New tegu owner here with a few questions

[Lee W]

Hello! I recently got my first tegu and have a few questions about them. They are a baby(I wanna say they’re around 8-10 inches long, haven’t been able to handle them yet) gold tegu, don’t know the gender, has been in shed since I got them, and have been with me for about 2 weeks now. They’re in a 40 gallon with a basking spot of 110F, an Arcadia 12% uvb, and humidity that’s been fluctuating between 60-90%. I’ve been offering food everyday and so far they’ve eaten crickets, ground turkey, and cooked chicken(I plan to only cook chicken specifically because I worry about the salmonella risk)all dusted with calcium, so here’s where the questions come in: are babies expected to want to eat every day? My first week with them they were out every day and eating, but yesterday they hid the whole day and today they came out but didn’t want to eat. I offered crickets and they have been a little iffy about them so I don’t know if they just weren’t interested or what. Along with that, I also have two cats who are so interested in the tegu, the two have been sleeping by the enclosure waiting for the tegu to come out of their hide. It’s quickly become a problem as it’s been making the tegu jump about every time the cats paw at the enclosure. My blue tongue skink along with reptiles I’ve had in the past never really cared about my cats, so will my tegu learn to not be scared once they grow bigger, or should I be keeping my cats away from the enclosure entirely(I don’t plan to introduce them, I just want the tegu to not be afraid of the cats watching them in their enclosure)? Lastly, I’ve heard some conflicting info on when to start handling the tegu. So far I’ve just been putting my hand in the enclosure and turning my head the other way, slowly I’ll move my hand until it’s next to the tegu but not touching them. They haven’t been particularly skittish with me but they have gone into a defensive pose if I get too close a few times, no huffs, tail whips, etc. though. I know it’s too early to expect progress, but should I keep doing what I’m doing? Any tips for future handling? Thanks for the help!

 

[Debita]

Hey Lee - Your doing a great job! The basking spot might be a little high for their size, but prob ok. You've done a good job. Just so you know, I don't know anyone who worries about salmonella, but if you go that route, I don't think there's anything wrong with it....just a lot of work. Babies def eat every day, but if they've been eating almost every day, there's no cause for alarm.

Can you keep the cats away from their tank for awhile? This stage won't last forever, but if they're jumpy, then it's kind of counter-productive to the taming process. They will be on guard (defensive) longer because of that influence.

As far as handling goes - the benefit of getting them so young is that you can handle them without fear of getting injured yourself. If I had babies, I'd handle them every day, unless they show serious aggression, in which case I'd back off and temporarily let them have their way. The idea though, is to handle them as much as possible so they see you're not a threat. So - you do have to push past the aggressive behavior at some point. Like picking your battles is important with them. There's a balance in there somewhere. One thing I always do is if the aggression starts while they're in my hands, they don't get their way until they stop. I have yelled "no" when I'm holding my male and he decides to death roll and whip me with that gigantic tail of his. I don't let him have his way at all in those moments - no reward for bad behavior. It's not fun, but necessary for the respect you should have. They can't be allowed to run over you. Once they're big - it's a whole different ball game.

Don't forget they're likely to have some interesting behavior (aggression is normal) changes in their 2nd year. Not all of them throw fits, but so many people think they've tamed their Gu in the first year and are shocked when puberty hits and everything changes. Patience is key!!

 

[Lee W]

Hey Lee - Your doing a great job! The basking spot might be a little high for their size, but prob ok. You've done a good job. Just so you know, I don't know anyone who worries about salmonella, but if you go that route, I don't think there's anything wrong with it....just a lot of work. Babies def eat every day, but if they've been eating almost every day, there's no cause for alarm.

Can you keep the cats away from their tank for awhile? This stage won't last forever, but if they're jumpy, then it's kind of counter-productive to the taming process. They will be on guard (defensive) longer because of that influence.

As far as handling goes - the benefit of getting them so young is that you can handle them without fear of getting injured yourself. If I had babies, I'd handle them every day, unless they show serious aggression, in which case I'd back off and temporarily let them have their way. The idea though, is to handle them as much as possible so they see you're not a threat. So - you do have to push past the aggressive behavior at some point. Like picking your battles is important with them. There's a balance in there somewhere. One thing I always do is if the aggression starts while they're in my hands, they don't get their way until they stop. I have yelled "no" when I'm holding my male and he decides to death roll and whip me with that gigantic tail of his. I don't let him have his way at all in those moments - no reward for bad behavior. It's not fun, but necessary for the respect you should have. They can't be allowed to run over you. Once they're big - it's a whole different ball game.

Don't forget they're likely to have some interesting behavior (aggression is normal) changes in their 2nd year. Not all of them throw fits, but so many people think they've tamed their Gu in the first year and are shocked when puberty hits and everything changes. Patience is key!!

Thank you so much! I'll definitely try to keep the cats away. Those tips are super helpful as well, I was hesitant to start handling immediately because I didn't want to risk stressing them out or creating a mistrust so early, but your right this is the best time to do it while they are still tiny. Ohhh boy can't wait to experience tegu puberty myself though, I'm sure its real fun lol. Speaking of, during that time is it best to leave the tegu alone as much as possible, or is handling still encouraged to maintain familiarity? Either way, I'm more than happy to take it one step at a time, having had a timor monitor in the past certainly taught me a thing or two about the importance of patience and the progress it brings!

 

[Debita]

I would say that any handling is better than losing all of the progress you make in the first year. It does surprise people though - plenty of posts here about "why is my Tegu acting up NOW??? - because they think they're done in that first year, and sure enough, their precious angel turns on them. Not all of them do that - but enough do it that it has to be talked about. I had a female (passed away about a month or 2 ago) that was only an angel. She didn't change at all. But! I'm fairly certain it had to do with my male that was already with us for over a year when we got her. It just seemed like she followed his lead, which was "settled" and tame at the time. There are so many factors and genetics that play a part here. But that's also the beauty of it. Their level of intelligence and broad spectrum of character just contributes to how interesting they are.

I'm excited for you! Please keep us informed. Every story is different.

 

[Lee W]

Ok good to know! That's really interesting that she was more chill because of the male, makes me wonder if our own demeanor in general affects them during that stage.

Thank you so much again for the help, I truly appreciate it! Will do! Actually on the topic, they walked up to my hand today while I had it in their enclosure, and they sat on it! Was unexpected but certainly made me happy

 

[Debita]

That's great....just the beginning of a cool and unusual relationship. I remember when my crazy wild male came up and sat on my foot early on in his puberty stage. I figured out that he wanted something, and realized he was just wanting to go back into his enclosure. He does it all the time now...well over a year later! lol