Please help Miko is eating me

[Frankie.d]

Hi all,
I got Miko on Saturday she was regimes to me. She is 2.5 years old approx. She's 32" long and could be heavier. Her previous owner took her in but had another older larger female already and she told me they started fighting a lot and Miko may not have gotten her fair share of food. She also told me that she didn't handle Miko as much and opened the lid to feed only.
So I got her I've made her a beautiful 6x2x2 cage great heat solar glo and reptisun 10.0. When I come to the cage she charges and tries to bite when I open the door the same thing she want to eat my hand. Today I tried to keep my hand big and in front of her telling her no and she got me 2 more times again ****!.
So what do I do because I love her and I'm willing to do anything. I got her Saturday and took her out Sunday was this too soon should I leave her for awhile. I've fed her twice turkey and grapes she loved it.
When I do get her out of the cage she never tries to bite me only in the cage.
She swam in the bathtub yesterday and I think she liked it?
So any suggestions or help would be awesome.

 

[Kebechet]

It sounds like you might need to get a pair of welding gloves and use those when getting her out. Don't grab for her, just put your hands (with gloves) into the cage and let her calm down. She needs to realize that you aren't food/don't have food when you're coming to the cage. You'll need to make sure you feed her outside of her cage also. Make sure that you get her out more than when you're just feeding, otherwise she'll still associate you with food.

 

[Frankie.d]

Ok how often should I feed her? I'm going to get her out everyday. But should I leave her and let her acclimate to her new environment? If so for how long?

 

[james.w]

The cage is a little on the small side for her. I feed mine every day, but he is only 10 months old. I would offer food every other day and see how she does. What are the temps in the cage?

 

[Frankie.d]

6ft x 2 ft x 2 ft is too small for one female really form all the research I did it seemed great? Het heat is 95-105 on the hot end and 80-85 on the cool end. Could this be lack of attention if I keep working with her and am patient this cage aggression should go away right? Have you heard of it not going away if the time is spent?

 

[james.w]

Well a general rule of thumb for cage size is two times the tegus length for length, and one time the tegus length for width and height. So for her at the size she is now she should have a 64'x32"x32", you have 72"x24"x24", alot of aggression with tegus has been attributed to a small enclosure.

When you say the hot end is 95-105 is that ambient or the basking spot?

She should get better the more you work with her, but the cage size could have a big impact.

 

[Kebechet]

The ideal size for an adult Tegu seems to be between 8x3x3 and 8x4x4. Females do tend to be smaller than males, and I've seen adults kept in 6ft cages, but if possible you want to give them enough space so that they'd be able to stretch out fully, in any direction in the cage. With a 32 inch lizard, this isn't possible with a 24 inch deep tank.

---

James got to it before I did, and said it far more eloquently.

 

[Frankie.d]

Well a general rule of thumb for cage size is two times the tegus length for length, and one time the tegus length for width and height. So for her at the size she is now she should have a 64'x32"x32", you have 72"x24"x24", alot of aggression with tegus has been attributed to a small enclosure.

When you say the hot end is 95-105 is that ambient or the basking spot?

She should get better the more you work with her, but the cage size could have a big impact.

That is the basking spot ambient is 80-85. That sucks cause I just built this one how long will this cage be good for?

 

[james.w]

In my opinion it isn't good now.

 

[Toby_H]

The "ideal size" for an adult Tegu is MUCH larger than 8x4x4...
The absolute bare minimum acceptible size for an adult male is 8x4...
Some say the absolute bare minimum for an adult female is 6x3...

I've spoiled my Tegu in many ways including a very large enclosure (12' x 6' outdoor summer enclsoure) and my Tegu has in turn spoiled me with an amazingly docile attitude.


Frankie, your Tegu is fresh out of a very neglectful and hostile environment. She has learned to always be on guard from attack and is going to be very stressed out. The best thing you can do for her now is to reduce stress at every turn.

Forcing her out of a comfortable enclsoure will stress her out, so I would leave her alone for a while...
She is underweight and has been under eating, so I would offer her food daily...
Naturally meeting heat, UVB, moisture, etc requirements will help reduce stress also...

Take the common approaches for taming a hatchling and apply them with extra caution. Let her see you often (though excuse yourself from her view if she attacks the window/door). Put a worn shirt in the enclosure to let her become familiar with your scent. As she grows comfortable begin working in her enclsoure while not touching/bothering her (change the water, move smaller items around, really just an excuse to have your hands in the enclsoure).


Tegus are not aggressive by nature, they are aggressive by stress.

Reduce stress at every angle and let her get used to you and her new life slowly. She came from a very rough situation and doesn't yet trust her new surroundings from being as nice as they truly are.

 

[Frankie.d]

Thanks Toby I will concentrate on those steps u mentioned then I will work on making her another cage.

 

[new2tegus]

Your problem is simple, baring the enclosure issue, which judging from the story isn't your pressing problem. It's food association, she probably wasn't handled at all or fed routinely. So when you go to the cage she knows it's feeding time and not being fed on time or being pushed away by the larger female has made her very territorial. So get gloves, start feeding her outside the cage, and use some tongs.

 

[Orion]

One of the tings that has helped me with a couple of Tegus I have adopted and were food aggressive is that I feed them outside of their enclosure. I also noticed that having ground level enclosures has helped me associate with them easier and on a less aggressive approach. Most of the time I open the cages and let them come out on their terms. Once they are out I slowly approach them and pick them up, sometimes they even come over to me. I feed them most often in the bathroom after letting them soak. My Tegus are 1, 1.5, and 2 years old and some days they don't eat, though I do offer food twice daily.

 

[herpgirl2510]

I agree with all the advce. One thing I do when I am working with my lizards is fold my fingers under and present the backside of my hand.It is more difficult for them to get a grip. Tongs are a good idea to lure her out of the cage to feed her. I would just let her setle in. I would not handle much for the first few weeks. I let tonka my 3 foot one free roam alot when I got him and let him do his own thing it took a few weeks but he stopped huffing for the most part and stopped tail whipping. I would lt him wander out of the cage and put down a bowl of food in front of him. I found it easy to work with tonka becaue he was so large he was easy to keep track of outside of the cage. I think letting her get out and strech her legs and exercise will be good for herounds like she was cooped out for a long time.

 

[Toby_H]

I do not agree that luring them out of their enclosure with food on tongs is a good idea, especially for a Tegu that is already food aggressive. Your goal os for her to stop viewing you opening the enclosure as a feeding trigger.

I feel you, and most of us, are best off to remove the Tegu from the enclosure, handle them or let them free roam for some period of time, then offer food. Puttin gthis gap between being removed from the enclosure and being fed will help defeat the association of food and opening the enclosure.

I also think it is best to set the food plate down somewhere your Tegu cannot see it and let the Tegu then find/approach the plate. This way she is not coming toward you to eat. Feeding her with tongs teaches her to come at you expecting food, which is setting you up for future bitings.


Although... I do not feel "food aggression" is your problem... I think your Tegu is overly stressed out due to the situation it came from. I think minimizing stress every way you can is the solution...