2 Year old Female woke up a grouch?

[PandaSprout]

Hello Tegu Talk! My name is Annelle, and I adopted an adolescent female B&W Argentine tegu from a rescue center last spring.

I named her Saphira, and though it was rough at first, the two of us had a wonderful summer together! She learned to trust me--so much so, she would eat out of my hand, crawl onto me every now and then, and never, ever lunged or attempted to bite me. If she was tired or cranky, I'd get a hiss and she'd puff up, but other than that, she became an angel.

Hibernation time rolls around, and she went down around the end of October. She just woke up last month, and it's like she's a different lizard. She's lunging at me, mouth open, puffed out, panics when touched or picked up, and I can't do anything with her! Her trust issues are worse than when I got her.

I haven't been doing anything differently. She is currently in a 120 gallon terrarium, with UVB, heat basking at about 110ish, large soaking tub on the cool side. Since she's getting bigger, I'm building a custom enclosure when I move into my new apartment in two months. She usually eats in a separate place, like a large tub, though I'm struggling to handle her nowadays and get her there. She eats egg, ground urkey and chicken with calcium powder, small mice, and every now and then some tilapia and salmon.

I feel horrible and I'm at a loss. Is this normal? Is she just grouchy after hibernation?

Thank you so much for the help.

Annelle

 

[Walter1]

Hi Annelle,

Mine come out of brumation a little edgy, prickly. but nothing like what you describe. I don't know why. Remain consistent. Place the worn shirt in her hide if you've removed it. She should shed soon. See how she is.

 

[PandaSprout]

Hi Annelle,

Mine come out of brumation a little edgy, prickly. but nothing like what you describe. I don't know why. Remain consistent. Place the worn shirt in her hide if you've removed it. She should shed soon. See how she is.

Thanks so much for the reply, Walter. She is going through her shed right now, and I gave her a soak in the bathtub last night--which she seemed to enjoy. I plan on starting from the beginning trying to earn her trust again, but am so discouraged. I will update everyone on how it goes!

In the meantime, here's a picture of my beautiful, cranky baby. She's almost through her shed now, this is when she started a few days ago.
I'll have to take another to show off how bright her black and white looks now!

 

[Walter1]

Thanks so much for the reply, Walter. She is going through her shed right now, and I gave her a soak in the bathtub last night--which she seemed to enjoy. I plan on starting from the beginning trying to earn her trust again, but am so discouraged. I will update everyone on how it goes!

In the meantime, here's a picture of my beautiful, cranky baby. She's almost through her shed now, this is when she started a few days ago.
I'll have to take another to show off how bright her black and white looks now!

View attachment 13573

Looks sharp.