Biting correction

[Schnab]

I know I've been asking for alot of advice from you guys, but every week or so my tegu always does something that intreegs me.

I'm still trying to get him used to my hands in the tank, I have no trouble putting him in a feeding bin, but it's to tame the little @#!*%. I presented my hand with an open palm and laid it not too far from him. He's in his basking spot, notices me and comes to investigate: good. Until he starts to press his nose between my fingers, then he tries to dig at my hand, and then he starts to bite at my hand as if it was food. I washed my hands before even putting them in there. He drew blood. He does this to me almost each time he comes and investigats my hand. Now if he keeps this up, I'm not interrested in having a 5 foot lizard that bites.

What's the tegu's prolem?

Oh and my situation keeps getting worse. Just now my boyfriend made the tegu break the tip of its tail off, and I'm worried of it getting infected. :cry: With him always interviening with the taming process I'm seriously starting to have doubts of the tegu ever being tame. :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

 

[Aranha]

Wow im acutally suprised that noone awnsered this thread. Im from sweden and well all the tegus we get here are imported from the netherlands. I used to have 2 but gave one away due to him being on the wild side.

As it turned up the other tegu turned up to have worms (dun know you call them in english) which made him feel hunger like constantly. You might wanna try giving him some medicine for that and also you really want to train him to not identify your hands as food. I personally use gloves and feed him out of the enclousure to make sure he doesnt identify my hands as food.

As for the tail you should just get some meds found at your local pet store and some cottun just to make sure it doesnt get infected.

Hope it helps!

//Marco

 

[DaveDragon]

I must have missed this thread.

Don't worry about the biting. To him you're a predator swooping in from above to attack him. He's just defending himself. Sit down next to him and read a book as often as possible. Don't look at him. Let him know that you're not a threat. Put a t-shirt, you've worn, in his tank and let him get used to your scent. He'll get curious about you and come over to check you out. Soon you'll be able to put your hand in there without getting bit.

Bobby explains it better. http://www.tegutalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21

 

[Schnab]

Thanks for the help guys but i posted this thread a while ago and he stopped the bitting. We figured of way to make him stop XD just comes to show how intellegent tegus are: each time he'd start to show signs of bitting we'd make a fist and gently punch him on the tip of his nose. Just enough for him to get the message. It's all good now though.

 

[DaveDragon]

That's great news. Basically any method that shows you're not a threat and you're not afraid of him should work, without being aggressive toward him.

 

[Kharnifex]

you know, calmly walking up to his hand and then pushing his nose against it before biting, really really sounds like a feeding response not so much like aggression, try stuffing him silly with rat pups or turkey and seeing if he still tries to bite.

 

[damo]

my tegu bite my son last night oops we are using a feeding bin but he is still abit cage agressive what should we do when giving him hoppers as we have been throwing a few in his cage daily my lad has a bit of a scratch and his pride is hurt but he is ok tegu bites do hurt even at a year old we are going to persever with our tegu any advice would be appreciated

 

[DaveDragon]

my tegu bite my son last night oops we are using a feeding bin but he is still abit cage agressive what should we do when giving him hoppers as we have been throwing a few in his cage daily my lad has a bit of a scratch and his pride is hurt but he is ok tegu bites do hurt even at a year old we are going to persever with our tegu any advice would be appreciated

When our B&W was 6 months old she bit me a broke the skin!! And it hurt!!

Throwing food in his tank is not good, then he will think every time the top is opened food is coming. Use Bobby's taming post to get him used to you. Take it slow and earn his trust. It may take some time but it will be worth it!

http://www.tegutalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21

 

[DaveDragon]

my tegu bite my son last night oops we are using a feeding bin but he is still abit cage agressive what should we do when giving him hoppers as we have been throwing a few in his cage daily my lad has a bit of a scratch and his pride is hurt but he is ok tegu bites do hurt even at a year old we are going to persever with our tegu any advice would be appreciated

When our B&W was 6 months old she bit me a broke the skin!! And it hurt!!

Throwing food in his tank is not good, then he will think every time the top is opened food is coming. Use Bobby's taming post to get him used to you. Take it slow and earn his trust. It may take some time but it will be worth it!

http://www.tegutalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21

 

[DaremoAlpha]

When I open my tanks ( all front sliding doors by the way) I make a fist knuckles down and present my hand that way to them to flick... hand is to big to be bit that way and with my tanks i come in at their level also.

Schnab---tell your boyfriend if he wants to tame a tegu either go get his own or play with your when you are not!!! Same as dogs or kids when training them... you can only have one voice of authority at a time.

I feed all my critters in their own tanks and use tongs to do so.
When they see the tongs and the giant tray of snaks they know and when there is no tray they also know that it is time to come out and visit.

Minor injuries and tail breaks....neosporin same as what you would use for yourself..... is cheap and works great.

 

[Schnab]

my tegu bite my son last night oops we are using a feeding bin but he is still abit cage agressive what should we do when giving him hoppers as we have been throwing a few in his cage daily my lad has a bit of a scratch and his pride is hurt but he is ok tegu bites do hurt even at a year old we are going to persever with our tegu any advice would be appreciated

Just cose your son got bit, he shouldn't let that hurt his pride. **** happens, especially with reptile, getting bit is part of the hobby. And besides, it helps the herpers correct and improve their techniques. As DaveDragon said before, you really shouldn't be feeding him inside his tank. His food should be waiting for him in a feeding bin.

 

[Schnab]

Schnab---tell your boyfriend if he wants to tame a tegu either go get his own or play with your when you are not!!! Same as dogs or kids when training them... you can only have one voice of authority at a time.

Minor injuries and tail breaks....neosporin same as what you would use for yourself..... is cheap and works great.

After the tegu lost his tail, my boyfriend freaked and had a guilt trip lol. He stopped trying to tame it cose he saw that my way works :lol: I told him to stick to what he knows cose his way of taming works fine with snakes, but tegus are kinda like birds when it comes to taming: they both need time and patience for trust to build.

Anyway, I kepped the tank clean and now Dino's tail is growing back nicely in the sense that there was no infection. I personally find that his tail looked better without the re growth.

 

[damo]

thanks to all who replied rex didnt eat last night so we gonna feed him tonight he was only coming out for a bit of pumpkin (and a bit of brandons hand=*)i dont think he washed his hands properly (just water) and he had been eating crisps earlier so i got a big bottle alcohol gel today to go on top of the cage and brandon will be helping me feed rex three adult mice probly a bit of fruit and veg.
but hoppers are defernately of the menu then
thanx again folks

 

[DaveDragon]

I don't know, but I've heard pumpkin will give them diarrhea.

 

[damo]

ah thats interesting

 

[DaremoAlpha]

Get a long set of tongs .... I use salad tongs to feed my critters

 

[aerodan]

Our Tegu has a thing with toes When he starts to fixate on them (exactly what you described with your hands), I tap (tap, not hit!!! No force, just a redirect) his nose. It first took a number of taps to get him to refocus on something else, but it worked.

I can't stress this enough: this is a light "hey" tap on the nose. Hitting your animal... well, it makes me too angry to even consider!

...he still sometimes focuses on my toes, but now a single light tap on the nose redirects him and he's in another direction...

If you:

* Never feed him by hand
* Spend time with him and are patient in your training
* Keep him well fed (but not too well, make sure he's not obese, which is common)

..most of the time you can easily see it coming - they fixate, dig, and tongue a lot and then *bam*. The only time I've been bitten was when I asked for it He was fixating on a button on my remote and I stuck my finger in the way. Brilliant eh?

Good luck with your beautiful new animal!

-AD

 

[DaremoAlpha]

I have used the rounded part of the tongs to " hook his snout and turn his head a bit too to get his thinking about other stuff.

And tell em NO when your correcting too.... I find Jake understands NO and will respond to hearing it now if even only for a brief second or two