Who knew tegus could fly?

[tresh]

Our baby tegu, Ammy, is just about 3 months old. She's definitely decided she does not want to be a mellow lizard chilling out under the heat lamp or staying burrowed most of the day. Instead, she has decided that she can fly.

Today, wondering what a peculiar noise I heard was, I look at her tank and I see that she has figured out how to somehow go up the glass and get her claws in the top of the screen. So, upside down tegu.

How she did this, I have no clue. I wasn't aware that tegus can jump like that. Ammy appears to have decided that she does not want to stay in her tank, she wants to explore the world. So, our intrepid voyaging lizard is now exploring the world of "desk top" and "couch" while we can keep an eye on her.

We're going to head to the pet store today to see if we can find a small leash/harness for her, because she really doesn't want to stay in her cage, but she's also still way too small to be allowed to roam freely. We have a cat, and said cat would think the tegu was food if we did that.

I keep seeing people talk about how mellow tegus are and how they'll stay burrowed most of the day, but Ammy seems to want to be completely contrary to this. She's awake and aware most of the day and always exploring, always curious. Her favorite perches seem to be human heads, lol. She's become very demanding about her food as well, letting us know quite firmly when she is hungry, and that she wants her food NOW and does not want to wait for us to mix the vitamins in.

We weren't quite ready yet to start working on a custom enclosure for her, but it appears that she's ready to move beyond her tank (she's in a 40 gallon Zilla tank), so I guess plans are bumped up a bit now, lol.

Wooo....never a dull day with an active adventuresome tegu around.

 

[Bubblz Calhoun]

Tegus can tripod and use their tail for support and to help climb things. I would be careful with letting her climb on the screen top because her nails can get caught and she can pull them out, break and or dislocate a toe while trying to free herself. If she's go, go, go more often than not, you should check your temps. Something maybe off, too cold or too hot to where she's not comfortable and wants out more often then not.

On the other hand if everything is where it should be she maybe just be a little explorer. Oh,.. I almost forgot,.. be careful with letting her sit on your head as well. As they get older and larger it's not so cute or funny when a 10 or 15lb tegu is scratching you up trying to climb on top of your head.

I went through it with Dino and that was a hard habit to get him out of.

 

[babyyitslove]

Nice! My GUs are fat and lazy, but when taken outside to naturally bask every so often, they pick up their speed and cruise around the yard non-stop. Unless they find a spot that seems worthy enough of flattening out on.

 

[spidersandmonsters]

Mine is JUST like this. She has about a three foot tall door on her enclosure, and then about a foot and a half is open at the top for ventilation. She figured out she could get on her rock and leap like a freak and just catch the top of the door haha. Needless to say, I had to move her basking spot. However, she has seemed to calm down ALOT the bigger she gets. She still constantly explores, but she's given up on her escape efforts. (Probably cause she did get out for a couple of days one time and I guess realized it wasn't fun to fend for yourself)

 

[jdpFL]

Lol babyitslove, ours is the same way. Today mellow UNLESS he's outside, then he becomes big bad dino lizard and will open his mouth and puff like a contrary two year old when it's time to come inside. Hilarious. He won't bite, but he sure acts like he's threatening...."don't bring me inside, I cut you!".....lmao.

 

[Aardbark]

Hehe awesome story, it made me smile. My tegu is just like that. She loves exploring. One time I found her dangleing upside down from the top of her cage too, but she didnt stay long, and only did that once. She does sleep a lot but when she is awake, shes out and about all over the place. Once she jumped a clear foot and a half from my bed to my night stand. I was stunned.

Hehe gogo Ammy.