More Active During Spring?

[Weedazon]

Hey guys,
Lately my tegu, who I believe is a female, has been very active. It's like she keeps trying to escape her cage. She'll 'walk' against the plexiglass, try to climb on everything, etc. in an attempt to get out of her cage. My male corn snake always gets active about this time of year as he searches for a female (poor thing, he's done this ever since I bred him a few years back). Do tegus do this as well? If so, is it just males, or females too? I'm kind of hoping this is just breeding behavior and not something about her cage that she dislikes. I just changed her bedding from aspen to cypress mixed with sphagnum moss in an attempt to raise the humidity. She was also extra active today when I tried to soak her in the tub to loosen up some very stubborn stuck shed on her tail. She kept trying to escape the tub when normally she just kind of lays there and falls asleep. I think she's maybe around two years old, possibly a little younger. Thanks for the help.
Kelsey

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Oh, I also wanted to mention that she did NOT hibernate this year for some reason. I didn't know if that would have an affect on her behavior or not.

 

[reptastic]

What size enclosure is she in and how big is she Chances are she dosnt feel like she has enough room..

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

It's that time of year,. tegus are waking up and becoming more active in general. They want and need to spend more time out to burn excess energy. Be it scent marking and looking for a mate or just stretching, getting some fresh air and checking things out. I don't know if you let her swim a bit supervised during bath time but that also helps.

If you want you can give a run down of your set up and we can let you know if anything maybe going on there.

 

[Weedazon]

I need to measure her, but I'm assuming she's about 3 feet...she's buried right now under her mulch and I don't want to wake her up. Her enclosure is 6 ft long by 2.5...I'd like to build her a bigger enclosure eventually when I get the money. I have two big rocks in there that she can climb on, one of which is located under her heat/UVB combo mercury bulb...the Exo Terra brand kind. I have let her outside before, but she got pretty nervous...she wiggled her tail which made me concerned that she was going to drop it. That was last summer though when she was smaller. I wish I could bring her outside now, it was nearly 80 the other day, but it snowed last night and is in the 40's today, so that's not an option unfortunately. I think I'll try to make an area for her that's tegu-proofed so she can wander around without getting in to trouble. Here's a video of her from today posted under my friend's account if you guys are interested in seeing her size. It's not the best video, I took it from my new phone, but hopefully it gives a little size reference. It's of Zeke on my bed, hanging out on the pillows.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm8TP4YPWP8&feature=channel_video_title

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

I love her pattern and color . I know it's not always possible but weather permitting,.. natural sun is always better than artificial. Even if it means opening the blinds so that she has a sun spot on the floor or some where.

As for the outside trip and her tail waiving,.. that's normal until they get use to it. The first few times its pretty much a sensory over load. They have a lot more to take in, consider and register compared to being inside. So sometimes they'll become more aggressive. While working with my Gu's outside I always had a towel or something to hold them and or throw over them. If I had them on a harness and leash in the back yard or not.

It helps to calm them down and keep you from getting bit. Since they'll some times throw a fit when you go to pick them up. From lunging at you with their mouth wide open to death rolls and tail whips. Start out with short trips while holding them and then lengthen the time while letting them walk around a bit.

 

[Weedazon]

Thanks! I've been wanting to get her a harness...I think that would be pretty neat. The neighborhood kids would be amazed if they saw her haha. I was waiting until she stopped growing so rapidly, but I could probably get her one now. And yeah, she definitely isn't keen on being held. She has never tried to bite me, but the other day when she escaped her cage she tried to bite my friend when she picked her up. I've since learned to put weights in front of the door (it's a converted aviary). But generally, when I pick her up, she flails around quite a lot...I got a tail to the face once, that was pleasant! I wish welding gloves weren't so expensive, I bet they would work awesome...that's what they use to hold the raptor birds at my school. But I've learned that laying her down on a towel and picking her up so she's kind of in a hammock calms her. I hope I can build her some sort of outdoor enclosure for the summer, I'd really like to leave her out overnight when it's nice. Sometimes it gets too hot, like over 100 degrees even, but we have really high humidity here and I think that (and natural sunlight) would really benefit her since she has trouble shedding. I'm hoping it will warm up soon!

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

How do you pick her up? Since she's more comfortable with the towel it sounds more like a support issue.

I use 2 methods,.. One hand under their chest, that can be positioned in different ways for more support and one hand around (or just supporting) the base of the tail.

The other is kind of like a scoop method by sliding one hand under it. So that the body lays the length of my arm, with my hand supporting the base of the tail. Snout to elbow and rear legs and tail towards my hand.

 

[Toby_H]

There are quite a few different reasons Tegus will become more active in the spring. Most have just spent several months 'brumating' and now their metabolism is reaching full speed again. Their muscles need to be stretched and worked out to regain any strength they lost being lazy all winter. Then there is the renewed need for food to replace the fat they burned off of all winter and to top it all off, the inner drive to find a mate.

So yes it makes complete sense your Tegu is becoming more active this time of year. My best suggestion is to simply work with her more often and try to give her the excercise she needs.


I have a (pink) harness for my Tegu. It took a bit of practice, but we can sort of use it now. He doesn't mind wearing it but anytime I pull him in any direction he fights againt the pull. But I've learned, when I want him to go right, I tug left, and he pulls right. Then I let him win and we go right. It's not very functional, but it males the Pet Shop people feel better if my dragon is on a leash when we first come in.

I have found one nice thing about the harness/leash. When free roaming int he yard, I just let the leash drag behind him. This gives me something to 'catch' him by. So far he has never really tried to 'run off', but I want to be prepared for it if/when he finally does.

Anytime I take my Tegu out of the house, I have a towel handy. I have very very little 'fear' of him biting me, but he will dig those claws into me in a heartbeat without even realizing what he's doing. And Oh My God does it hurt! A little towel goes a long way...


It sounds like you are on the right track. Give her the excercise she is telling you she needs and I bet the two of you are very very happy together...

 

[Weedazon]

I try to support her whole body, usually one hand under her chest/stomach area and one at the base of her tail. I try to have her sort of lay on my arm so I can support the majority of her body, but she still wriggles around a lot. I never grab her from the top like a 'predator'. It probably doesn't help that I have puny hands. =P I think I just need to spend more time with her to get her to trust me more. She can get a little 'huffy' when she sees me/if I pet her, but sometimes she will crawl out of her cage and on to my lap. I guess it just depends on the day and the mood she's in, but she never acts aggressively towards me thankfully. My problem is mostly her nails scratching...my sister was holding her one time, and one of Zeke's nails actually punctured her skin like a needle. It was freaky, I had no idea they were so sharp! Zeke didn't even mean to do it, she was just climbing up on to my sister's shoulder. We started trimming them after that, but they can still do some damage. I will have to get some outdoor pics and post them for you all to see when it warms up. I'm definitely going to get a harness for her...I would bring her in to the pet store, but since she doesn't like to be held, I don't think that would be practical. I can just see myself trying to hold this giant lizard who is flailing around like mad and me looking like an idiot haha