Test biting...

Savemygrave · May 24, 2016

So my gorgeous girl Olive has a little habit. She's making so much progress and we're bonding really well... she can be very affectionate but occasionally will bite me. Prime example today, I was stroking her and we were chilling out together, she came up to rest on my arm and she fell asleep for a while. Next thing her little tongue is going and she bites whatever is in front of her! Today... my arm!

She's coming up a year old so I expect a little change in temper whilst she's maturing. has anyone else had this problem? It's not so bad now but I obviously don't want her taking chunks out of me when she's fully grown!

This photo was just before the biting incident!

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Dee-Dee Idrais · May 24, 2016

Pretty girl

Savemygrave · May 25, 2016

Dee-Dee Idrais said:
Pretty girl

She is! Just a little bitey at the moment haha

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Katelynn · May 25, 2016

My male used to do the same thing until I assured my "dominance" to him. When he did that I would pick him up, he would freak out and I would pin him down until he stopped struggling and closed his eyes. She may becoming of age to start testing her boundry. N

Justsomedude · May 26, 2016

Yea my two month old bites at anything when he's hungry

Walter1 · May 26, 2016

A person should talk to their tegu. That means kindly. Therefore, if a test bite occurs, you can harshly say NO!! My experience with three of them is they get it.

Savemygrave · May 27, 2016

Walter1 said:
A person should talk to their tegu. That means kindly. Therefore, if a test bite occurs, you can harshly say NO!! My experience with three of them is they get it.

I agree Walter. I do this and she seems to back off. It's not an aggressive bite, she's very calm when she does it. It's more of an inquisitive bite!

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Savemygrave · May 29, 2016

She's still biting... Today she got my finger after I had cleaned some substrate from her mouth. She's a little terror [emoji29]

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Walter1 · May 29, 2016

Some options- dissacociate food from you by placing food in a particular bowl before she wakes up.

Another is a squirt bottle of water to shoot if she bites, accompanied with a harsh "no".

Savemygrave · May 29, 2016

Walter1 said:
Some options- dissacociate food from you by placing food in a particular bowl before she wakes up.

Another is a squirt bottle of water to shoot if she bites, accompanied with a harsh "no".

She gets fed mostly out of her enclosure using her own dish either that or with tongs. It's very rare I will hand feed her especial as of late! I will certainly try the water squirter and see if that helps to reinforce the "No!" Thanks for your advice walter

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DreamsOfTegus · Jun 3, 2016

Totally avoid hand or tong feeding- use a bowl only for now. The same bowl, if it were me- that's how I handle potential food-motivation with my boy, who is full grown and from whom a bite would be extremely unpleasant.

You can most certainly tell her NO- they do understand, very intelligent lizards. If I say no, he will stop what he was doing and go do something else. I'd go so far as to place her on the floor away from you when she does the biting behavior- re-enforce that pets and affection come only when you aren't being rude.

Justsomedude · Jun 6, 2016

Yea I have been getting tagged by my little monster every day now he is so damn fast aggressive! I tried the tongs even just to grab his food dish and just as I was turning he jumped so damn high he was able to latch on to my palm ! He let go and just sat on the edge of the cage looking out at me...adorable lol gonna be a lot of work with this one!

Walter1 · Jun 6, 2016

Justsomedude said:
Yea I have been getting tagged by my little monster every day now he is so damn fast aggressive! I tried the tongs even just to grab his food dish and just as I was turning he jumped so damn high he was able to latch on to my palm ! He let go and just sat on the edge of the cage looking out at me...adorable lol gonna be a lot of work with this one!

Justsome- stuff him like a veal calf! In a bowl before he wakes up. Handle him after he's eaten. He'll direct his food association with the bowl. Lose the tongs.

Dee-Dee Idrais · Jun 6, 2016

I feel so fortunate, neither one of my tegus ever even tried to bite me. They are so gentle. I'm very grateful for that, since they cuddle constantly with my kiddos too.

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Justsomedude · Jun 7, 2016

Walter1 said:
Justsome- stuff him like a veal calf! In a bowl before he wakes up. Handle him after he's eaten. He'll direct his food association with the bowl. Lose the tongs.

Yea I think your night I have been waiting to feed him until I get home from work however I am going to start leaving the food in his dish for him to devour when he wakes up instead

Justsomedude · Jun 7, 2016

The only issue I have th that is the ground turkey seems to dry out a little because of the time it takes for him to emerge in the am. However he has been eating more and is growing so fast it's hard to believe!

Savemygrave · Jul 2, 2016

Savemygrave said:
She gets fed mostly out of her enclosure using her own dish either that or with tongs. It's very rare I will hand feed her especial as of late! I will certainly try the water squirter and see if that helps to reinforce the "No!" Thanks for your advice walter

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After today I'm feeling a little disheartened with Olive and our progress. She crawled onto my back and began licking and smelling me. I could hear her breathing getting heavier and then she bit me. Fully latched on to my ear and didn't want to let go. After eventually letting go it wasn't long before she latched onto my foot.

She's well over 2ft now and coming up to a year old. It's becoming a serious problem as she's causing me some serious harm. I'm refusing to give up on her but as you can imagine, hobbling around the house due to a shredded foot isn't fun and my ear has puncture marks and is split. its as if she has a split personality at the moment. Any advice is welcome, especially any comments of encouragement

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Dee-Dee Idrais · Jul 2, 2016

WOW! I can't even begin to imagine what r u dealing with. Neither one of my tegus ever even tried the bite us. No experience on my end. Sorry!!!!

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Savemygrave · Jul 2, 2016

Dee-Dee Idrais said:
WOW! I can't even begin to imagine what r u dealing with. Neither one of my tegus ever even tried the bite us. No experience on my end. Sorry!!!!

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Yeah she's never been this bad. I'm putting it down to stress due to being away from me for two weeks whilst we were on holiday and also her bowel issues. I'm going back to square one with her and taking it slow. I don't think I could deal with another vicious bite from her. I broke down in tears after she bit my ear, she ran away and hid down the side of her vivarium and wouldn't come back out. It broke my heart that she seems to have lost some trust in me.

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Savemygrave · Jul 2, 2016

Savemygrave said:
Yeah she's never been this bad. I'm putting it down to stress due to being away from me for two weeks whilst we were on holiday and also her bowel issues. I'm going back to square one with her and taking it slow. I don't think I could deal with another vicious bite from her. I broke down in tears after she bit my ear, she ran away and hid down the side of her vivarium and wouldn't come back out. It broke my heart that she seems to have lost some trust in me.

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Test biting...

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