Clicker Training

[Sirhc401]

Odin is learning his new trick very well.
Tegus are so smart. Odin learns faster then my dogs. but has the training mentality of a cat.

like i said. here is the update, I also threw in an amusing Intro video for our tarantula. which you can check out by following the link on my signature.

Im also considering throwing in tips on tegu care in my videos when it calls for it. like i did in this video. what do you guys think? any ideas and comments are welcomed

Here is the link if the video does not show up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwFuvitjiNE[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwFuvitjiNE[/video]

 

[Kimmie]

Ninja tegu haha

 

[Aardbark]

Awesome tegu. I enjoy your videos.

 

[TeguBuzz]

Damn he's gotten a lot better at it. Keep it up

 

[numarix]

That's so awesome guy's great job!!!

 

[martinreptiles_3]

Awesome job! He is doing great! I enjoyed watching.

 

[naturboy87]

very smart tegu tame eating is one of the hardest things to do with a tegu

 

[Sirhc401]

Naturboy87 you are correct in that statement. If you saw my first video on this trick. You would see the difference in the different treats I used. The crickets diminished his focus and made him jump and not want to do the trick as much.

Aardbark: I enjoy Godzilla. Lol. You should get so more pictures up so we can all see how cool the little tegu is

Tegubuzz: he really has. It is surprising us how well he is doing. He catches on fast.

Thanks for the comments guys.

 

[naturboy87]

i also like that he would cum up and lick the feeders hand after eating this enshures that wen he gets older he will still know the diference between a human hand and real food this can b a real problen w the tegu seeing the hand as the food . im em working on this right now w my tegu to

 

[dragonmetalhead]

Wow! That is so cool! You guys are tegu whisperers. I've been meaning to clicker train Kodo, but there are too many distraction at the museum (and since the cold weather has started his appetite has gone down, so I don't know how well I could motivate him with food). How long did it take him to learn the trick and if it's not too much trouble, could you describe your process?

 

[james.w]

I'm confused as to what you are trying to accomplish. You want him to "stand up" when you click??

 

[Sirhc401]

Here is a link to first grasp the basics of what clicker training is. http://www.clickertrain.com/whatis.html
It took Odin a few tries before he got it down. thats it. one or two short sessions. but it needs to be done correctly.

To sum everything up, clicker training is a fast and positive way to teach animals. think of it more as a game than training. I can sum up my process on it in a few steps.

Step 1: Associating the clicker: This part is quick and easy, but always good to practice. Take your tegu into an enclosed space where he can not get anywhere(bathroom or small room) Separate your food out into bite sized pieces. Have your clicker in hand, and just Click! and toss a treat. Repeat this over and over until your tegu hears the click and starts looking for the food. the idea is you want your tegu to associate the click with "food is coming"

Step 2: This step is more for taming the tegu by associating yourself as a positive thing. Do whatever is going to be a normal occurrence with your tegu. pick up, pet, hand under belly, whatever. start slow, and when he reacts calmly to the situation, Click! and treat. DO NOT click or treat if he starts to flee or has any bad reaction.

Step 3: Reinforcing a trick: I will use an example for this one. Coming when called. Start small, simply click! and treat when your tegu approaches you. even if its intention was to go around you. work your way up, after you feel he gets the idea that coming towards you gets a click, and therefore food.start using a visual cue. for example, we used taping on the floor as his visual cue to come. Click and treat when your tegu approaches. when you feel your tegu is ready then start combining vocal command with visual cue. "come here" or calling a name. Click! and treat when you have the correct response. easy!

IMPORTANT: - When you give a treat, do not put your hand anywhere close to your tegu. simply drop or toss the treat in front of him or her.
-It is much simpler to teach something that is done naturally. for example, when a tegu wants to investigate something high up it will stand on its back legs. therefore, the stand up trick.
-Always remember! Click!! immediately when your tegu does what you wanted so it knows that the action it performed is what got the click, the food comes after.

Since I know it will eventually be asked, defecating is a natural thing for tegus and can be potty trained through clicker training. HOWEVER, there are requirements for this and not all tegus can learn it. i wont go into detail for that now. if someone wants to inquire further then i will answer but this post is getting a bit long. lol

Hope this helps out, any questions you can post here or PM me if you want some direct questions or help with anything.

-Christian

 

[Sirhc401]

Watching the videos is a good way to see how it is done

 

[apocalypse910]

Since I know it will eventually be asked, defecating is a natural thing for tegus and can be potty trained through clicker training. HOWEVER, there are requirements for this and not all tegus can learn it. i wont go into detail for that now. if someone wants to inquire further then i will answer but this post is getting a bit long. lol
-Christian

If you'd be willing to share I'd be very interested in more information on how to potty train them. I've searched around and while I've seen that it can be done I've seen very little info on how.

When I was a kid I had a paper trained green iguana - I vaguely remember that we put wet newspaper in a sheet pan and set the iguana there whenever it was acting like it was about to poop. He pretty much trained himself from that point and we never had an issue with him going anywhere else. I wasn't sure if the same technique would work with a tegu or if there was any special trick to it.

 

[TeguBuzz]

Sobek takes his craps in a large cat litter box I fill with chlorine free water. Gu's tend to enjoy defecating in water and I'm fine with cleaning it daily.

 

[james.w]

I still don't see the point of this. What is the ultimate goal? You want him to "stand up" when you click the clicker. I don't see how more than one command can be taught when only one sound is used to reinforce the "trick". As far as the "stand up" trick, my Sav will stand up if I hold food over his head. Shouldn't you say stand up and when he does click the clicker and offer the treat??

Sorry if I am coming off negative, but this makes no sense to me.

 

[Sirhc401]

Yes that would be the ultimate goal. The point was to show his progress. He still is far from mastering the trick. Having him respond to just a vocal command will take A LOT of time. Till then the idea is to continue with this method until he is ready for the next step.

As for potty training. You can get lucky And have a tegu who likes going in water. Life made simple. Or if that does not happen then you can try and study your tegu to see if there is anything else he likes to poop on. Mine likes to go on his heat pad. Therefore, if I had a ton of patience I can wait for him to go and click him for going on his heat pad and give him a treat to reinforce going on heat pad is good. Then when I bring him out and set up a heat pad he will be inclined to go on it. In theory.
If your tegu just pools wherever at any time. Then good luck.

James.w: the click is simply a faster more efficient and understandable way to tell your tegu "good job you did whAt I wanted" the idea is that when he performs an action you want. You click to say good job and then give the treat. That way the tegu knows what it is you want from them. Make more sense?

 

[Sirhc401]

Sobek takes his craps in a large cat litter box I fill with chlorine free water. Gu's tend to enjoy defecating in water and I'm fine with cleaning it daily.

Tegubuzz. You got it easy. Odin does not like to go in water unfortunately. He likes to go where it is warm.
I wish he would just go in water then I would just be doing the same as you