tegus and toddlers

[lovely_insanity]

im interested in getting a tegu. I would honestly really like a hatchling but it will eventually get big anyway so I wouldn't totally mind a yearling. the only concern I have is I have a toddler. my toddler is extremely great with animals of every kind. I want a black and white argentine. as ive heard they are the tamest. ive heard a lot of deferent opinions on tegus and kids. somebody said they wouldn't trust them around tiny fingers. another said his daughter hand feeds their tegu. given the time they both require they would both have to get along well with each other. I wanted a hatchling so I could get it used to us and our family at a early age. you hear stories about kids and puppies being together since they were babies, well I want my baby and my tegu to have that relationship. after all she could walk it like a puppy... my question is, how many of you have tegus and small children? do they do ok together? also given our situation would it be better to get a hatchling or maybe one a little bit older?

 

[N8bub]

My tegu is a good boy, but I wouldn't trust him around my infant son. I don't think a toddler would be much different. Children can be awkward and inadvertently hurt the tegu. Also I haven't had multiple tegus but I have kept several monitors in addition to my tegu and all of them have been stimulated by bare feet and tried to nip if not bite at feet. With proper supervision an older child could certainly pet and interact with a calm tegu but I couldn't in good conscience say to let a toddler play with an adult tegu. My 2 cents

 

[lovely_insanity]

thank you!!

 

[Jackie & Hellboy]

Yeah I would wait until your child understands everything that makes the tegu uncomfortable or anything that generates a food response. The slightest of hesitation or too fast of an approach may cause the tegu to react as if he were being fed. Always remember that a properly heated and cared for tegu is a very fast animal especially when they know food is around, they shouldn't be slow or sluggish like some of the overweight tegus you see sometimes. Make sure that your tegu is as predictable as you can by learning his or her specific body language and moods before trusting others to handle or interact as much as you do with them.

 

[Rebecca Stout]

I have a tegu that is a sweetheart and has never tried to nip. But I have two todders here a couple times a week. We haven't even allowed them to pet her. When they are here, she remains in her enclosure and it is actually locked. I just want to be careful. I do allow them to hold and pet my bearded dragon WITH close supervision (me right there with them however). I do trust him implicitly. More than a cat or do actually.

 

[Gandalf]

I wouldn't leave any young kids and a tegu together unsupervised... any number of horrible accidents could occur as simply as the child falling down on the tegu and breaking its arm or something. That being said, I don't see any problem with having a tegu and a toddler as long as they are only together when supervised and you know the tegu's temperament (same advise I'd really give about a dog or cat.)

We've hand feed our tegu pretty much every meal since his hatching, but I wouldn't let any kids (or even any other adults for that matter) feed him, just because if they aren't used to it something could go wrong. We've never been bitten, on purpose or an accident, but we also know what we are doing. If he was really excited about some food & you were holding it wrong, I could see an accident possibly happening.

We don't have any kids, but our tegu is pretty popular w/the local kids in the neighborhood because he hangs out in the front yard all day and people bring their kids over to see/pet him & we've never had any problems.

Our tegu is a complete sweetheart, and I'd completely trust him alone with anyone with a reasonable amount of common sense. If we had a child, somebody held a gun to my head and said "you have to choose to either leave your child unsupervised with your tegu, or with any of the pet dogs in the neighborhood", I'd definitely pick our tegu.... and to be honest i'd be more worried about the tegu getting hurt than the child.


Short answer: Just pretend the tegu is a dog, ask yourself the same question, and use your best judgement.