TEGU FEEDING & AGGRESSION PROBLEM! HELP!

[djmixer]

Hello everyone. I have not seen this issue when doing a search on Google, so maybe someone here can help me out, as it is greatly needed.

I have a year and a half old B&W tegu that I've had since a baby hatchling. Just recently, he's been getting more and more aggressive. I feed him in a food tub away from his tank, and I make sure he doesn't see me put food in there. The problem I noticed, even as a hatchling, was his striking aim. When he would strike at his food, he would always aim too high, missing the food entirely. Eventually, after 10-15 strikes, he would get lucky and catch the food in his mouth. I can only imagine this has stressed him out over time.

Well now, if I walk by his tank, he charges and tries to attack me and runs into the glass. I've done my best to be a good pet owner, and I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I handle him 2 times a day for about 15-20 minutes per session, I NEVER feed him inside his tank, I feed him food that isn't alive (frozen pinkies/peach fuzzies), ground turkey, mealworms/waxworms, meat baby food, eggs...but he doesn't seem to be getting any less aggressive. Also, he's never calm when eating his food either. He acts as if it's the last bit of food on the planet and basically goes crazy over it, even though it's not alive or moving. Will this behavior change over time? Is there a way to help him with his aim so that he doesn't stress out as much? Please, any help is greatly appreciated, I don't know what to do...

-Chris

 

[Carlos e torres]

I pm u,gave u info..let me know if it works for u..good luck

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Welcome to the site.
What kind of lights are you using, coil, compact, mvb or what? Coil have been known to cause eye issues.
Have you ever taken him to the vet to have his eyes checked?

Besides those two things it can also be a combination of puberty and not being fed enough. A tegu that's almost 2 yrs old should be fed larger prey than pinks and worms also much more than what you mentioned.
Let him eat until he's full and that will fix some of the aggression over time.

 

[james.w]

How big is he and what size enclosure are you keeping him in?

 

[djmixer]

Welcome to the site.
What kind of lights are you using, coil, compact, mvb or what? Coil have been known to cause eye issues.
Have you ever taken him to the vet to have his eyes checked?

Besides those two things it can also be a combination of puberty and not being fed enough. A tegu that's almost 2 yrs old should be fed larger prey than pinks and worms also much more than what you mentioned.
Let him eat until he's full and that will fix some of the aggression over time.

I have 2 lights that I have on a 12 hour timer with a V400 Vision Cage with aspen bedding. I have a 100 watt basking lamp on one side, and a I have 5.0 UVB compact light on the other side. I'm actually going to take him to the vet in the next few days to see if there's any eye issues that the herp vet can find.

As for larger food, what would you suggest I start to feed him? I've tried feeding him lettuce and fruits, but he doesn't really want to eat any of that. There's an inch in diameter of space between his eyes on the top of his head.

Thanks for the helpful info, I'll be sure to start feeding him as much as possible. Should I be feeding him until he's completely full once a day, or once every two days?

---

How big is he and what size enclosure are you keeping him in?

He's two feet in length. The enclosure I have him in is a V400 Vision Cage, which has 48 x 26 x 14" for the dimensions.

 

[james.w]

At 2' he should be able to eat adult mice or small rats.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Whole prey wise they can take food that's no larger than the size and width of their head not including jowls. From larger mice and rats, to chicks and rabbit but here's a great place to start for more ideas.
http://www.tegutalk.com/showthread.php?tid=6452

 

[Diablo]

Order whole ground up rabbits, duck, turkey and more from hare-today. Other members including myself have ordered from there and their selection is very healthy, and tegus love it. Make sure to get the bones with it for extra calcium.

https://www.hare-today.com/

 

[SomethingTegu]

Do you spend much time with him every day? Is he used to seeing you often each day? Mine used to be a bit cage aggressive, I fed him meat inside the enclosure for awhile and he would associate the sound of the enclosure opening with time to eat so anything that went in he'd rush at.

I read somewhere to put a well worn shirt in his enclosure for him to lay on and dig under so he gets used to my scent not being something he eats. That helped a little bit. With that I also made sure to feed him all of his food outside of his enclosure. The whole prey was f/t. I also took him outside of the enclosure for an hour each day either to climb on me or be around me in the same room. It took a month to get him to stop rushing, another month to stop hissing and shaking his head at me, and a little more and now he's pretty much like a moody puppy dog, but only moody when you wake him up or pet the smooth part of his head when he doesn't want you to. All he does is shake his head though. I can feed him eggs and fruit in his enclosure inside of a bowl now and I have no problem.

 

[Dubya]

I think that if he never hibernated that he may be aggressive because he may be going through puberty. I think I read that somewhere on this forum. Got10 has a lot of tegus, Maybe either him or someone else with a bunch of them could check in here.

 

[Bntegus]

more food a lot more.

 

[james.w]

Also a bigger enclosure is needed.

 

[djmixer]

Thanks for all your helpful information everyone! I just got back into town after being out for Thanksgiving. Roommate took care of the tegu responsibilities.

So, I've been overfeeding the little guy, and he doesn't seem as aggressive anymore. And Dubya, you're right, I didn't let him hibernate last year, so there's a good chance that you're correct. As for the other questions, he has never hissed, never whipped his tail, never bit me and has never done that head shaking thing towards me. For the most part, he was extremely calm and happy to be around me. I handle the little fella about 2-3 times a day for 15-20 minutes each time, sometimes longer, which doesn't include when I take him out of his enclosure to feed him, and put him back in when he's finished eating. So, I handle him about 4-5 times a day.

Once again, thanks for the help everyone. The herp vet said the eye thing is normal if what I'm feeding him is too small...and since I've been feeding him larger food, he doesn't seem to have AS MUCH problem picking it up in his mouth and wolfing it down, haha.

 

[Brittneym]

I suggest a larger cage along with a 10.0 uvb light. I was told that the 5.0 doesnt put out enough uvb (or at least not as much as a Tegu needs) But other than that it seems like you're getting into feeding him more which should help. The larger enclosure might help alot as well because he could feel threatened with you in front of him and not much space to back into to 'escape'.

 

[frost]

never feed lettuce. if you do feed something like romain. iceberg is basically like feeding water. and i agree with everyone else. my tegus are aggressive when they are in the cage but as soon as i let them out they are fine after they pig out. baldr just sits on my arm or lap and wanders around every so often. i think the aggression is a territory thing.