Thoughts and observations on baby tegus

[Dana C]

Everyone who has a baby has to understand that early behavior is going to change and is not indicative of your baby tegus adult personality which will develop over time . Your tegu will not really be tame or socialized for a few months. They will tolerate you with continued interaction and they will begin to associate you will good thinks like warmth, security, food, and a perch to see things.

I know that it is easy to engage in anthropomorphism. I also know how badly everyone wants to have the tegus like that they have seen on you tube, huge friendly, wanting attention. You can have it but it takes time and lots of patience and effort. If you go back in the "taming" threads you will find some good routines and techniques for bonding. Real milestones usually begin when your tegu is at least 3 months of age. Maybe yours will be different. Who knows?

You should also know that your baby will change periodically. A the beginning of a shed they can become terrors. When they start to sexually mature they can be testy, and not want to be touched, carried etc. Understand that it is not that they have lost what they had with you but are just going through a phase which will pass. There will be other phases and mood changes which will occur for years.

All to often I have seen the expression "dog tame" on the net on breeder web sites, forums etc. Tegus while capable of being tame and somewhat bonded to you will not ever be "dog tame". Canis familiaris is a domesticated animal and became so over thousands of years. Tegus are still a wild reptile with all the survival, mating, etc. instincts intact. Tegus are very intelligent and perhaps have the highest level of "smarts" in the reptile world and are capable of remembering, learning, identifying, etc. They are also capable of bullying you into doing what they want. They do something and they respond good or bad.

What I am trying to say is, get your expectations into the zone of reality with your baby tegu.

 

[laurarfl]

Reptiles also do not have mammalian brains and simply are not capable of that type of behavior.

 

[Dana C]

Reptiles also do not have mammalian brains and simply are not capable of that type of behavior.

Does that mean that I am correct or incorrect?

 

[laurarfl]

erm...correct

 

[Dana C]

I can't tell you how happy I am. LOL I know you hate that kind of thing. ;-)

 

[SnakeCharmr728]

I hope this wasnt aimed toward my post about my hybrid baby being grumpy... I am not a newbie when it comes to tegus and I know what to expect from babies...

 

[Arxilca]

I hope this wasnt aimed toward my post about my hybrid baby being grumpy... I am not a newbie when it comes to tegus and I know what to expect from babies...

Looks like it was originally a reply in this thread, but Dana posted it as a stand-alone topic as well to help boost the exposure of the information.

 

[jwyo]

Always chuckle a bit when I hear dog tame. I had a dog once that was simply the meanest animal in existence.

 

[Bntegus]

dana i have over a 100 reptiles and i think i have 5 that wont eat me lol i like it that way makes it a fun time to clean lol and feed. also everything you wrote is correct.

 

[Dana C]

Hey BN, did you get my PM?

 

[Alxsparks]

OK, so as a newb to the Tegu world: I keep reading conflicting things about taming (handle him every day or ignore him and also never remove from his hide). Every time I enter the reptile room, Finnegan zips to his hide. I haven't been able to handle him in days, and when I do get my hand in there, I've got to wrestle with him to get him out of the cage (at which point he's breathing like his little heart is going to explode), and once he's out, he's gone the first chance he gets.

I'm A-OK waiting for him to decide I'm not not terrifying, I completely understand it's a process, but I just want to know if there's anything I need to be doing/not doing to make sure he doesn't hate me when he gets bigger (ie do i need to handle him every day, even if it means getting him out of his hide? Should I be waiting until he doesn't find me terrifying in his enclosure before I start handling?)

I'm sure you get these questions a lot, but you guys seem to be very experienced, so any guidance would be helpful.

 

[bmx3000max]

Go at its pace....so if it takes a week or more if it keeps running to its hide let it be untile it dicides ur not going to harm it and then start putuing ur hand in it encloser at days and just take things slow and at its pace not urs....and never take it out the hide and i know people and get thier tegus and dont hold them for a month, just let them get used to everything so it takes time

 

[Scott Hogge]

Until he lets you handle him, spend as much time as you can near/inside his enclosure (ignoring him) until he doesn't trip out at you being around. As soon as he starts letting you hold him/crawling over your hand/up ur arm, then start handling him as much as possible every day. If you start the handling while he is still freaking out though it usually just reinforces the freaking out.

 

[Alxsparks]

Thanks.

I'll start just hanging out near the enclosure (right now it's a 40 gallon tank, so I can't really get in there with him (the tank is very temporary, he'll be getting his own room when he's bigger)).

What's odd is that he was pretty friendly when we did get him out from about 1.5 to 2.5 weeks (he didn't come up to us, but when we got him out, he'd on us and even fall asleep on or near us). Now he's just all stress.

 

[Scott Hogge]

Even if u can't get ur whole body in, just hanging your arms out his his enclosure and moving moving substrate around a little will teach him that ur not a threat/freakoutworthy. Just always try to go as far as he will let you, but stop before he freaks out.

 

[Dana C]

OK, so as a newb to the Tegu world: I keep reading conflicting things about taming (handle him every day or ignore him and also never remove from his hide). Every time I enter the reptile room, Finnegan zips to his hide. I haven't been able to handle him in days, and when I do get my hand in there, I've got to wrestle with him to get him out of the cage (at which point he's breathing like his little heart is going to explode), and once he's out, he's gone the first chance he gets.

I'm A-OK waiting for him to decide I'm not not terrifying, I completely understand it's a process, but I just want to know if there's anything I need to be doing/not doing to make sure he doesn't hate me when he gets bigger (ie do i need to handle him every day, even if it means getting him out of his hide? Should I be waiting until he doesn't find me terrifying in his enclosure before I start handling?)

I'm sure you get these questions a lot, but you guys seem to be very experienced, so any guidance would be helpful.

After having done it a few times I have learned and you should consider:
1. Not every method works on every tegu. You have to experiment as their is no single correct way.
2. Time and patience is the key. Take it slow and easy. Just sit by it's cage / enclosure and talk to it slowly and somewhat softly. Put your hand inside the enclosure for a while then remove it. Don't attempt to handle your tegu yet.
3. Move your hand closer to it until you can touch it from the side.
this can take a couple of weeks.
4. Always move your hand to your baby from the side, never from the above. That is where predators come from!
5. Talk softly while moving your hand. Let him know that it is you and you are no threat.
6. If you listen to heavy metal while attempting to interact with him, stop.

PATIENCE, PATIENCE, PATIENCE. It will happen in his time, not yours.