Tegu Bites

[Piercedcub32]

I heard that there was a breeding population in S. Dade County. I hate the show swamp-wars which is where those videos came from I'm pretty sure. The only way they referred to the gus are "Dangerous Tegus" I'm sorry but if a dog was trying to eat me, or I was being attacked by some rednecks, I would be fighting back too! The poor things are scared and on a defensive attack! One of the people in the show even said, they just sun themselves on their lawn.. Its not the tegus' fault that they are in Fl, its the irresponsible pet owners fault for letting them go in the wild!

 

[new2tegus]

All I can think of is editing that video, and putting banjo music in there and subtitles. "Paddle faster I hear banjos!" Those rednecks were on the show twice. They are really good at identifying tegus, the second time it was an alligator lol.

 

[M4A2E4]

My Tegu has calmed down a lot since his puberty stage, I think. I really haven't given him the chance to prove himself, but he certainly doesn't throw a fuss when I touch or pick him up.
..actually in that regard he's actually a lot like his pre-puberty self.
He did bite me a few months ago though, so now I wear shoes and gloves whenever I handle him, or he's free roaming around my room. I especially get anxious when he starts smelling my toes....

That aside, I feel more comfortable with him that pretty much any other animal I've had. I used to have a juvenile blue land crab (Cardisoma guanhumi) who was an absolute MONSTER. I had a red eye crocodile skink who just never got used to anyone and was always stressed out/paranoid/flighty on the very few times I ever got to see him (nocturnal animals are boring).

The only exception is my rubber boa. That is the most adorable, inoffensive, yet pitiful and defenseless animal I've ever laid eyes on. Well, that and maybe a dwarf puffer.


...got off topic there. When Taco gets big enough to crush a rat's skull I may find myself needlessly wary of him. I have (or think I have) learned his body language well enough to avoid an incident. It's not his defensive postures that worry me; he rarely tail-wags and when he does, I simply take 1-2 steps back and he stops. Its when he starts sniffing me or something I'm wearing intently. Three times he's bitten me following an intense investigation of... something. Once because my hands smelled like pizza (my fault), once because there was apparently something on the back of my neck, and once because I apparently spilled something on my shirt. I guess that last one wasn't technically a bite on me.
Of course, when he's that size, I'd still place 10x the amount of trust in him as I would an equivalent sized cat/dog, and 100x the amount of trust as something like an argus monitor/ferret.

 

[dragonmetalhead]

All I can think of is editing that video, and putting banjo music in there and subtitles. "Paddle faster I hear banjos!" Those rednecks were on the show twice. They are really good at identifying tegus, the second time it was an alligator lol.

How to you confuse a tegu with an alligator? The only thing I would confuse with a tegu would be a monitor.

 

[Toby_H]

You said your boss' wife is afraid it will hurt one of the kids...

Do you work with/for a group/company that introduces your reptiles to children? If so isn't the purpose of such functions to display that the common misconceptions of reptiles often are not true? If so, then your boss' wife needs to pay more attention to her husbands companies teachings.........

 

[dragonmetalhead]

You said your boss' wife is afraid it will hurt one of the kids...

Do you work with/for a group/company that introduces your reptiles to children? If so isn't the purpose of such functions to display that the common misconceptions of reptiles often are not true? If so, then your boss' wife needs to pay more attention to her husbands companies teachings.........

It's my boss's husband who's worried. He's a musician and doesn't know much about animals; he'd never heard of a tegu until we got one and his wife told him. I am the animal curator of a children's museum. Of our nine animals (not including our fish and touch tank invertebrates), the only one who would guaranteed bite someone is Bernie the box turtle. He is insanely aggressive and I risk a bite every time I feed him. That's why he doesn't come out and play. Our red-eared sliders are also a tad on the bitey side and Spike the Sudan plated lizard is too old, fragile, and unsocialized to be taken out. They don't pay me enough to take out the tarantula, lol. In addition to the tegu, we have a bearded dragon, a water dragon, and a rosy boa who are all friendly and come out regularly.

 

[herpgirl2510]

A few weeks ago Tonkawas so excited when I was putting his bowl down he harged forward and bit quite hard. The damage was very minimal there were some serated cuts but they barely bled it was sore that all. He is 40" and 9 pounds maybe more. He immediately backed away it was an accident. If you were to be attaked by a wild one I am sure it could be bad like being attacked by one of my mini daschunds but certainly not were I would be missing fingers.

 

[laurarfl]

I've only been bit by an adult twice. One was the same scenario as herpgirl...he kinda chewed on my hand until I gently bopped him on the nose and he was like, "uh...sorry." There other was from my overly territorial monster that charged my hand in her cage. Both times I kept my hand still and they let go.

 

[reptastic]

I've only been bit by an adult twice. One was the same scenario as herpgirl...he kinda chewed on my hand until I gently bopped him on the nose and he was like, "uh...sorry." There other was from my overly territorial monster that charged my hand in her cage. Both times I kept my hand still and they let go.

I wish I had that luck lol, my red was the same as the second tegu you described, he got me twice, but he wouldn't let go, luckily he was only 2' and only could do minimum damage but it hurt like hell, I had to pry his mouth open the first time but the second time it was a bite and run, I had to be on my p's and q's when handling him

 

[herpgirl2510]

When I screamed because I was very startled he released poor thing thought he was getting a mouse . I did have alot of bruising and the toe wassore for like 5 days ut It was not like a bloody massacre.

 

[hoosier]

i got tagged on the thumb when taking mine outside a few years ago. i had just ate and didnt was my hands well so when he smelled it on my thumb he took a taste but let go very quickly. punctured the nail though. goes to show they have a powerful bite. never been bitten before or after that

 

[got10]

A tegu is no worse than a small dog. Yes it has the capacity to bite off a finger or two, and scratch you up. Wild animals will attack if cornered, regardless of whether they have fur or scales. If an animal is afraid it will defend itself, but the chances of wild tegu being outwardly aggressive unless you try to go after it, are slim. If you live in a place that can sustain a wild tegu population, invasive or not, you have other things to worry about, like water moccasins, adders, coral snakes, Iggys, and gators. If your kid corners a wild animal in the yard and gets bit, you obviously weren't doing your job as a parent to watch them. That's pretty much my thought on it.

you got that right

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propaganda !! All propaganda . Yes the lizard can sever a finger or two. But then again so can humans . Don't beieve the hype they are trying to drive down our throats .Create a unreasonable paranoia to scare people from thinking about real issues .Like why Washington cant get crap together so the country can keep running.
Thanks for letting me vent . And by the way remember everyone in DC the wont pass these bills and kick all the bums out

 

[Pyr0kinesis]

My tegu has bitten me less than my dog lol.

Though she did bite a few times when she was younger, and almost bit me about a month back when I made the mistake of trying to pick her food up lol.

 

[RudyRacer]

sometimes some shows go overboard ... take it like pittbull's i mean they have a bad rep and there are proven cases out there that pitts have killed it all depends on how well u take care of the animal and raise it i know of people that own pittbulls and they are like labby's

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Don't get it twisted,.. there's more to a pit bull than how you raise it. On a another note I wish I would let a dog get away with biting me or anyone else,.. no matter what size it is,.. it's unacceptable. Unless it's protecting me and or a part of it's job to do so.

As for tegus,.. there are corrections for when they bite as well. Stand your ground,.. and tap them on the nose if it really comes down to it.

 

[herpgirl2510]

Last week my extreme bit my son and my husband on the toe probably thought they were mice. However if it was my dog totally different strory I would never own a dog that sites. Chevy bit because he is in a totally diifferent world he saw moving toes and must have been hungry. It was not an intentional act of aggression obviously if it were a regular thing I could not keep him. Here's a pic of my husband's toe.

So it looks painful but not emergency room worthy. He is about 36" but does not weigh more than 6-8 pounds(guess)

 

[got10]

No matter what t he damage an adult tegu when threatened , can do . The irresponsible producers of that television show did a whole lot more . Shame on them

 

[herpgirl2510]

It is too bad i was telling some people aout my reptiles as soon as I mentioned tegus they brought up the show.

 

[dragonmetalhead]

A lot of our guests have seen that show as well and ask me about how vicious tegus are. I take out Kodo, show them his cute little face, and once they see how sweet he is I ask them "Does this seem like a lizard that will eat your kids?" They are always stunned by how calm and friendly Kodo is. That show is giving tegus such a bad rep and it pisses me off.