Max713
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A really bad day...
Those of you that have followed my "Kimo's life and growth" thread no Kimo and his life well. For those of you that don't, Kimo turned a year old on the 18th of August, and is right around 38" long. I've had him since January of this year. Up until about 3 weeks ago, we were doing great. Kimo had zero fear of me, he didn't necessarily enjoy interaction, but he was more than willing to engage in it. He was very active, and eating like an absolute pig!
3 weeks ago, as you may remember from a thread I started a while ago, Kimo started to become far less active. Over the course of the past 3 weeks, things seem to have gotten consistently worse, to the point that Kimo would only be out for maybe an hour a day. He would come out to bask, I would lure him out of his enclosure with food, he would hangout/explore for 30-45min, and back in his burrow he would go. Also, he seemed to be loosing trust in me again, getting apprehensive again...
Now we come to yesterday... Kimo was particularly apprehensive, I just worked with him as usual. He's large enough now that I leave his enclosure open all day, to both keep the temps down (hot summer days) and allow him to do as he pleases. He is confined to my living room though, not able to roam the entire house. Anyways, after luring him out with food and interacting for a while, I left to do a couple errands.
When I opened the door when I got home Kimo looked at me, and bolted. I mean bolted, in an explosion of power! He then wouldn't stop running, going ballistic around the living room, knocking quite large objects over, thrashing like mad, just went absolutely crazy... I finally got a hold of him, but I really had to man handle him, I mean he is over 3 feet long... So much so that he actually reared back, mouth open ready to bite. He has NEVER done that before. I then set him on my lap, talking calmly to him, etc.
He laid limp for about 10 minutes, panting very hard, then he ran/jogged from me again. This time I only watched him until he stopped and got a hold of him without much trouble, after some more calming down on the floor, he crawled back into his enclosure.
I feel terrible, I know I shouldn't have man handled him now, I should have let him tire himself out, he was just going so ballistic I didn't know what to do... We all make mistakes, I just wish I didn't make this one...
Today comes around, and it's obvious yesterdays event have had a significant effect on my Kimo. Upon getting home from work, Kimo spotted me and instantly got very tense. I approached his enclosure, when I reached in to pet him, he began puffing a little and doing the "snaky tail". He let me pet him, reluctantly. He refused the food I offered (hasn't refused food in months), and went straight for his burrow...
Needless to say, I'm pretty beat up about this... I really care about Kimo, I've really bonded with him over these past 7 months, and it just hurts me for him to be like this.
I just don't really know what I should do. Is this just Tegu puberty? I feel like I ruined all trust with him... because I probably did! Should I just leave him alone completely for a while, should I just start taming/trust building all over again? Should I continue what I'm doing, without any forcing, just encouraging? I just want a Tegu that craves my attention, like they are all too famous for, or one that at least completely tolerates it. Is there any hope for me and Kimo?
Any and all input would be greatly appreciated.
Those of you that have followed my "Kimo's life and growth" thread no Kimo and his life well. For those of you that don't, Kimo turned a year old on the 18th of August, and is right around 38" long. I've had him since January of this year. Up until about 3 weeks ago, we were doing great. Kimo had zero fear of me, he didn't necessarily enjoy interaction, but he was more than willing to engage in it. He was very active, and eating like an absolute pig!
3 weeks ago, as you may remember from a thread I started a while ago, Kimo started to become far less active. Over the course of the past 3 weeks, things seem to have gotten consistently worse, to the point that Kimo would only be out for maybe an hour a day. He would come out to bask, I would lure him out of his enclosure with food, he would hangout/explore for 30-45min, and back in his burrow he would go. Also, he seemed to be loosing trust in me again, getting apprehensive again...
Now we come to yesterday... Kimo was particularly apprehensive, I just worked with him as usual. He's large enough now that I leave his enclosure open all day, to both keep the temps down (hot summer days) and allow him to do as he pleases. He is confined to my living room though, not able to roam the entire house. Anyways, after luring him out with food and interacting for a while, I left to do a couple errands.
When I opened the door when I got home Kimo looked at me, and bolted. I mean bolted, in an explosion of power! He then wouldn't stop running, going ballistic around the living room, knocking quite large objects over, thrashing like mad, just went absolutely crazy... I finally got a hold of him, but I really had to man handle him, I mean he is over 3 feet long... So much so that he actually reared back, mouth open ready to bite. He has NEVER done that before. I then set him on my lap, talking calmly to him, etc.
He laid limp for about 10 minutes, panting very hard, then he ran/jogged from me again. This time I only watched him until he stopped and got a hold of him without much trouble, after some more calming down on the floor, he crawled back into his enclosure.
I feel terrible, I know I shouldn't have man handled him now, I should have let him tire himself out, he was just going so ballistic I didn't know what to do... We all make mistakes, I just wish I didn't make this one...
Today comes around, and it's obvious yesterdays event have had a significant effect on my Kimo. Upon getting home from work, Kimo spotted me and instantly got very tense. I approached his enclosure, when I reached in to pet him, he began puffing a little and doing the "snaky tail". He let me pet him, reluctantly. He refused the food I offered (hasn't refused food in months), and went straight for his burrow...
Needless to say, I'm pretty beat up about this... I really care about Kimo, I've really bonded with him over these past 7 months, and it just hurts me for him to be like this.
I just don't really know what I should do. Is this just Tegu puberty? I feel like I ruined all trust with him... because I probably did! Should I just leave him alone completely for a while, should I just start taming/trust building all over again? Should I continue what I'm doing, without any forcing, just encouraging? I just want a Tegu that craves my attention, like they are all too famous for, or one that at least completely tolerates it. Is there any hope for me and Kimo?
Any and all input would be greatly appreciated.