New scale baby

[Memel]

Hey guys! After researching Tegus for several months I added a beautiful baby to the reptile family. I purchased her/him at a reptile expo yesterday and fell in love as she cradled in my arms. I got her home and in a 40B while I get a bigger home built for her. I know I need to let her rest and relax before too much interactions but does anyone have any advice for helping to get her comfortable with me? She’s roughly 1 year old.

 

[firfy]

I personally still interacted with my new tegu when I got her, and she grew up to be really tame and seeks attention, so just letting you know every tegu is different, so yours might not react how mine did. Whenever mine was scared of me, all I would do was move my hand slowly towards her and keep it there until she would allow me to pet her, this lets her know that I am safe to interact with, and sometimes when I put my hand there she would not let me pet her, so I would just keep my hand there so she knows my hand was not going to hurt her.


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[Memel]

She’s been really calm so far. I’ve been talking to her and petting her but haven’t tried to pick her up. She doesn’t move away and pretty much just lays there. She huffed a little bit when I moved her from her travel container to her temporary home but that seems understandable. I haven’t gotten her to eat yet. Her ground beef has been left untouched and I tried a mouse which she showed zero interest in. (My king snake was happy to help her finish that) I have a vet visit scheduled later this week just to make sure she is ok. She was wild caught in Florida so I really don’t know if I have to adjust how I interact with her.

 

[firfy]

Oh ok, the only way you should pick her up after that is if she crawls onto your hands/arms, after she is fine with you its completely fine to pick them up when ever you want


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[firfy]

She is probably a little stressed out, I would wait a little before feeding her


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[Memel]

I tried a little banana as a treat and she went right for it.

 

[firfy]

Well thats a good sign!


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[Walter1]

Welcome. Don't forget to add a worn shirt to its hide to familiarize it with your scent.

 

[firfy]

Good idea walter!


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[Memel]

I’ll do that. Thank you!

 

[Debita]

The Fla wild rescues are really awesome - I have 2, and Walter1 is a great resource, as he's had 2 or 3 of them for awhile. My year old was much harder to tame than the 3 month old female that I recently got. I like to entice them to eat when you first get them with a raw egg (I'm using cage free...) in a shallow dish. Both of mine went straight for that like yours did with the banana. Also - I think ground turkey is preferable over ground beef - but I can't remember why. I don't buy the lean stuff, and both of mine love it.

 

[Memel]

I appreciate your feedback. I tried cut up chicken and got snubbed and I tried another mouse which she turned away again. I think I’ll start just trying mice on snake feeding day so they don’t go to waste. Then I cracked an egg and she lapped that up for awhile and then tried to bury the rest. That got me laughing at the little brat. I’m worried she’s not eating enough

 

[Debita]

Don't worry too much - it's commonly mentioned here in this forum, (not eating enough) and it makes everyone nervous, but then one day, most just realize they're too hungry to fight it.... Especially a year old wild caught. They're not used to captivity. Why do I think yours is a year old??? Did you tell us that?

 

[Memel]

I’m guessing shes a little under a year. Being wild caught the guy at the reptile expo I got her at couldn’t be sure. She’s roughly two feet from tip to tip.

 

[Debita]

Ok - yes, my male was 19" when I got him, and I was told he was a year old - so it sounds like she's clearly at that size. Especially a female. Good to know! Females stay around 3 ft - ish, where males go on to 4. They grow fast!! Fun to watch. I do remember that I offered constant food on a daily basis until he started eating regularly. Then, he actually let me know (more like every other day) when he was hungry. It wasn't uncommon that he'd sometimes wait 2 days, and eat the third.

Also - I like Walter1's idea of altering the meal to be lighter following a heavy feed - no matter what the days are. Seems like that would be more natural to them too. I just recently started doing that. Kind of cleans them out - and I assume assists with overeating also. Make sure there's fresh water every day - seems obvious, and I don't think forgetting a day will matter, but old water isn't good.
I absolutely believe that.

 

[Memel]

Lol she forces me to change her water several times a day. So much dirt gets in her water and she sleeps under the water dish. I have a few other scale babies that seem to fast a lot too. Nice thing is I have enough other critters in the house that whatever one doesn’t eat another generally will.

 

[Walter1]

Lol she forces me to change her water several times a day. So much dirt gets in her water and she sleeps under the water dish. I have a few other scale babies that seem to fast a lot too. Nice thing is I have enough other critters in the house that whatever one doesn’t eat another generally will.

You're off to a good start. My experience doesn't differ with Debita's.

 

[Debita]

You're off to a good start. My experience doesn't differ with Debita's.

Yay!

 

[Memel]

Totally silently geeking out right now. She fell asleep on my chest watching tv. I wasn’t prepared for her to pass out. Now I feel like I can’t move or I’ll ruin a good thing.

 

[Walter1]

View attachment 13803 Totally silently geeking out right now. She fell asleep on my chest watching tv. I wasn’t prepared for her to pass out. Now I feel like I can’t move or I’ll ruin a good thing.

Your buddy. Trusts you.