Some advice needed

[BeNjO]

I'm new here so please forgive me!

I bought a B&W A. Tegu from a couple online with full 6ft setup. Hes around 2.5 feet and was kept on bone dry orchid bark that had worn down to around 40% bark dust. I left him a whole month without any contact just water and food; hes on our bedroom so only saw/heard us when we went to bed. I spent around an hour a day talking to him and playing on my phone just so he could get used to me and his new enclosure. He started coming out and is always out basking or walking about, tryed to lick me through the glass which i saw as a positive; so i began "noticing him" and responding to him trying to climb the glass. The thing is ever since I fed him a rat (I did ground turkey and other foods before defrost rat) hes began chasing my feet when I was past the tank and has become more "tank aggressive".

Examples:

I'd open his slider door to take his bowl out and he'll run right towards me.
I'll open the door to pick some poop or a large section of skin up and he'll run out like above.
I let him out after approx 2 months and he instantly attacked a black rug I have right outside the tank like it was moving.


This is preventing me replacing/fixing his UVB which has been out 24/7 as I can not enter his viv, nor trust him not to attack me when he's out. I dont want to stick him in a box or restrain him and loose what trust we do have. I dont actually think it is tank agresssion persay, he dosnt hiss/puff up or anything just runs towards me like i'v thrown food in. My actual guess is the previous owner didnt feed correctly and threw a live rat in when they could be bothered so since he's settled he thinks open doors = meal and he is used to been very hungry. This is also preventing me from taking him outside, I'd love to put a harness on him and let him outside in my garden but not sure how to go about that when he's always trying to take my fingers off.

Sorry for the large post but felt like the more information I put here the better someone could help me

 

[Mr.Greenluv]

Time and patience. Sounds like he might still be acclimating to you and the new place. Get a pair of cut resistant gloves (Cheap on amazon or home depot) and wear those when you have to do cage maintenance. Then take him to a place where you and him can be alone together like a den or large bathroom with no other pets or people or other distractions. Let him crawl around and investigate the surroundings but always make your presence known. Either by following him or placing your hands on the floor near him but not all up in his zone.Will take time but i am sure he will come around eventually. He needs to learn that you are of no threat and that your are certainly not a snack. You can also try getting a pair of hemostats/tongs and slowly removing him from his cage and into a large plastic tub or bin and feeding him in there. That way he sees the bin and tongs as the food spot and not your hands or arms.

Good luck!

 

[BeNjO]

Hey Mr.Greenluv.

I took the plunge, wore thick leather shoes and opened his viv. He came out walked around, explored under the bed, went back in, came back out had a lick at some things, calmly picked up the harness i left on the floor and went back inside. I managed to unclip the Arcadia slimline luminaire unit from the roof and take it out for testing. He never once charged at me so I think letting him out calmed him down enough for him to tolerate me inside of his home. The bulb's metal ends have come very loose so need to replace it. I have had him around 2 months and after a month he was climbing the glass and I took that as he wanted to come out. He's never ran and hidden from me only stayed hidden for the first 2 weeks-ish. Think I'm making progress as now I'm no longer nervous around him because he hasn't gone for me today at all like he used to.

I dont want to use gloves as I was putting rods into the fingers of one to see if he'd tolerate it been in the viv (testing if he'd let me pick poop up basically) and he charged and ripped it off the sticks and "killed" it so not sure if wearing them would be a good idea. If hes going to attack them without my hands in he'll do it with them in. Where as today i managed to basically have 1/4 of my body, two arms and two hands in his viv to unclip the UVB unit and he just watched.

Ben

 

[Mr.Greenluv]

That's great news just have to keep at it. The gloves were just a safety suggestion in case you were still feeling apprehensive. But even if he does manage to Nip you do not be discouraged and do not show Fear. They are super smart scaly children and they pick up on things. Keep up the quality time and eventually move to slow lower back strokes till he gets comfortable. Then from there the trust should be stronger and onto full handling.