a question on Taming

[breezewon]

Hello there folks!

I have been interested in Tegus for about a year now and have been learning as much as possible by reading through here and google and so forth.

I finally got my first Tegu about two weeks ago. "she" (don't know the real sex) is currently about 16 inches long and in a 20L. As soon as the weather breaks, and the shop warms up, I have 3 pieces of glass from an old sliding door that will form an 8 foot by 3 foot home.

My first major question that i can't find an answer to is with taming

I know i should never disturb her when she is in her hide... The problem is she is always in there except for an hour or two in the morning when she warms up and then a few times a day but not for very long.

My schedule doesn't sync up with her's well enough for me to handle her as often as I should be to tame her. Also, if i am only offering food in a second food bin, that means she needs to be out of the hide so that I can pick her up and put her there. She just isn't "outside" often enough that I can work with her.

My basking spot is 112*, my cool end is 79* as i look over and read it off the thermometer Her preferred hide is under the basking spot. I wonder if moving her favorite hide to the opposite end of the tank would cause her to be out more often as it wouldn't be quite as warm in there that way.


Any thoughts on this?

I will get some pictures up as soon as possible. Still working on names.

 

[reptastic]

More than likely she is adjusting to her new home, try offering a second hide, try offering some crickets..the movement might coax her out of her hide especially if she is hungry...if she comes out you can try handling her...since she is adjusting you will have to give her some time.

 

[Toby_H]

Moving has favorite hide to the cool side sounds like a good idea to coax her out of it more often...

When I want to get my Tegu out of his hide I pour warm water on the hide. This wakes him up peacefully and typically he comes out soon after to explore. I do not suggest doing this often or at odd times (such as late in the evening).

Another trick is to offset their lights so "mid day" to your Tegu is a more opportune time for you to spend with her. My Tegus lights are on from 1pm to 1am. This makes "noon" to him 7pm for me, which works quite well for us.

Just a thought, your Tegu is not going to be happy in a 20L once it wakes up. I'm personally convinced that the majority of the cases of 'aggression due to puberty' are actually 'aggression due to stress of small enclosure' when people put off getting a larger enclosure. So it might be worth working in the cold to get the 8'er put together

 

[thomasjg23]

I'd say moving the hid would be a great idea and I too "moved" my tegu's daylight hours to better match my schedule. If the cold is keeping you from constructing the cage you could prob pick up a forty gallon breeder for around forty bucks to last you a couple months.

 

[breezewon]

Well a little update...

I've been working with her and made good progress. She is fantastic outside her little tank at this point but can still be a bit difficult when i do go to pick her up. She is out quite a lot now-a-days.

I am working on her adult cage now and hope to have it finished up for the weekend. It ended up being 7 ft long by 4 ft wide. 40 inches tall.

I have only one picture of it thus far but will post some as i take them.

Thanks for your help guys

 

[Kingwolf26]

another thing that will help her to stay out longer is if your basking spot was cooler in temperature. She would stay out longer. With my tegus, they come out, warmup and they take that heat to the bank and dont come out till the next day or 2. mine live in a room and sleep under clothes on a bed and the other one climbs back up to go to sleep in his tank. The third one, my giant stays downstairs and sleeps in the couch

 

[breezewon]

Well i figured i would update you guys on how she is doing.

Got her enclosure finished up a few weeks ago. Still have some finishing touches to get done but its pretty much finished

She is not so friendly inside the large enclosure, just like she was in the smaller tank. Now, however, i can just open the door and wait for her to come out. Once out, she is very sweet lol

I know that tegus love to rearrange things. At the moment, she is small enough (about 2) that she seems to leave everything alone. So maybe all the decorations will work out, and maybe they won't. I decided if this enclosure was going to be huge, it better be nice looking.

I am still working on the waterfall. the hoses are all hidden now.

 

[herpgirl2510]

My teg Tonka is sweet outside his cage but gets huffy in his cage. When I firt got him a few weeks agoe he was much worse. He just seemed to relax on his own once she gets used t it she will probably calm down. Tonka gets worse if I have been working or not around and he cannot get out during the day. He makes a huge mess in his water dish.