Tegu aggressive problem

[Jeffrey Dillon Layton]

hello, I rescued a tegu about 9 months ago shes about 2 to 3 years old. She's really sweet honestly but when it comes to moving her for when I give her a bath, enclosure cleaning or just to go out side and get some sun she turns into the biggest hissing monster. She's never tried to bite anyone she has arched up once but It was her first time going outside i believe and that was long ago. Ive tried putting a shirt in so she will be use to my smell just petting having her come to me trying to make some kinda trust bond so its easier for me to move her around. Ive been told some tegus just don't like being messed with and I can respect that but I would like to make her enclosure cleans and baths not stressful for her because I believe her life before me was stressful enough she does have marks on her back and one on her head hit why she's a rescue so maybe her past just has her not liking humans? If anyone can give me some recommendations on what I can do to help calm her down when she's being picked up or interacting with me would be very appreciated! Thank you in advance!

 

[Dylan koch]

I have 4 tegus all have calmed down a ton I have 1 red tegu which i have got fine indoors but moment I take it outside for natural sun it does a 360 and will start puffing up and sometimes lung or tail whip unless I crouch down and slowly scoot until I can grab taill and start petting and bring inside and them moment in garage or in reptile room calms down instantly. I bring them outside daily and seems to be getting very very slowly better. But tegus if they have had bad impressions it can ruin it. A huge thing I've noticed with all my tegus that helped is I take them out every time I feed so they dont get impactions and it helped with being held slowly but surely. AMD also when I hold them I will rub their jowls or neck with one of my hands! I have a male 100% het blue Ice that if I dont do that he constantly will squirm till I start rubbing his jowls and throat.

 

[Debita]

My male is aggressive under the same situation with the outdoors. Bath time is O.K. but when they get a taste of the outdoors, they really feel the call of the wild. Your shirt won't do a thing for this - you just have to calculate your position when it's time to come back in, or put him in an outdoor enclosure that you can lift to get him dumped back into the indoor enclosure. Mad Tegu operations are sometimes necessary. Good luck!!

 

[AtlasInSd]

Like most lizards, tegus see in ultraviolet light. sunlight is substantially more ultraviolet light than you will get inside, so you look very different to your tegu outside than you do inside which often times freaks them out. Once they get used to what you look like outside they will calm down quite a bit but may still be reactive to other things they're not familiar with in that kind of light that they are familiar with inside.