Air force Tegu

[william]

Hey everyone!
My name is William and my tegus name is Lars. Im sure ill be having a lot of questions. First off I have a 1 month old Columbian gold.
First ill introduce myself, Im currently in the Air Force stationed at Dyess Air Force Base in abilene, Ive been here since june 2013. Im a jet engine mechanic and my girlfriend is a defensive avionics troop. We both work a minimum of 10 hours a day. Ive owned a few big reptiles before, obviously starting with a leopard gecko, moving up to a chinese water dragon and then on to an iguana. Ive owned snakes and dogs my whole life. But I gotta tell ya this tegu life. Its Something else. I work 6-5 almost every day and my girlfriend works 10pm-8am. Shes plays with lars when she gets home for roughly an hour, and I get him out again when I get washed up from all the oil and fuel.
-On to Lars
Lars is roughly 13 inches long and I dont know his exact weight because he never stops moving.
He is living in a 55 gallon long tank right now, but I am in the process of building a 6x3x3 for him. He has about 4 inches of moist cypress mulch he can burrow in and he also has a hide above the mulch in case he doesnt want to burrow. The lighting is one heat light rated at 150 and a uvb I cant remember the size. Temperture on hot side varies between 105 and 90. He has a large water bowl and things to climb on throughout his enclosure. His cool side ranges from 75-85 depending on where the other light is placed.
Question Time!
Do gold tegus ever get less feisty?
Is so how long, knowing that hes handled longer than 4 hours a day, hes allowed to roam around his back room as long as he wants but we always make sure that were constantly talking to him and petting him?
Why does he open his mouth at me when I try to pet his neck/top of head area?
Should I let him bite me so he knows im not food?
Why does he arch his back and do large "sneezes" at us when were just trying to pet his back?

Thanks and im glad to be on the site!!
Air Force teguer

 

[Rebecca Stout]

Hi, I'm a new owner too. I'm so glad you said "This tegu life ..something else". LOL. Because I was so caught off guard? I started a private blog!!!! If I get it going well enough, I'll kinda "put it out there" for owners. I really gotta catch it up. Been way too busy. In part because of her omg. ::rolling my eyes:: So anyway, here it is in case you want to take a peek ... it has videos, pics, etc. It's titled A Tegu's Gonna Do, What a Tegu's Gonna Do". Because I was not prepared for the stubbornness, what it takes to tame them, how active they are, etc. http://wolfystegu.weebly.com/ (read from bottom up)

I'll be interested in these answers too.

 

[Josh]

Welcome to the forum! Thank you for serving our country!
Sounds like Lars is still getting used to being handled. He will get less feisty. Just have some patience with him.
His behaviors sound normal for being a little uncomfortable with being touched and handled. It should calm down with time. I would not advise that you let him bite you. You'll want to avoid that.

 

[Aardbark]

Welcome to the site.

All tegus can calm down and be real sweethearts with time, care, and taming. Handling him every day and giveing him his space will definitely help, but there is no way to guess how long it will take. All tgus are different. Opening his mouth, arching his back, and huffing (the sneezing) are all ways that tegus try to scare off the big scary thing trying to pet it, its completely normal. Just keep petting him when he does that, he will eventuly calm down. Some people may let him bite others not, all I can say is that if you do let him bit you, you have to not pull away and not show signs of pain, so he will learn that it wont work to scare you away. Just give him a lot of time and love, and he will sweeten up. It may take a month, or it may take 2 years, but he will eventually come around.

 

[william]

Thank you both very much for the insight. Im prepared to work on him for as long as it takes. Ill try to get a picture up as soon as possible. He loves having his picture taken. That and naps.
Very respectfully
William

 

[jeremy flanagan]

columbians take longer then Argentines to tame and tend to stay a little bit more wild but saying that they will still tame it just takes longer. don't let it bit you tegu can cause serious damage it may not look like it but in rare occasions they even break fingers and can give u a bad infection.

 

[jeremy flanagan]

columbians take longer then Argentines to tame and tend to stay a little bit more wild but saying that they will still tame it just takes longer. don't let it bit you tegu can cause serious damage it may not look like it but in rare occasions they even break fingers and can give u a bad infection.

though a month old u really don't have to worry about that to much you just don't want him getting in the habit of biting

 

[laurarfl]

Colombians can be more defensive, because of their placement in the food chain. However they relax and become nice pets with understanding of their temperament and handling. I recommend that you find someone experienced with Colombians to work with. There is a lot of misinformation out there.