My little guy is a terror HELP.

[redtail2426]

Ok well my little argentine black and white tegu is a terror. He is 5 or 6 months old I feed him in a bin I have only tried to hand feed him fruit a handful of times, so anyway he is very territorial and has a pretty aggressive feeding response he loves anything that moves, So I think his territorialness comes from when I mixed the mulch a couple times and ruined his hide now whenever I am spot cleaning and moving mulch he runs up to me to check what i am doing and sometimes will bite my hand. He frequently bites my fingers, toes, ear (once), eyelid (once yeah that hurt),my arm (once), my pants on my knee (once), and my shirt behind my neck (once), my blanket (once) , and multiple spots on my carpet he tries to dig and bite (many times). I have had the smell of food on my hands maybe 5 times forgeting to wash them and that has triggered him to bite me a few times which is expected. He is not affraid of me and he allows me to pick him up and be around him and pet him (I rarely pet him I just let him sit in my hand and walk around on me), and he roams around in my room all the time. I handle him probably a handful of times everyday when he eats I transport him in and out of the bin and when he scratches at his door wanting to come out and roam. Sorry for the long post but I just dont understand why my tegu is so bitey, he is not bothered by me at all but he just bites everything. is it a phase? will he grow out of it? Is there something im doing wrong? Thanks

 

[ApriliaRufo]

Ugh. It's like reptile puberty bro. It sucks. Somewhere between 5 months and 9 months they get a little snotty. One thing though, you said you've fed him fruit out of your hand? Many of us have made that mistake. He's never gonna eat out of your hand. Bobby has a really good post about "taming" your tegu, and although I do not agree with the term, it is the best guide. You are going to have to keep in mind though that the stage in his life that you got him in, is the hardest. It's like adopting a 15 year son. It's gonna be tough, but it's gonna be good. Don't feed him in his cage, I know some guys have a feeding tank or room or whatever, but I use the same bowl everytime on the kitchen floor. Oh and when he bit you, what did you do? If you struggled and pulled etc, he thinks that this meal is quite the adversary, if you let him figure it out and carefully remove him, he's gonna figure that out too. Remember, don't ever let him associate you with food. When I take him out to feed, I spend a bunch of time with him and let him find his bowl. I don't want him to think that coming out means its time to eat. I just put his bowl in different parts of the kitchen and let him find it. He feels proud and you can really tell when they are happy with themselves, and he doesn't bite anymore. We've all been there.

 

[DaveDragon]

Our 8 month old went through the same phase at that age. Puberty. We would attack me whenever I entered his domain. Bit me numerous times. Turn his mulch???!!!! That's a great excuse to bite me!! Actually all our Tegu's don't like that. Never mess with their hide while they're watching!! I water their mulch when they're out walking around. Also can't spot clean if they're watching. Another great way to get attacked!!

By 8 months he calmed down hasn't bit me in over a month. I can pick him up but he's very skittish. He only comes out for 2 to 4 hours during the day so we only see he once or twice on the weekend. Doesn't help much if you want to tame him.

 

[redtail2426]

When he bites me I just let him go I dont struggle and I yell his name and tell him to stop I have tried to pull away twice and it only seemed to entice him more. Also I feed him in a rubbermaid bin and I havent tried to hand feed him any fruit in a while... Looks like I will just have to be patient and wait for him to grow out of it.

 

[DaveDragon]

It doesn't take long to figure out pulling away from a Tegu bite (even a little one) doesn't help. He'll let go when he wants to. Struggling will only make it worse.

Never hand feed! You don't want him to associate your fingers with food!

I leave a bowl with fruit & veggies in the Tegu's enclosures. Rodents are fed in a bowl on the kitchen floor. The closest I get to hand feeding is sometimes putting the bowl on the floor in front of them.

I just started feeding our 8 month old on the floor. I put him down, he runs for the nearest dark place, usually a small cabinet in the dining room. I let him hide there for a few minutes and slowly entice him or get him out to eat. It's not going well.

 

[COWHER]

I'm going thought the same thing! my gu is about that age and he has become a pain!!!! I just cant wait till he grows outta it! :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

 

[nat]

Mine went through something similar. At one point I used gloves because she would always charge me (though she never really bit me as a defence... just to see if I taste good). She calmed herself down eventually. I found the biggest difference came when I moved her into a bigger home. That seemed to help more then anything else.

 

[DZLife]

Good luck getting through it.

 

[redtail2426]

Thanks it has been going pretty good lately.