Social Behavior?

[mjcollins]

Hello, I'm a new user here! I've owned one of my tegus for 4 years now and can't help but wonder about this behavior... Whenever my red tegu female Akari (4 years old) sees my younger b&w tegu Kaiju (8 months), she is intensely curious to see him but has no urge to "eat him". The younger tegu shares the same curiousity. I know that most reptiles will try to eat the offspring of others in their species, but whenever I let either of my tegus out, they immediately go to the others' scent and cage. I once experimented a "meet" (much like introducing two dogs) between them with them both on leashes. After they "met" and looked like they were not gonna bite the other, I let them close enough to touch each other. The baby tegu simply crawled on top of the adult's back and then under the adult tegu's stomach and chilled there. Whenever I supervise them to interact, there has never been anything less than amiable experiences. Of course I will never cohabitate them, but I have never known big lizards to tolerate smaller versions of their same species (especially when the adult is 20x the size of the baby). Can anyone explain this behavior? I guess it could be cracked up to how curious and intelligent tegus are. I don't think tegus are scientifically a "social" reptile species.

 

[Walter1]

Tegus are very social harem breeders. You're mixing different ages, sexe, and species all at once. Probably helps that Akari is a female.

My 1.2 Argies are courting. The male is intensely interested in the whereabouts of the females.

 

[Roadkill]

Walter, I very much disagree. In CAPTIVITY, they are certainly quite able to be social harem breeders, and even "less than tame" ones seem readily able to accept a social system. In full on wild ones, from what I've seen, these guys are not particularly social, more on the solitary side of things. The OP is quite correct with regards to the tegus, in the wild yes, the larger adults are HIGHLY prone to eating the smaller juveniles. However, I think a big part of this is in the wild, they are constantly ferociously hungry. We tend to think of life in nature as peaceful and harmonious, it's anything but. It's a constant struggle to survive, to find enough food, to find shelter, etc., and this definitely shapes their behaviour. In captivity, we definitely change their behaviour just by supplying a steady meal. Mackenzie, in the past I would not have advocated mixing tegus just from some of the things I've observed over the years (particularly, young being raised together and winding up tearing each other to bits). However, I would say I've tempered this view with somewhat better understanding. In your case, I still wouldn't put the two together unwatched until their sizes are more similar. At this stage, you certainly can, but only under supervision. While you have good indication they will possibly make great mates someday, I wouldn't risk the chance at the moment. Let them play while under supervision, keep them separate for housing.
I've been pleasantly surprised with exceptions, and also terrified. This year, my one male Ctenosaura similis, after a move, figured out how to overcome the barrier between him and the much smaller female I had in the other half of the enclosure. I was expecting bloodshed and fighting, especially as these are NOT nice tame lizards. To my surprise, they're cohabitating rather well. They don't seem to be liking one another, but neither are they fighting in any sense. On the other hand, I had a pair of Corucia zebrata a while ago, a large female and a juvenile male. Right from the start I could see they didn't get along, and these are often rather peaceful. It was rather bizarre, as the male was a nasty aggressive monster, would bite everyone; the female was peaceful and everyone thought very affectionate, and yet it was the female that wouldn't tolerate the male. It was so severe I set up completely different enclosures, had them as separated as possible in my place. Never had a problem with the female, she was never prone to escaping.....until one day I came home to find out (from appearances) she had had enough of the male even being in the same house, broke out of her enclosure, sought his out, broke into his enclosure....and killed him. It was quite gruesome.
The point I'm trying to make here is despite what people will say about tegu's behaviour, they're are still always basically "wild" animals and I'd say at best learn to tolerate us and how we treat them. Some will become very social and will mix with other tegus very well. Others won't, and no matter what amount of handling and such you try to do, won't adjust well. Always be cautious, but don't be afraid to try socializing them.

 

[Walter1]

I'm not sure if mutually exclusive. I wouldn't trust such pairings as in Mackenziie's, as they differ by size, species etc. Within species, little ones keep their distance for good reason as you see in Alligators and Snapping Turtles in the wild. Use different habitat to avoid predation by conspecifics.

The extreme sexual dimorphism in body size and head size in this species, like that of Green Iguanas, and Veiled Chameleons, for that matter, point to polygamy. Males patrol a large area (they definitely do in southern Florida). Females come and go, stay for short or very long periods. But the male is like the bull in the pasture. Only one. That's what I mean about social. Everything else is right on the mark. They're wild. We succeed with them, as in any herp, if we keep them in the context of their ecology, however those needs are met.

My Veiled Chameleon story is after hearing/reading scores of failed pairings ending in female bloodshed, I brought up a 1.3 WC from my old stomping grounds in Homestead Florida. Set the male in a cage, and let the females free-roam among my hanging orchids in what amounts to an indoor greenhouse. After one week, I opened the door. Females maintained a structured pecking order. the male knew to when to approach and when to retreat as when a female would turn and gape. So, argies and Veileds may not all the time see each other in the wild. In fact, I dout that they do, but they are assoicated with that kind of social system.

I just wanted to make sure I clarified the case I was making even if disagree.