Lil Dude is doing something weird...

[Guest]

So although his name is Sam.. I keep calling him Lil Dude..
He keeps rubbing his head against the tank, and going through the posts the other day I thought I saw something about this not being good. Does anyone know why he is doing this?

 

[txrepgirl]

How big is he and how big is the enclosure ? Tegus do this sometimes when the enclosure is to small, they have to poop and don't like pooping in the enclosure or they are hungry and know they are being fed outside of the enclosure. I would take him out and give him something to eat and give him a bath. If he is big enough I would let him roam around in a room where he can't get into anything ( where it's hard to get him back out of ). He should be fine after that.

 

[eddyjack]

Lil Dude is hungry and he needs to POOP, and if that's not enough, he's probably horny too! Good grief, sounds like we are dealing with a man doesn't it?
Feed him, breed him and give him a nice place to poop.........ALLLL better!

I'm just kidding :roll:
Seriously sincerely,
E.J.

 

[Guest]

he was hungry.. I had tried to feed him (crickets) the day before, and he diddn't eat. Then yesterday we took him out to feed him, we put him in a rubbermaid tub to do this, and he ate 5 crickets, and about 1/4 of a hard boiled egg. We are going to get some pinky mice today, so he can try those.. oh and we did put him in a bath yesterday. He just sat still in the water.. I haven't seen him do his dance in the enclosure after we did that.
I have to say that although he is supposed to be the most aggressive of the Tegu's (gold & black) he has yet to snap at anyone, and is very calm. He is SO COOL!
He pooped 1x in the feeding bin, and then 1x in the enclosure.. he is lil, not sure how big exactly, I'll measure him today, but his enclosure is a 20 gal tank...
My mom in law got him for my son, we were unprepared, and did not know anything about Tegu's period, until a few days before he was delivered. She bought him from a pet store, and they do not know jack s**t about anything.. They told my mom in law, that he only needed a 10 gal tank!!!!! So I figured "Ok well if 10 is enough, then 20 will be even better.. little did I know, or realize how stupid some pet store employees can be!!!!! Otherwise we would have bought him a bigger tank from the start. We will be getting a 55 gal here real soon. Although we weren't prepared, and diddnt do any research like others do before getting a pet, we are good people, and will provide him with the best life possible.. thats why I am so grateful for this forum, and all the info and support you can get from it!

 

[txrepgirl]

Awww that was so sweet of you to say. I'm glad we can help out. Don't feel bad. You didn't know your mother in law would buy the Tegu for your son. Look at the bright side. At least you did start doing your research . If you want to you can check out craigslist.com. Click on your State and then your City you are in. Go to the pet section and type in the search section enclosure, fish tank. You can get some great stuff for a good price on there. I got a 250 gallon for $165. A 150 gallon for $80 and another 150gallon with wooden stand for $200. I have gotten a lot of things of craigslist and I never had a problem with it. I'm glad things worked out with your Tegu and that he was just hungry .

 

[Guest]

wow! Those are some great deals! I will check out craigslist... I am really diggin' this Lil Dude! lol
I am really happy that we got him, even though we were unprepared.. it sounded weird reading back what you wrote... "You didn't know your mother in law would buy the Tegu for your son." It just sounds odd. But it's true! She has always been a spontaneous Yia Yia (greek for grandma) something she has passed down to my husband... That is how we end up going on spontaneous family trips that he comes up with in the middle of the night! LOL
It's all good though.. she hasn't thrown me anything I can't handle... =)
We are animal people, and actually own, and breed American Pit Bull Terriers so it helps that we aren't afraid of things that have you get your hands dirty, or that the public can view as taboo... were used to that. I am defiantely all cool with reptiles, so I am just really looking forward to seeing Lil Dude grow up! Once I have mastered Lil Dude, I would love to own one of the B & W Tegus, they are beautiful! Like a living piece of art, thats how I see my APBT's and thats how I see these Tegu's!

 

[eddyjack]

Way to go marie5400, I say you are good people and I must agree that in my efforts to educate myself before I took one home, I also found the typical pet shop employee to lack at best, any knowledge what so ever about Tegu's. In fact I found a couple of stores trying to sell Columian's as Argentine. Need less to say, as soon as someone knowing the difference mmmmmmmmmmmm,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,777777777777777777777777777777777766v6
(Ariat just decided to crawl across my key board)

challenges them on their bad, of course they are done assisting you with anything else. I agree and will repeat, I have found this site to be absolutelly invaluable. These guys are all great!

Keep up the good work! :app
Sincerely,
E.J.

 

[fireimp141]

Yah I got Tyson (my b&w) and his 275gal tank with canopy stand 4 uvb lights and hoods for the lights for $100 a piece of craigslist. Definately can find some sweet stuff. "Reptile" in the search part of pets usually turns up good results.