Things we do wrong

[murilstone]

Well, I got my Tegu 2 weeks ago. The first week I was really patient and left him alone. During the second week he started coming out and became active. This weekend I decided to start “working” with him a little bit….MISTAKE!
So what happened was I put my hands in his cage and I could see that he was uncomfortable with that, but unfortunately, I can’t seem to take a clue because I had an agenda. I continued to “work” in the cage and at one point I tried to touch him and it freaked him out. He did after a while…grudgingly… let me touch him, but now, whenever I come close to the cage he gets nervous and if I open the cage he runs for the hide. I realize that I have messed up pretty bad.
To make matters worse for me, when my wife “works” in the cage it don’t seem to bother him near as much so I know it is me that is causing him grief.
So the point to my long post is twofold:
First…from your guys experience…is there a chance for a “forgive & forget” or is it just over for me.
And second, I would like to hear some things that you have done that you would consider a “mistake” on your part in dealing with your Tegu. It will surely be a huge help to me.

 

[Maro1]

He will get over it. Just take your time working with him and don't grab him rather lift him just a couple inches and put him down again. He will eventually get used to you.

 

[Bwindi]

I agree with Maro, Just respect his space and definitely don't disturb him when he is sleeping. Bobby has some videos on how to handle baby gu's, I would check them out!

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Don't go too fast,.. take your time,.. it's a minor set back but he'll get over it in due time. They're all different and each sometimes require, different techniques and periods of time to get use to you and being handled.

Tricky my AA was the hardest I've had to work with taming wise,.. to this day. I had never been bitten by anything so much in my life including my first Colombian (with the rep they have),.. other than mosquitoes. So I had to step back,.. reevaluate and do things more so on his terms. But once I figured that out we were golden. Even though it may have been him showing his red fiery tegu side .

 

[slideaboot]

I agree with Maro, Just respect his space and definitely don't disturb him when he is sleeping. Bobby has some videos on how to handle baby gu's, I would check them out!

This is great advice. I begin working with my tegus the day after they arrive and they are RIDICULOUSLY tame and CRAVE affection/attention. It's a numbers game--just put in the time. Watch those videos (and as many other videos as you can--even videos with bad practices so you know what to avoid)...they're super helpful.

 

[Toby_H]

A mistake I made - I was showing a friend how incredibly tame my Tegu is. I was literally trying to pry his mouth open with my fingers. For several minutes he simply tolerated me wiggling my finger on his 'lips' and pushing down (slightly) on his lower 'lip'... *CHOMP* I found the line, right after I crossed it...

He didn't bite hard but his large razor sharp teeth did put some fairly deep scratches on my fingers. I cleaned it up quickly and went back to pet his head (without touching his mouth of course). The experience didn't seem to change our relationship at all, other than I know better than to poke at his mouth anymore.


I am quite certain you and your Tegu will work through your little trust issue. I've gone through a couple minor ups and downs with mine. I just remain consistent and persistent and work through mistakes. Though do keep in mind Tegus do have 'moods' and sometimes mine will not be in the mood to deal with me, just like sometimes I'm not in the mood to deal with him. It is a bit unfair though, he can't just leave me in my cage...


One thing I believe... especially when they are young/small... we need to find a balance between moving slowly, but not too slowly. Preditors very slowly anc cautiously stalk their prey, and I believe we commonly confuse our Tegus and our "politeness" looks like "stalking" to them. From day one I've made steady deliberate movements. Never fast or jerky, but also never stalkingly...


Good luck for us, Tegus are very smart animals. He will probably learn how to deal with you faster than you learn to deal with him I know that was the case with me and mine....