Almost yearling red tegu very skittish

[jtmac1130]

Hi, ive been reading stuff on this website for over a year now, but this is my first post. I have an almost yearling red tegu that I got when he was about 1-3 months old. I received my red tegu, Gunter, on October 27th of 2013, so you can see we've been together a while. I take her out 3-6 times a week by luring her out of her cage with food on tongs and into a bin where i carry her into the bathroom. She likes to climb while in the bathroom, and often climbs me. The problem is, anywhere but the bathroom she is very skittish and scared of me. In her cage and in my room its like shes straight from the wild. Ive been doing so many different taming techniques for the last 8 months like the shirt in the cage, hand in the cage, tong feeding, giving her regular baths, ignoring her, and even staying in the bathroom with her so long that she gets cold and has to sit with me to get warmth. I just don't know where to go from here and ive been trying so hard to patient with her. I get that some tegus have that kind of personality and i get that they tame as they age, and im not expecting her to cuddle with me, but i really want to know if theres something i could do to make her not hate me.
Thanks
James

 

[Ralph DeMayo]

I'm no expert but i do think you're method of getting him out of the cage might just be the probelem. I would put his food out in the a.m before his heat and uvb bulb kick on. He will bask and then look to eat, possibly multiple times a day. The concept of putting him into feed mode to get him out and then wanting him to chill might just be the problem..Just my 2 cents

 

[jtmac1130]

Thanks dude. I'd like to know if anyone else agrees before I try it. Thanks

 

[Rebecca Stout]

Just so you don't feel alone, I am in a similar situation but it is not as severe as yours. But I got a yearling back in April. And taming process has been ridiculously slow even though I work at home and spend tons of time with her each day. In my case she is not skittish of me at all. But of everything else except in the bathroom. She likes coming to me for cuddles and climbs on me. But not outside of the bathroom. She uses me as a hide outside of the bathroom or just tears me up trying to get away. I want so much for her to be able to roam around. Or just not hide. I haven't not posted for help because she is slowly improving. And as you said, I'm waiting to see if this is age related or not and trying not to feel desperate. In the last two months two of us take her out of the bathroom each day religiously, and hold her in the living room for almost an hour each (seperate times). We've seen little improvement but some. Funny thing is one week, we had family stay/visit. She lost her mind. Lol. Couldnt even pick her up. The day she saw them leave, it was like a light switch went off. It was like she said, "ohw wow this wasnt nearly as bad as I thought... look how bad it could be all of the time!" Lol. As if she was grateful and enlightened we saw a marked improvement. That was almost two weeks ago. Smart buggers.

 

[jtmac1130]

Well thanks. I'm glad to know I'm not alone. I'm really hoping it's not just her personality. I've just been trying to be as patient as I can for the last 8 months but sometimes she's too much for me to handle. She's my first tegu so I still have learning to do. Thanks a lot for your input

 

[Rebecca Stout]

I'm with ya. Nervous it'll never be like other tegu's I see online. The whole REASON I got her was for the whole tegu disposition. The social aspects. I wanted a pet to wander around the house and interact with us. I wanted to be able to go, at least just outside in the yard here. So, this is a very desperate sort of situation for me and it sounds like for you as well in that the whole reason we got them was to have a close companion. For now, I just keep on doing what Im doing. Read posts like yours and try other things that experienced people suggest. And push my worries away since she is still very young. I feel just sick for my husband cause he works hard and I don't. I'm at home. This was all my idea. Well in addition to getting a pet that doesnt' seem to like him (yet), the whole cage aspect has turned out to be ridiculously expensive and nothing like what we thought before we got her. Prices of wood have skyrocketed to ridiculous numbers. Glass in our area was asinine. Then finding a window that would slide from BOTH ends that was big enough was also expensive. It's adding up. So far it's looking like it'll be 500 when all is said and done with lighting, substrate, etc. And believe me, we went as cheap as possible. No doubt some or most of our problem is the area we live in. Because when others quote prices of things like glass etc, its nothing like here. But that's not the point. The point is I talked him into this and he was looking forward to a cool pet and supplies that would only be just way over than what I projected. And he's gotten zero out of this. If she never fully tames down to the pet I want ... that poor man is screwed out of a great emotional and financial investement. If she gets just somewhat better, I can deal with that. Adjust. But only if she gets better than what she is now. If she remains like this? Well, I guess I'll cross that road when I get to it. Thanks for opening up the conversation. I've not shared and vented my worries like that with anyone other than a couple friends. I'm trying to be cool and confident and patient.

 

[jtmac1130]

I'm trying to be patient too and just as you said I got a tegu hoping to have a close companion but what I got was not that at all. In regards to the cage I spent about 130 bucks on my 4x2x2. I got a premade cabinet from a Kraftsmaid closeout location near me for $5. I spent maybe $60 on scratch proof plexi glass. $30-40 on locks and hinges. Then $20 on waterproof paint. Works great. Sorry you had to spend so much. I'm sure your tegu will come around. At least yours isn't afraid of you. I'm sure your tegus issue is age related. I'm not so sure with mine though. O well. Thanks

 

[Rebecca Stout]

You're is younger than mine though right? Mine is around 15 months old. And yeah, if she was afraid of me, God I'd be very discouraged. I'm hanging in there though! I mean I've heard they can be over 2 before they settle down?? Hope someone chimes in.

 

[Rebecca Stout]

Hey. I've heard of a few that go through a real snotty time about now though. I've heard of them turning a bit aggressive, but its only temp and goes away. I keep reasuring myself with that ya know? Because even those settled down.

 

[Logan]

they do go through a adolesence stage, most come out of it

 

[Rebecca Stout]

What is the age spread of adolescence? From what age to what age roughly?