Force Interaction or Slow Approach?

[MasterBallReptiles]

Hello! My name is Lisa. I just got my first tegu 3.5 weeks ago! I waited over a year and did sooo much research first just to make sure we were ready to get one.

My question to you all is do you force handle or do you use the slow approach method? For example, Kevin McCurley says to build threads by having short and tiny interactions over the course of months. I've also seen people say that tegus do best when you simply grab them gently from underneath and force interactions, like sitting in the bathtub or an open, bare room. What do you feel is the best method from your experience? What did you do? How did it go?

 

[RareDragonkeeper]

I'm somewhat new to this myself and I think it's a solid question. From my limited experience it's a best to have a healthy mix of both. Knowing when to back off, when they truly don't seem to want to be bothered and knowing when you can push interacting a little bit further and reading them for signs that they've clearly had enough of you and your attention for the moment. If you don't interact with them then they'll never truly get used to you but you don't want to move forward to fast because that could scare them also making it harder to get used to you. Let them get used to everything at their own pace and I wouldn't say force yourself on them, But completely keeping your distance will still only make them look at you like a stranger. Also don't be tense or afraid, I think they can sense it and react to it on some level. Anyway, just make sure you're exercise plenty of patience. It'll be worth it when your efforts pay off

 

[rantology]

I have an unruly 7month old 75%red male and I've been doing a mix of both. Forced interaction every single day will stress em out but he tolerates it better when I do it 2-3 times a week and do "gentle" non-forced interaction on the other days. For the forced interaction days, I'll take him into a small, sparse bathroom. He really didn't like it at first, I think because it was cold. But then I put a heat lamp in there for him, and it makes interacting with him a lot better for both of us. He chills out much more when he has a heat lamp ironically, VS when he doesnt. I also conveniently have my hand in the heat lamp so he has to touch me to get to the heat- and it works surprisingly well. It's my favorite way to bond with him now... he was even crawling all by himself all the way up on my shoulder last time

Spoiler: pics

 

[Debita]

Cool pics Rantology and I agree with you and RareDragon... Mostly when they're young, you let them lead. I liked Rantology's practice of putting your hand under the heat lamp, and just holding it still. Smart. They really can't resist the heat. They require a lot of respect for their needs but as they get used to you they should start to surrender to your patience.

 

[Member1421]

I went with the you're going to love me whether you like it or not approach and it's working well. What I did is get a large cork bark flat and have it just bordering his hot spot. He goes on it constantly when he doesn't want to be directly in the light, which has allowed me to never have to grab him or scare him out of the enclosure. This has allowed me to potty train rather easily as right when I remove him and the cork flat from the enclosure I put him straight into a bin lined with paper towel. After he goes he comes out and onto my shoulder where we usually explore outside, hang out on my computer or I let him explore the kitchen counter. It's gotten to the point where in the beginning he would go hide behind the fruit bowl to try and disappear, but now he goes to explore, but comes back to me without me paying any attention and crawls back up my arm onto my shoulder and sleeps in my hoodie or fleece. He is by no means totally tame and I expect his mood to change, but I've gotten him completely immune to putting my hand around his head entirely, kissing him, and almost putting him in uncomfortable positions like my entire hand on top of him with mild pressure to learn that I am not there to hurt him. He doesn't even react to this anymore, just pokes his head out of the gaps in my hand.

Everybody's experience will be different and we all have varying amounts of time we can devote to these little guys. I personally have found that persistence and respect have gone a long way. Also letting him know that I am the alpha seems to have meant a lot. Last thing...early on he was attacking the tongs and mister bottle for no reason. I fixed this by putting the tongs on his hot spot and the bottle inside the enclosure and letting him bite them for a while to realize they are not going to harm him.

Best of luck.

 

[Debita]

One thing to remember about these animals too, is that they are always looking to do something. That's where your instincts have to kick in, because they'll tell you what they want. Whether it's food, exploration, heat, or just going back to their home - they'll tell you. My 4 ft male can not climb into my hoodie....but he comes over to my leg, and climbs onto my foot - which means I've had enough of exploration/food/basking for the day. I want to go home. If I ignore this, he'll go back and bask for a short time longer, then he'll climb on my leg again if he can. He's patient, but he wants his dark hide.