frustrated with taming

[kyle]

I have had my tegu for about 3.5 weeks now and I know thats not long at all but I am really haveing a hard time with figureing out the best way to go about things so that he will tame and we can be great buds. When I first got him I was feeding him in a rubbermaid bin but he wouldnt eat much and spent most his time trying to get out, after a few days of trying that I went to sitting with him out in the porch and he did fairly well ate like a pig but when it came to putting him back in his cage it was a verry tramatic thing for him I am asuming ( having to move chairs, table and what not to catch him and put him back in his cage) so after a week or so of that I decided that was to much so I took out half the mulch in his cage and put down paper towel to feed him in there but now he still isnt eating much at all and I dont want him to be use to eating in his cage. I have sat for hrs with my arm in his cage and after a wile sometimes he will crawl on my arm but once I have him out it goes back to me having to chase him down witch I know isnt good. When I was taking him out to feed he would do alot of running away from me but I never use a tight grip and do my best to never move real fast. Anyways any ideas would be great here are a few pics of his cage and the porch that I would like to start doing handleing in because of there being no vents or anything out there.

 

[AWD247]

One thing I see that might help you out is you dont have a safe zone for your Gu, having a hide for him to feel safe will definately take some stress off him, specially at 3-4 weeks, hes still adjusting to you at this point,. Also you might want to cover the backside and sides of the enclosure., make is as less stressful as possible being that you have him in an enclosure that you have to pick him up from above ( which is what they fear in nature from animals that will eat them )
Then I would put something like a shirt you just had on over night in the enclosure maybe even a day or two so it learns your scent, you also might wanna try to handle it less till it understands your not a threat, when it starts showing interest in you then you might wanna start taking it out to explore, right now it doesnt even really know you let alone being able to roam free then get chased down by you to be put back in his enclosure which hes still learning is his home ( this is where the hide comes in also, safe zone to chill )
I would tak out your feed side and just keep trying the feeding bin, but its only going to work when he fully trust you.

try this:
Tegu proof your smallest bathroom, spend an hour or so with him climbing and checking you out, that worked great for me to show "I" wasnt a threat, let him feel you out, pet him when he comes close to you but just for a few seconds, then let him do what he doing, doing this everyday helped me out big time,.

 

[kyle]

I have had a shirt in with him for the first week or so, but I can try again. That rock that is in his cage is actualy a hide but he never really uses it he always burrys himself. So for now do you think I should put the mulch back in and just feed him in a bin, should I wait till he is more use to me to feed in a bin and keep useing the cage, or would it be a bad idea to feed him wile in the bathroom with me? Also wile in the bathroom should I provide a heat light due to how cold the floor is or should I not so he comes to me for heat

 

[AWD247]

Not sure how big that hide is, kinda hard to tell, maybe something like your water dish upside down with a cut out might work better (if your hide isnt big enough), I honestly (just my opinion) would put the mulch back in and work with the feeding bin now before it gets used to anything else., Ive had my GU for about 2 months now and I still keep a shirt in there right when I get back from work I swap them out.
Also in the bathroom what I did was i got in the tub, which gives less space, (meaning if he wants to walk around, its going to have to walk around you and climb you) doing this will make it learn your scent, and learn your not a threat, just let him be and let him be curious and check stuff out, watching that he doesnt try getting out the tub. Offer your hand at times for him to climb on but try not to pick him up, let him be the one climbinh your hands etc, move him a few inches or so to another spot and let him climb down on his own.
I did this for about 45minutes- hour everyday and it worked great for me. But remember its going to take time, you should see results in about 3-4 days but remember its about 2 months for me and I still do these things, repetition is your new best friend..lol

 

[kyle]

Thanks I will give it a shot and see what happens

 

[Jefroka]

AWD247, brought up several good points. To reiterate and add to what has been suggested, your gu needs a hide, cover three sides of the aquarium because of shyness, and I would feed him in a seperate feeding bin, then, after it has fed, you can spend time with it.

That porch believe it or not has several hiding (Getaway) spots. Go in a bare room or remove the furniture from the porch area.

After your tegu eats is a good time to handle it as they are generally less active then. I would not put a basking light in its roaming room until trust has been attained. Remember, the warmer they are, the more active they are, and more difficult to handle, if they are shy. Easier to handle a shy tegu when they are colder, less active.

Any cage that you have to go in from the top can keep a shy tegu shy. Look into an enclosure that opens from the front at your earliest conveniance.

Don't worry if it misses a meal or two, let it come to you, and always feed in a seperate bin.

Have faith you and your gu will bond and attain trust, it will happen with time and patience.


...Jefroka

 

[AWD247]

Take a look at this video, try this

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmZLdbLOnbM&feature=player_embedded" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmZLdbLO ... r_embedded</a><!-- m -->

 

[kyle]

That video is cool I hope it works out like that for me. I am sure it will he never is to bad when I am moving him and has never tried to bite me, I am sure the problem is just how I have gone about things. I am going to build him a cage for when he is bigger, do you think that I will run into problems if I move to a 8 x 4 cage soon?

 

[kyle]

Thanks for the help he is now great in the bathroom crawls all over me and doesnt take off every time I tough him and actually comes and lays on my hand for warmth, its awsome. He still freaks when I reach in to take him out of his cage and his feeding bin but I am sure it is because I am comming at him from above. I am not sure if I should build him a new temp cage, build his big cage now, or wait a lil wile and just work with this one for the moment till he is a lil bigger for his new cage. I am planning to build some new bearded dragon cages so I can probably just build one and use it for my gu for a wile. Thanks for the good advice. I will try and get some pics to put on here of the lil man somtime.

 

[AWD247]

Glad to hear its working for you, I have another tip you might wanna try.

When handling him in the bathroom, start introducing your hand palm up, let him climb on it, pick him up and put him down, get as much repitition as possible, but remember on his terms, then.. Try hanging out by the enclosure for awhile when you put him back in, with your arm in it palm up, and see if he takes any interest in it and climbs on you.
That way he starts to learn that on and up your hand is a safe way out, at the same time your also teaching reaching in wont harm him,.
Worked for me with every monitor Ive ever had, and my GU (even though I have sliding front doors) he still understands my hand is no threat and walks right up to me and climbs on my hand to get out.

Goodluck let me know if you have any luck with it in the next few weeks.
( takes time )

 

[kyle]

I will try that, thanks

 

[kyle]

Here are some pictures I took of the lil man. He is just about 14 in today.

 

[KSTAR]

Well all of the previous posts pretty much wired it down you'll just have to try it out but a hide in the enclosure will help alot...with my little guys I never forced handeling I would just put my hand in the enclosure and let them come to me and when I held them I would never hold them with a tight grip...and I would sit in my room with them so if they ran off I wouldn't have to worry about chasing them and i'll let them explore around and let them climb and run on me and that allowed them to become really comfortable with me and I always fed them in a seperate place and not in the enclosure and I spent about an hour a day and after they got older I'll have them out for longer periods of time to handle them and let them explore cause I didn't want to stress them out...hope this helps