Progress

[Gedy]

Today I had a great time bonding with Spunky
After I did the cricket trick he was up and curious so I put my hand in the enclosure and let him investigate me.
It is a nice and hot day here, so I decided to take him out for a little real sun instead.
He was realy sweet and stayed on my arm, but I live in the city for now so when a big car drove by he got scared and I took him back in the house.
Not realy big discussion material but I am just so proud of him I wanted to share it with some one

 

[jerobi2k]

nothing feels better then when you have had some good quality time to bond with your little one, and Im pretty sure no one will disagree. where I live its a little busy outside the house as far as traffic goes. I still manage to get my gU out and about, hes a big boy and normaly stays pretty close by but I keep a litttle leash on him incase he gets a few feet ahead of me there is something for me to grab a hold of. everyone is always oOhing and ahhing over him, hes such a attention hound! keep sharing and best of luck! -Mat

 

[Gedy]

Thanks
haha I can imagine the reactions a Tegu on a leash is not something you see everyday ! Spunky is to small for that right now, but maybee in a couple of years I can take him out for a walk.
Do they follow you around a bit or do you follow your gu ? And if you ran into a dog...has that ever give you problems ?

 

[montana]

Any progress is a good thing ..

congratulations !

 

[jerobi2k]

we live right by a lake with a path around it so I can see whos coming in both directions, normaly people jogging, biking and walking dogs. so I am able to determine if I need to scoop him up in advance or not depending if its dogs / elderly etc. lol. I only use the leash when we are free roaming outdoors together. I normaly follow him around and try to steer him in one direction or another but I give him his space and he just loves the freedom. he has always been pretty calm, was never really flighty more of a snuggler.

 

[Kebechet]

Thanks
haha I can imagine the reactions a Tegu on a leash is not something you see everyday ! Spunky is to small for that right now, but maybee in a couple of years I can take him out for a walk.
Do they follow you around a bit or do you follow your gu ? And if you ran into a dog...has that ever give you problems ?

I walk mine too and he's only about a year old. They grow super super fast. Mine isn't afraid of anything, but I've pretty much socialized mine with different animals. He greets dogs by licking them up the nose, much to their chagrin. Good luck with your tegu they can be a lot of work, but it's really rewarding.

 

[reptastic]

awesome, at my last house i a huge backyard so i just let the larger tegus roam freely, they were use to it and a leash wasnt needed, occaisionally neighbors came over to see them they pretty much ignored everything, i raised them around dogs so they didnt mind them, except puppies lol they got really antsy to investigate them but i knew the outcome of that so that was a no go, now i got my 2 current gu's and they are coming along very well with being out in the sun, good luck with your lil guy

 

[jumper123]

glad he was good for you out in the sun today! First time for my little one didn't start off so well!

 

[Gedy]

Two moths later :
Spunky has more the doubled his size !
He is realy calm around me and I can let him walk in the room and on the desk without worrying about where he could crowl into because hes fat ( in a nice way ofcourse). He eats almost everything but his favoret food is roaches with strawberries.

 

[Neeko]

I brought jericho to the bank once and people were amused and intrigued. No negative reactions, a bunch said my son or daughter would love to see this guy.

 

[Gedy]

Hahah that sounds nice Always good to have friendly reactions on your tegu. Kids do love them aswell ! I don't have them yet, but my little nephew (4yrs) came over a few weeks ago and when I showed him he was like : "He is cute ! can I stroke him please ???" it realy remeberd me of myself as a kid.
I won't take Spunky out in public around here...to many dogs in the neighbourhood . But maybee when he is bigger I can take him to the park.
How does jericho react on stragers btw ? because Spunky is not great with other people, and wouldn't let them come near without some serious warning.

 

[Neeko]

he's good, got to make sure his legs are secure and nothing passes fast. If something moves fast he gets uneasy and squirms. Over all he's a great addition/ rescue form a nice guy who just couldn't take care of him properly anymore.

 

[JohnMatthew]

Spunky's lookin good, growin like a weed!

 

[dragonmetalhead]

I highly recommend you get a lizard leash if you plan on taking your tegu out in public. A) People think it's adorable to see a reptile on a leash a B) it will prevent escaping. I always leash Kodo whenever I take him out, although he likes to slip it off when I'm not looking (clever boy!). Harnesses work better than the leads they use for iguanas, since I have found tegus really don't like being noosed. People always ask me questions about him, most frequently "Is that an iguana?" Seriously, people think any lizard more than 12 inches is an iguana, although Kodo has also been mistaken for a Gila monster, various types of monitor (most often a Komodo dragon), a chameleon, a bearded dragon, and even a snake. I encourage people to pet him so A) Kodo gets accustomed to people and B) people learn that reptiles aren't evil monsters out to eat your kids.

 

[Gedy]

@ Neeko: It is a good thing that you are giving that tegu a second chance Its always nice to hear that there are people with such a warm heart for reptiles. Also the movement thing is realy clever, im always pretty calm with him but when people come over they are not that patient.

@ John: Thanks, he sure is ! Ihope he will be hibernating this winter, or else I need to make the large enclosure a lot faster then I was planning on .

@Dragon : I would love to walk with him on a sunnyday, but he is just to small right now to try anything like that so I would altleast wait till he is about 40 inch and could eat a kid or dog if necessary .

 

[Logie_Bear]

Wow, what a difference 2 months makes! What is the 'cricket trick' you mentioned in your first post, btw?

 

[Gedy]

Not realy a trick, but it helped me getting him out of his hiding and starting to eat for the first time.
When I first got him, he was awake and exploring for a couple of hours and went straight to burrowing himself. After that I didn't see him for one day....two days ...and then as a newly tegu parent I started to worry.
I tried putting in food in a dish with smell to lure him out, doing some stuff in the cage, but it didn't work. I know it is realy bad to dig a tugu out when he is hiding, and especialy when you just got him and he is just scared.
He was a little skinny when I got him, I was worried about the not eating so I bought some realy noisy crickets (and some hoppers) and put them in a box in the enclosure. A few I held appart and powderd.
When he came out of his hiding to check on the crickets in the box, I quikly put in the crickets with powder on the other side of the cage.
I did this for a few days days, same time and after that he was awake and hungry every moring


I have a cute picture of it btw !

 

[Gedy]

his new favorite spot when Im studying.
I don't know why he likes my old printer, I sure don't because the thing didn't made a single copy in years and isn't even plugged in anymore

 

[babyyitslove]

What kind of dip **** would mistake a tegu for a snake or a chameleon? I can vaguely understand the rest... but really?

 

[Gedy]

....I have no clue what you ar reffering to,but i think my post isn't the right place to call me a dip ****.
My English might not be all that but where the hell in my story did a snake and chameleon come up ? :S

Did I do something to piss you off or anything ?