Random aggression

[Ratchet]

i'm having a bit of trouble with my argentine B&W tegu..my first 2 weeks of having him he was friendly for the first 2 weeks...but lately he's become more and more aggressive towards me and being picked up...it started about 3 days before i changed his diet to 2mice a week and lots of inverts,eggs, and raw meats(chicken and turkey)...i'm wondering what's going on with him...i started handling him a week after i got him and he was VERY friendly now he only like being picked up to get food

 

[jarett_Harrison]

idk man. mabey the change in diet affected his mood?

 

[bubbategu2]

How often does he get handled when food is not involved? Maybe you need to play with him more?

 

[VARNYARD]

Have you taken him out of his hide when he was sleeping?

 

[Ratchet]

ONCE...a week before he got weird...i left in his cage for 2 days after that and never did it again...he started this aggression before i changed his diet..i handle him maybe 2 or 3 hours a day at the least w/o food but he's extremely squirmy which is weird because when i first got him...

 

[GOT_TEGUS]

sounds like you lost trust with your GU . are you feeding in feed bin ? live or dead mice ? disturb the GU in the hide ? sounds like you just have to handle more and maybe change the way your feeding.
JD

 

[Ratchet]

thats the only problem i'm not so sure how to handle him now...everytime i pick him up its just moments until he tries to get away from me(wiggling through my fingers, whipping around) i've alrdy changed the way i'm feeding him...i feed him in a separate bin, prekilled always, i've only disturbed him once bcuz he hadn't ate for a few days...how else am i suppose to feed him?

 

[bubbategu2]

Bobby has a good article on taming your tegu-maybe you need to go back to basics with him. My new colombian does the same. Sometimes he's pretty mellow and sometimes he's squirmy as all get out. When he does that I just make him walk from hand to hand to hand until he settles down and I can hold him. He has never tried to bite or whip me, thou. The other thing I've found out is when he doesn't settle down-that's usually when he has to go potty! LOL Maybe somebody else can tell you what they do with their Gu's to get them calm? Good Luck and don't give up on him!

 

[Ratchet]

well thanks to all that gave me suggestions my tegu has calmed down now and is now handlable ^_^ he/she is still a bit squirmy but my tegu doesnt whip at me =D and no more tale rattling...i'm quite happy about this ^_^

 

[wyattroa]

my baby tegu fluffy tail rattled me today. she was out basking in the heat and i picked her up...she tail rattled but then calmed down and was relaxed in my hand. The i pet her some more and put her back in her enclosure...i let her go right next to her hide..
robert

 

[Ratchet]

yea...i was warned about rattling if they start rattling put them away imidiately