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Well, I think like a lot of tegu owners, I debated the issue of getting a tegu for 2 or 3 years. However, once I broke down and decided to take the leap, did I do it for one of the cute lil hatchlings? Nooo. I got Tonka, an argentine B&W who was previously owned, about 17 inches long, and came out of his cage at the petstore biting the poor guy who was getting him for me. But I took a deep breath, gave my husband and the clerk a nervous smile and carried my lil cardboard box o' demon home. Needless to say, the last few weeks have not been completely full of joy.
After about a week, I bought a pair of handling gloves. Given his age, we immediately started him off with a feeding bin. But everyday getting him out of his cage was a drama. When he opened up the end of my husband's finger one evening, I was afraid that was the end of Tonka. For some reason, the gloves seemed to help. When he went to bite my husband again, he stuck his finger in Tonka's face and Tonka backed off. It is possible we pushed him a little too much but I had no idea how we were supposed to get him out of his cage and to the bin everyday and it was clear he didn't plan on trusting us after only a couple of days with us.
So with my nifty gloves handy, I spent an hour each evening in the bathroom with Tonka. And became more and more discouraged. We spent a lot of time in the bath tub lounging on some towels, me reading a book, Tonka looking around. He would come up and lounge on my leg but he didn't seem to get that it was me he was sitting on. Then the breakthrough! He is pretty clear that he dislikes his feeding bin once he is done with dinner. Finally, one day without any protest he accepted my help to get out of it and stepped into my gloved hand on his own. But still he wasnt having any of that skin to skin contact. I was still a lil bit worried about our future.
To make a long story short, its been a rough road with a lot of uncertainties. But finally, after 4 weeks, I think maybe I see the light. Tonight I was sitting with Tonka in the bathroom again, feeling a lil down, because although we had made some progress, he had been particularly difficult this day. However, as he was stepping off my leg onto the floor and I was preparing to put him back in his cage, the pizza delivery guy showed up. We have 3 dogs who are not shy about letting people know they are home. Tonka froze trying to figure out which way the attack was coming from (the walls in our house are not particularly soundproof). Then he turned around, ran back to me, climbed back into my lap, and prepared to stay until the danger was past. And then-oh joy!-he found that I had a pocket on my hoodie that was just big enough for him to fit in. I believe this is the point when brand new owners realize their tegu's true colors are not quite as black and white as they appear
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What I would like to know about Tonka is that at 17 inches about how old is he?
And what should his diet be like at this age? In the case of eating, he has been a true joy. He started eating the very day I got him. And given the choice between ground turkey and superworms, he chooses the ground turkey so he has no problem with things that don't move. Except monitor diet...that was a waste of money, though after taking a whiff, I can't blame him for not eating it. Also, at what age should he start eating fruit?
Well I guess that's it for now. We are glad to find a site with so many long time tegu owners.
After about a week, I bought a pair of handling gloves. Given his age, we immediately started him off with a feeding bin. But everyday getting him out of his cage was a drama. When he opened up the end of my husband's finger one evening, I was afraid that was the end of Tonka. For some reason, the gloves seemed to help. When he went to bite my husband again, he stuck his finger in Tonka's face and Tonka backed off. It is possible we pushed him a little too much but I had no idea how we were supposed to get him out of his cage and to the bin everyday and it was clear he didn't plan on trusting us after only a couple of days with us.
So with my nifty gloves handy, I spent an hour each evening in the bathroom with Tonka. And became more and more discouraged. We spent a lot of time in the bath tub lounging on some towels, me reading a book, Tonka looking around. He would come up and lounge on my leg but he didn't seem to get that it was me he was sitting on. Then the breakthrough! He is pretty clear that he dislikes his feeding bin once he is done with dinner. Finally, one day without any protest he accepted my help to get out of it and stepped into my gloved hand on his own. But still he wasnt having any of that skin to skin contact. I was still a lil bit worried about our future.
To make a long story short, its been a rough road with a lot of uncertainties. But finally, after 4 weeks, I think maybe I see the light. Tonight I was sitting with Tonka in the bathroom again, feeling a lil down, because although we had made some progress, he had been particularly difficult this day. However, as he was stepping off my leg onto the floor and I was preparing to put him back in his cage, the pizza delivery guy showed up. We have 3 dogs who are not shy about letting people know they are home. Tonka froze trying to figure out which way the attack was coming from (the walls in our house are not particularly soundproof). Then he turned around, ran back to me, climbed back into my lap, and prepared to stay until the danger was past. And then-oh joy!-he found that I had a pocket on my hoodie that was just big enough for him to fit in. I believe this is the point when brand new owners realize their tegu's true colors are not quite as black and white as they appear
.What I would like to know about Tonka is that at 17 inches about how old is he?
And what should his diet be like at this age? In the case of eating, he has been a true joy. He started eating the very day I got him. And given the choice between ground turkey and superworms, he chooses the ground turkey so he has no problem with things that don't move. Except monitor diet...that was a waste of money, though after taking a whiff, I can't blame him for not eating it. Also, at what age should he start eating fruit?
Well I guess that's it for now. We are glad to find a site with so many long time tegu owners.
