when to handle skittish tegus

[Aaronsauce]

Hello I just joined and recently got a black and gold Columbian tegu I've kept various other reptiles over the years and never had too much success taming them, most of what I've read says you should handle these guys frequently though I know you shouldn't pull em out of their hiding spots which is true with most lizards however my tegu tends to dart for the nearest hide spot as soon as I get close so I'm wondering how you guys would approach this thank you.

 

[KritterKeeper]

My columbian was the same way when i got him. I couldnt walk in the room without him taking off. I started by just getting him used to me being around but i didnt try to hold him. Give him food/water and clean his cage but dont try to mess with him yet. I used to just sit by the cage and read or mess with my phone and little by little he got more used to me and stopped running away. I talked to him alot too just so he'd get used to my voice. It took weeks before he completely stopped running but it did work and at that point i started handling him. Columbians are just naturally more flighty and take a bit more patience.

 

[Aaronsauce]

alright cool Ill try that

 

[Chris23039]

I think it gets better with age aswell, mine used to run and hide but now he's bigger he's much calmer and doesn't mind being handled

 

[laurarfl]

When they are little, they are prey for other animals. They do get more confident as they grow. When I first got my Colombian, I kept her in the living room where we all hung out. It was a huge double sized room. She saw us watching TV...whatever. I also homeschooled my kids so when my daughter would read her assignments, she would be on the couch with a blanket with that tegu in there with her.

She was my first tegu so I didn't always know what I was doing or do things the "right" way. She was about 6-9mos old and not handled much. Whenever we saw her, we talked to her. We picked her up with gloves and took her out of the cage to feed her. She had special treats so that coming to see us was a good thing in her mind. I probably uncovered her, too, I don't really remember (it was a long time ago).

My daughter was 11 when we got Oreo. Now my daughter is 19 and Oreo is still tame and visits my classroom from time to time.

Baby Oreo


Oreo 3 years later hanging out with Britt

 

[Aaronsauce]

alright thanks guys im gonna hafta try and just hang around his enclosure more