Chris & Stitches
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So, I’ll start by saying NOBODY should believe anything they have read about “tegus” on the internet.care tips are pretty on point, but the rest is irrelevant from what I’ve learned.here are three things you’re told to avoid that I’ve found otherwise
1- avoid eye contact with your lizard
2- avoid rearranging or changing your tegus enclosure do to stress
3-never get your fingers close while feeding
number 1 is total crap.if eye contact with your lizard stresses him he simply has no trust in you.and it’s not because of the eye contact.you probably don’t handle it enough or are too forceful when you do.
2 again I don’t know why many people agree here.stitches(my tegu) has lots of bricks and blocks of different sizes, 2 water dishes and a pool, 2 logs, and some random stuff as always.the area he sleeps is the only thing I don’t change often.but the rest of his stuff I always slide around a little different so it’s not the same boring house every day.he is so used to it he comes to watch where I’m putting things and he will come out of his nap hole just to see me when I’m cleaning his glass.he comes out multiple times a day on his own and is very interested in EVERY THING, never a scared moment and he has never actually ran that I’ve seen yet.
3- i always interact with him while he’s eating.i wouldn’t if I got a large lizard and didn’t raise it but stitches has never made an aggressive move toward me.he has smacked my hand with his face turning to look but immediately disregards the fingers as not food.i started by petting his tail and back while tong feeding him crickets, and then I would hold him and tong feed him, I always have shown him my fingers at feeding time so there is always the thought for him that my hand is always nearby.
I really didn’t expect so much intelligence because I’ve had beardies and other medium lizards and snakes that are just not problem solvers.stitches loves to spend time with me and rarely passes up cuddle time.he is growing extremely fast and I couldn’t be happier with what I got.my neighbor ran an alligator rescue place in Florida and said he had seen about everything but never met a wild caught lizard as calm and personable as this one.thats why the last thing I would note is not to be afraid of wild caught tegus. Everybody told me to wait because he would be ten times the work over a homegrown lizard.hes ten times the fun, and he’s got that wild in him the captives are just missing.will have more updates in the future hope this was helpful. I’ll include pics of stitches and his 2x2x4 I built out of oak and an old aquarium.
1- avoid eye contact with your lizard
2- avoid rearranging or changing your tegus enclosure do to stress
3-never get your fingers close while feeding
number 1 is total crap.if eye contact with your lizard stresses him he simply has no trust in you.and it’s not because of the eye contact.you probably don’t handle it enough or are too forceful when you do.
2 again I don’t know why many people agree here.stitches(my tegu) has lots of bricks and blocks of different sizes, 2 water dishes and a pool, 2 logs, and some random stuff as always.the area he sleeps is the only thing I don’t change often.but the rest of his stuff I always slide around a little different so it’s not the same boring house every day.he is so used to it he comes to watch where I’m putting things and he will come out of his nap hole just to see me when I’m cleaning his glass.he comes out multiple times a day on his own and is very interested in EVERY THING, never a scared moment and he has never actually ran that I’ve seen yet.
3- i always interact with him while he’s eating.i wouldn’t if I got a large lizard and didn’t raise it but stitches has never made an aggressive move toward me.he has smacked my hand with his face turning to look but immediately disregards the fingers as not food.i started by petting his tail and back while tong feeding him crickets, and then I would hold him and tong feed him, I always have shown him my fingers at feeding time so there is always the thought for him that my hand is always nearby.
I really didn’t expect so much intelligence because I’ve had beardies and other medium lizards and snakes that are just not problem solvers.stitches loves to spend time with me and rarely passes up cuddle time.he is growing extremely fast and I couldn’t be happier with what I got.my neighbor ran an alligator rescue place in Florida and said he had seen about everything but never met a wild caught lizard as calm and personable as this one.thats why the last thing I would note is not to be afraid of wild caught tegus. Everybody told me to wait because he would be ten times the work over a homegrown lizard.hes ten times the fun, and he’s got that wild in him the captives are just missing.will have more updates in the future hope this was helpful. I’ll include pics of stitches and his 2x2x4 I built out of oak and an old aquarium.
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