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I actually watched this whole episode when it was on, just because I saw the promo for it having Tegu's on it. They did portray tegu's in a negative way, not just that they are invasive, but they are highly dangerous. Which, that is true if you provoke them. It always amazes me how afraid people are of reptiles in general, and it's just like someone else said on here, it's lack of education. When I was younger, I used to be scared to death of snakes (not lizards) only because almost every male member in my family were scared of them, therefore, so was I. As I got older and watched more educational shows on snakes, I became less fearful (still a bit scared of venomous snakes, which is probably a good thing, luckily we only have 2 venomous species where I live, one of which is rarely seen). So, I overcame my fear one day and caught a Rat snake, and have been catching them and rereleasing them for my neighbors. I try to teach people the best I can about reptiles (with the knowledge that I have) so that they aren't afraid of them. I mean seriously, people are always scared of a snake bite, and with Rat snakes (most common snake found here) barely can even break the skin, and when they do, you don't even feel it. I also love teaching people about my Tegu's. People's first question is usually "Do they bite?" or "Aren't you afraid they are going to eat you?" So, that tells you right there that people lack a great deal of knowledge about reptiles, or animals in general. I also have a Quaker Parrot and when people see pictures or meet my animals, they always say "awww I want to hold the parrot" and then usually "those lizards are scary!". My response to them is "The parrot will bite you, the lizards will not"

So, as someone posted earlier, I agree we need to continue to teach as many people as we can about our pets, and show them that there are certain animals we need to fear and others we do not.

And don't get me started on Animal Planet, what a joke. Someone needs to get Jeff Corwin a new show!

<blockquote data-quote="Brandon7777" data-source="post: 83442" data-attributes="member: 2464">I actually watched this whole episode when it was on, just because I saw the promo for it having Tegu's on it.&nbsp; They did portray tegu's in a negative way, not just that they are invasive, but they are highly dangerous.&nbsp; Which, that is true if you provoke them.&nbsp; It always amazes me how afraid people are of reptiles in general, and it's just like someone else said on here, it's lack of education.&nbsp; When I was younger, I used to be scared to death of snakes (not lizards) only because almost every male member in my family were scared of them, therefore, so was I.&nbsp; As I got older and watched more educational shows on snakes, I became less fearful (still a bit scared of venomous snakes, which is probably a good thing, luckily we only have 2 venomous species where I live, one of which is rarely seen).&nbsp; So, I overcame my fear one day and caught a Rat snake, and have been catching them and rereleasing them for my neighbors.&nbsp;&nbsp; I try to teach people the best I can about reptiles (with the knowledge that I have) so that they aren't afraid of them.&nbsp; I mean seriously, people are always scared of a snake bite, and with Rat snakes (most common snake found here) barely can even break the skin, and when they do, you don't even feel it.&nbsp; I also love teaching people about my Tegu's.&nbsp; People's first question is usually &quot;Do they bite?&quot; or &quot;Aren't you afraid they are going to eat you?&quot;&nbsp; So, that tells you right there that people lack a great deal of knowledge about reptiles, or animals in general.&nbsp; I also have a Quaker Parrot and when people see pictures or meet my animals, they always say &quot;awww I want to hold the parrot&quot; and then usually &quot;those lizards are scary!&quot;. My response to them is &quot;The parrot will bite you, the lizards will not&quot;&nbsp; So, as someone posted earlier, I agree we need to continue to teach as many people as we can about our pets, and show them that there are certain animals we need to fear and others we do not.&nbsp; And don't get me started on Animal Planet, what a joke.&nbsp; Someone needs to get Jeff Corwin a new show!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Brandon7777, post: 83442, member: 2464"] I actually watched this whole episode when it was on, just because I saw the promo for it having Tegu's on it. They did portray tegu's in a negative way, not just that they are invasive, but they are highly dangerous. Which, that is true if you provoke them. It always amazes me how afraid people are of reptiles in general, and it's just like someone else said on here, it's lack of education. When I was younger, I used to be scared to death of snakes (not lizards) only because almost every male member in my family were scared of them, therefore, so was I. As I got older and watched more educational shows on snakes, I became less fearful (still a bit scared of venomous snakes, which is probably a good thing, luckily we only have 2 venomous species where I live, one of which is rarely seen). So, I overcame my fear one day and caught a Rat snake, and have been catching them and rereleasing them for my neighbors. I try to teach people the best I can about reptiles (with the knowledge that I have) so that they aren't afraid of them. I mean seriously, people are always scared of a snake bite, and with Rat snakes (most common snake found here) barely can even break the skin, and when they do, you don't even feel it. I also love teaching people about my Tegu's. People's first question is usually "Do they bite?" or "Aren't you afraid they are going to eat you?" So, that tells you right there that people lack a great deal of knowledge about reptiles, or animals in general. I also have a Quaker Parrot and when people see pictures or meet my animals, they always say "awww I want to hold the parrot" and then usually "those lizards are scary!". My response to them is "The parrot will bite you, the lizards will not" So, as someone posted earlier, I agree we need to continue to teach as many people as we can about our pets, and show them that there are certain animals we need to fear and others we do not. And don't get me started on Animal Planet, what a joke. Someone needs to get Jeff Corwin a new show! [/QUOTE]

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