Tarot

[LEWIS]

Very nice!!! I put my deposit down on mine back in january and paid balance and i cant seem to get a responce from bobby. I've called and emailed him. Nothing back yet.

 

[Rhetoric]

They were easier to handle because they were in boxes over night with no real heat. They'll calm back down as they get used to your presence. As for the smell, I'm with Chris haha I don't notice a smell but some people say it smells like lizard..? Others say theyre surprised there isn't a smell.

 

[HeatherN]

idk maybe I'm just bad at getting used to smells (except formalin [sp?] for some reason). I've accidentally nicked intestines more than several times, and it gets worse every time! but i have a relatively sensitive nose too (lol prime of your life is find your mate time, women get the sniffers)

 

[Dana C]

Heather, it sounds like you work in a mortuary or morgue?

 

[apocalypse910]

heh it seems like the first day was an outlier for Tarot, he was out this morning like i said, but has been even more scared of me all day. i didn't want to do it at a llll, but i had to chase him down to try to put him in his bin to feed him before i leave later today. of course he got loose on my room, chased him down there, loose in my bathroom, chase him down there, loose on my back, chase him down there... and after all that he won't eat! ahh the joys of the flighty tegu!

so I'm right there with ya, dubya ( love the name, so perfect ), but eventually they'll get hungry enough to eat more. until then, I'm on a trip for a little bit, and it'll give mine a couple of days to recover from that trauma! then his training is going to go reeeaaaaalll sloooowww

Mine was the same way, super tame the first day, insane on the second. He is calming down quickly though. I'm just pissed that he seems to like my husband way more than me already. I already learned the hard way how fast they can be when all warmed up. Mine calmed down after feeding so I gently picked him up - he freaked for no apparent reason and ran half way across the room before I could blink. Got him back eventually but was not a fun night.

 

[HeatherN]

sounds just like mine apo, ill keep this updated on his progress.

dana, im a bio student and also enjoy dissecting in my spare time, most of the bodies i deal with are animal ones.. most of them. (i didn't kill any of them lol)

as for tarot, my family said he was a ghost while i was gone, but i know he came out to poop in his litterbox, which he has picked up instantly, and i also see spots where he's been digging around. I'm not going to try to "force" him out again, but eventually he'll be hungry enough to come out and forage/interact.

 

[HeatherN]

as an update, he somehow got out of his cage while i was gone or something, but i found him in a plant pot in my room. he was cold, but mad, i tried to feed him, but he wouldn't take, but i did make a tiny bit of handling progress, using his lethargy as a tool.

however, i guess i missed where he really got out from, because he's gone again today. so today is a sad day since i came home to find he wasn't anywhere, i tore my entire house apart multiple times, but nothing. i left the cage open so he can come back in to bask or hide or whatever if he wants to. just kinda weird that i can't find him anywhere at all, i even took everything out of every container i have lol. and the first thing i did when i realized he was gone was search the entire cage, to avoid freaking out over nothing, but alas... hope he shows up soon, or I'm gonna have an even bigger cow about it!

 

[HeatherN]

update again, he's back, found him across the house, the poor little guy must be traumatized.

 

[Carnicero]

what are you keeping him in Heather? Are these real crafty escapes? I bought an exo terra large terrarium and the doors and top on it seem very secure and locked down but I dont know how good of escape artists' a tegu can be. Guess I wont find out till I have him but im really not trying to find out the hard way.

 

[apocalypse910]

I'm glad to see you got him back. Mine bolted over my shoulder on the second day and that was not a good feeling.

Loki has dedicated himself fully to the task of escaping. It is amazing to watch them work out possible escape routes. He's seen me open the windows so he's been vaulting up the the ledge and pushing at them to get them open.

I made windows out of steel straps and lexan so they aren't 100% rigid. I made the mistake of bending the window out a bit to add some padding to it - he saw me and immediately jumped up the ledge and tried to bend the same corner out with his nose. Crafty, single minded, little adorable bastards.

 

[HeatherN]

thats exactly my problem too lol, the rigidity of the door. I'm reenforcing it today, just adds to his trauma though, can't win can ya?

 

[Dana C]

I will post here what I just posted in another thread.

"....After a week, you most likely don't have the complete trust of your tegu.
It will grow however and things will happen along the way that will impair it.
Awkward handling, too warm a bath, startling your baby all can create little set backs. Even later as he/she approaches one year of age, things happen.
The good news is that usually they "forgive and forget" fairly quickly. I have had it happen as have most Tegu owners. With Capt'n Jack, he usually gets a little stand offish for a day buy by day two, he either doesn't care or forgets. I still take him to the bathroom to eat and just leave him alone but sit with him on the floor. On day two, he usually comes up to my hand and tastes it and rubs his face against the side of my hand telling me, "Dear John, all is forgiven. Please come home"....a WWII phrase.

Having a Tegu peeved at you is not the end of the world and will pass. We tend to think of them like we do dogs, and the phrase, "Dog Tame", is grossly incorrect. When all is said and done, they are sill reptiles. They can like and seek attention but to expect the dependency, affection and mutual devotion that exists between dogs and other mammals and man really doesn't exist.

You can tell that while I name my lizards and am fascinated by their observable behaviors and interaction with me, I don't anthropomorphize, (to attribute human form or personality to things not human), to them.

When questioned, my lizards were quoted as saying, "Dana, provides security, food, water and a warm place to lie on occasionally. We don't love him but will keep him around as needed".

Read more: http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=11952#ixzz20ibd30JQ

 

[HeatherN]

they do remind me of dogs in the way that each experience overrides the other much more than in humans, as in they live in the now, not the past.
i spent the day next to his cage, each time he passed, less afraid. eventually took him out to give him a bath, then took him forever, but after chilling on my chest for half an hour, he ate off of tongs. so I've returned him to his cage with a full belly.

 

[Dana C]

Be careful. A while back, my tegus tried to sell me on Craigs List. ;-)

 

[HeatherN]

"slightly used human, dog tame!"

 

[Dana C]

HA HA HA.... ;-}

To ad insult to injury, they said in the ad that I answered to the name "Dana" and could be taught tricks. They also said that they would consider dead rodents in trade for me....

 

[Thelegendofcharlie]

Its good to know where you stand when it come to Tegus.

 

[HeatherN]

tarots been doing good for the last couple of days. my dog got attacked and is hurt pretty bad, so i don't have time to sit around his cage because i have to sit around my dog! he eats daily from tongs while sitting in my hands (he won't do it any other way) but i don't mind. the hard part is chasing him down in his cage to get him out to eat and bathe. but once he comes out, he's calmer. a little.

sometimes, when i look into my animals eyes, i feel like they are as interested in you as you are in them. like you just want to understand each other. i know they're animals, and we don't know what they're thinking or how they feel, but i like when i get that feeling. one reason why i love animals (especially reptiles) the way i do. obviously a plethora of reasons beyond that, but thats a list for a different time and place lol.

 

[HeatherN]

here are some pictures i finally got off my lazy butt to get off my camera

[attachment=4613]

his coloration was stunning to me

[attachment=4614]

heres from today, he just went into shed (pardon the colors, it was taken through kinda dirty glass)

[attachment=4615]

[attachment=4616]

 

[tam]

lovely pics tarot is gawjus nice name too. i still dont have a name for my b/w was thinking off tiny but im not sure on that name now . im sure something will come up that suits him