of it (hope shall not be cut off, lol)?


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## chitodadon (May 26, 2013)

Just keep trying

from Samsung Galaxy S3


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## BatGirl1 (May 28, 2013)

I have been hearing about puberty and moody behavior so i would just keep trying. Petting while he's basking. Offering food. Scratching the tail base and top of ' butt ' like a cat likes or the sides of face/cheeks/ears. Seems to be the key petting areas haha.


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## Skeetzy (May 28, 2013)

My guys still little, but was very similar behavior. What broke that was tong feeding in the cage for a little, then making him chase the tongs to outside of the cage. With my cage setup, he needs my assistance to get down out of the cage. After just a couple days of doing that I now have a tame tegu. He doesn't gape/puff up/get nervous anymore at all. I tried everything else too. Each tegus different, keep trying different things. Also box off an area for his free roam time. So he learns he needs your help to get out of the smaller area to explore more. That may help.


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## BatGirl1 (May 28, 2013)

I have heard of/seen similar methods with large/aggressive snakes. They are put in let's say a tub of water. Then you put your arm into the water as their only 'way out '...so they learn over time that the human interaction is safe and also in its way rewarding for them


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## Little Wise Owl (May 28, 2013)

My tegu is a huge jerk. Both of my tegus were/are. Trust me, I know how you feel. My Arg. BW will thrash, whip, bite, gator roll.

I've adopted a completely hands off relationship. He doesn't come out for bathing or eating. His enclosure is high enough humidity that he doesn't need a bath and he gets fed in his enclosure. I've started building trust through tongs. I never, ever touch him but allow him to touch me on his own terms. I'll lead him over my hand or around my arm with a mouse/worm/meat on tongs and cause him to touch me. He's not incredibly food aggressive so I can stick my hands in there without being bitten or charged. He's also seems to associate only tongs with food now so my hands are pretty safe.

Just keep trying. I wouldn't touch him anymore and let him come to you though.


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## Styx (May 28, 2013)

Thanks for the encouragement and extra tips everyone. I've already tried most of them, but I won't ever give up on Guts. I only hope he grows to like attention more than he does.


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## laurarfl (May 31, 2013)

Charlie is my jerk, lol. But in Charlie's defense, he came from a background of multiple homes and some not so pleasant. When he came to me, he was a small adult who did not want to be held or touched. He never tried to bite, but he would roll and pee all over when you had to carry him. At least now he likes to be carried because it means he is going outside.  But he does not want to be petted. And if he is outside with the girls, he doesn't mind stalking your foot and trying to chase it off. Charlie is not really a jerk, he is just 'aloof'. I don't really mind because I knew that when I took him in and I have other tegus that are tame.

I have two yearlings to work with now that are not so tame. The one in my profile pic is really a jerk!!! If she can't gape and try to bite, then she just closes her eyes and shuts down. The other new one came to me yesterday and looks at me like, "please...just keep walking by and leave me alone."

So we'll be in this together for a while. I do believe in the simple association of positive experiences. I learned a lot about it when I was training my Australian Shepherd and applied it to all sorts of animals (and my students). Animals are generally concerned for their own welfare. It's not like they have a long thought process, but you get the idea that they are programmed to habituate toward "good for me" and "not good for me". I like to make myself "good for the tegu." So I keep them in an active area where they see a lot of people when they are young. People come and go and never bother them. People are not "bad for tegu", they are just around. Taking them out of the enclosure to feed makes people "good for tegu". Then the added experience of something enjoyable like free roaming also makes people "good for tegu". It takes slow steps though because "bad for tegu" can take take longer to overcome if something negative happens along the way.


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## Random8A (May 31, 2013)

I couldn't agree more with the above stated. I use the tub o water trick with my queen bee jerk Scarlett my Red female. She wouldn't love anything more then to slap the silly out of me and watch me run in horror. I put her into a warm tub of water and let her relax. When she decides she wants out she asks to come out by putting her feet on the edge, I offer my arm and she climbs right out..looking quite grateful. I then just slowly stroke her head, as I give her what she wants.. her cage and basking spot LOL. When I first pull her out though, I toss a towel over her to limit stress and flailing =) Don't give up!


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## BatGirl1 (May 31, 2013)

Absolutely solid advice ...  i had a 'bad for tegu ' experience because of barking stupid dogs... it took awhile but now i can hold niles in the livingroom again. ( he associated livingroom with bad scary noise)...


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## anelk002 (Jun 1, 2013)

I say keep trying to bin feed. Mine did not like being handled at all either. I used to feed in the cage but decided to change it up and feed in a tote. I had to force mine in the tote for the first week or so. I had to literally get in the cage and chase him around and put him in the tote. He would even get out in the room and run around the room. It was a little frustrating at first chasing him around. After about a week when I opened the cage he would charge my hand. What I would do is just make a fist and he would stop and just smell my hand then I'd grab him. Getting him out of the tote was the best way to tame him as it was a smaller area. I would put my hand in and he eventually learned to climb up my arm to get out. After a few more days he stopped charging completely in the cage and he would just walk up to my hand like in the tote and step on it and then I would put him in to eat. He is very calm now where when I open the cage I just let him walk to me and I put him in. I also have one of my tshirts in his hide.

Just keep trying every tegu is different. My first tegu was a natural sweetheart. Never had to do anything special. I did feed her in the cage though and if she ever charged I just made a fist and she stopped. Just keep working on it


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## Styx (Jun 3, 2013)

laurarfl said:


> Charlie is my jerk, lol. But in Charlie's defense, he came from a background of multiple homes and some not so pleasant. When he came to me, he was a small adult who did not want to be held or touched. He never tried to bite, but he would roll and pee all over when you had to carry him. At least now he likes to be carried because it means he is going outside.  But he does not want to be petted. And if he is outside with the girls, he doesn't mind stalking your foot and trying to chase it off. Charlie is not really a jerk, he is just 'aloof'. I don't really mind because I knew that when I took him in and I have other tegus that are tame.
> 
> I have two yearlings to work with now that are not so tame. The one in my profile pic is really a jerk!!! If she can't gape and try to bite, then *she just closes her eyes and shuts down*. The other new one came to me yesterday and looks at me like, "please...just keep walking by and leave me alone."
> 
> So we'll be in this together for a while. I do believe in the simple association of positive experiences. I learned a lot about it when I was training my Australian Shepherd and applied it to all sorts of animals (and my students). Animals are generally concerned for their own welfare. It's not like they have a long thought process, but you get the idea that they are programmed to habituate toward "good for me" and "not good for me". I like to make myself "good for the tegu." So I keep them in an active area where they see a lot of people when they are young. People come and go and never bother them. People are not "bad for tegu", they are just around. Taking them out of the enclosure to feed makes people "good for tegu". Then the added experience of something enjoyable like free roaming also makes people "good for tegu". It takes slow steps though *because "bad for tegu" can take take longer to overcome if something negative happens along the way.*


 
This. So much this. That is Guts in a nutshell.

I have noticed that if anything goes wrong with Guts it takes him forever to get over it. Even if it's small, it'll take him weeks to get past whatever wrong has been done to him. For example, he had a prolapse in the beginning of the year and he was so upset by the whole experience (who wouldn't be?) that it took him quite a while to get over that - over a month. He still doesn't like the vet as far as I know, and when he went to have his stitches taken out, I just gave his carrier to the vet tech - I didn't even give him to the tech myself because I didn't want him to associate me any more than was necessary with the ordeal of going to the vet. On one hand I wanted to comfort him, but I knew he wasn't seeking comfort from me so I just let the techs and the vet do the stitches removal without me in the room. It seemed to work, he was significantly less upset with me after that visit.

So I am definitely trying to get him to associate positive things with me, like being taken places he wants to go, and being taken to treats.

But he also does the "if I close my eyes maybe it will go away" thing a lot also. Unfortunately, he does that in the bathtub if I offer to help him out, he just closes his eyes and turns his head away. He'll stay like that so I'm not sure what more I can do for the bath tub, considering he refuses to look at me, even if the water is cool and he does want to come out.

Since we're talking about him, I thought I should also post a picture.


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## Skeetzy (Jun 3, 2013)

Wow! That's some truly awesome red. Great looking gu


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## chitodadon (Jun 3, 2013)

Great lookomg red

from Samsung Galaxy S3


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## jtrux (Jul 19, 2013)

That is stunning, I can't believe how good looking he is. I hope he calms down for you. I have a Chacoan coming in next week from teguterra and I'm hoping for a good experience but after seeing yours I almost want a red now.


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## Styx (Jul 19, 2013)

Yes, he may have a prickly personality but at least he is a really nice looking red!


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## Vastra (Sep 5, 2016)

Strax is a jerk. His is a combination of puberty, bad abuse prior to us rescuing him, and moving that just seemed to destroy his whole world. We have a working relationship. I feed him, clean up after him, give him water and he allows me to live with all my fingers intact. We are VERY slowly starting to get over it, but it is taking a whole heck of a lot of work. Strax is currently 2 (best guess) and we have had him for a year. Chin up, do what works for you, but keep trying. He may never be cuddly, but tegus are still awesome. I don't see Strax getting to that point where I can take him out and cuddle with him, but we can at the very least live under the same roof without injury and that is ok for now. lol


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