Chasing toes - how has anyone dealt with it?

[HeatherN]

My extreme giant, Tarot, is definitely not a baby anymore. he's around 3 feet long and has very powerful jaws. since i first let him on the ground when he was a hatchling, ive been working with him to not be afraid of feet and standing people. only recently has he been making strides. now he will only avoid a standing person when he thinks theyre trying to grab him. often he will come up and lick our toes and watch us to see what were doing.

i only recently started worrying when he would try and chase when we would wiggle our fingers to get my dog to do one of his tricks. ive never encouraged a prey drive in him, but hes a 'gu! others were always worried when he walked past him that he was going to bite their toes, but i was always able to assure them that he's just smelling them like everything else. he has never made me look like a liar.

The incident: today i got home from class, and the last person in the apartment had let him out to roam, so he acknowledged me as he walked across the floor, like normal. i sat on the ground feeding my quail worms from my fingers for maybe 20 mins. then i got up to get something out of the freezer (it happened to be a mouse to thaw for him, but he didnt know that). as i was opening the fridge, he snuck up on my toes and bit them really hard! way harder than he usually goes at food. he also had a special bowl that means food that has never changed, and that bowl was nowhere near me.

I had no idea he was next to me, so i instinctively pulled away and looked down to see him looking up at me. i said 'nope!', as he knows that means he cant have something or go somewhere. i started to walk away calmly, but he proceeded to chase my toes and looked like he was gonna have another go at em! so i scooped him up and put him on the dog bed, where he just got interested in something else. he didnt resist when i picked him up at all, which is kind of weird for him.

i have a bit of an idea how to correct this behavior, starting with not making my toes act like prey items! i.e. avoid wiggling and shuffling, dont dip my toes in my nice meat juice foot-bath every night, that kind of thing. i have never been one to pull away or get mad when he bites (it's happened twice when he was a hatchling on my hand) and i plan to continue that.

But now my toe is bleeding and stinging, so i dont believe it was a test bite or a warning bite. my feet havent been in anything but my clean shoes and socks today. nor have i ever teased him with my toes. it may just be that teenage tegu coming out to terrorize me or simple over-enthusiastic curiosity, but im struck with the suddenness of the manifestation of this toe interest. and it escalated rather quickly!

my question is, has anyone else dealt with a tegu randomly developing an interest in biting toes and fingers not related to hand feeding, toe wiggling, or anything else to openly invite the behavior? Any other ideas/suggestions on how i should go about dealing with this. and i definitely wont simply lock him up for the rest of his life, he loves roaming too much.


Thanks!

 

[Dubya]

My wife and myself have experienced small nips around the ear when sweaty. I think they like sweat. I suggest wearing slippers

 

[HeatherN]

funny thing is, things like slippers and socks make my feet sweat and make me feel like im dying. soooo inevitably id end up taking them off, and my glorious, shiny, salty toes would be irresistible (to Tarot). but it very well could be sweat, after all, i had just gotten home from school.

 

[HeatherN]

Update:
when i went to feed tarot a whole mouse in his bowl, he lunged very violently at the bowl. he was going for the bowl though. he slurped down the mouse, then licked his bowl and scratched at it for a minute or two. he's never done that before. he then wandered over, tongue flicking, to me as i crouched there. i curled my toes of course, but he didnt act agressive toward me, it was obvious he was looking for food. though when my roommate came home, Tarot was acting standoffish, so i put him in his cage. when my roommate, who also is into reptiles, heard that he had bit my toe, he went over to check on him, and Tarot ignored his hand at first. but then, when he put his hand on Tarot's back to pet him (which he normally tolerates), Tarot whipped back to bite him! my roommate acted accordingly, keeping his hand there, just saying ouch. Tarot then proceeded to yank on the thumb, effectively sawing at the skin. he then was forced to pull awya to avoid serious damage. He has never held down on a bite before, let alone tug at someone. if he hadn't been tugging on his thumb, the bite wouldnt have broken skin.

Were not starving the fatty, and he is relatively well-behaved around humans. the sudden aggression is worrisome. perhaps he is deciding to challenge our authority?

 

[kim86]

Your situation sounds almost like mine. My guy was born August 2012 and he's probably two and a half feet now, so this behavior is a little sketchy at this size haha. I find Tybalt has such a stronger food response and basically lunges at the door when I open it up, and will jump at my arms if I'm trying to do something before he starts to eat. I feed him 2 small adult rats every other day with smaller meals in between so he's definitely not starving either... what's your feeding schedule like? Luckily I haven't been bit by Tybalt, I instinctively move out of the way or position myself so I can pick him up and put him away, but I should probably let him get my arm just so he can feel guilty about it afterwards good luck with things, hide your toes!

 

[bfb345]

heather i would recommend feeding him more but if you could i would feed 2 meals a day that are smaller extremes have a humongous growth rate so he may be getting hungrier and about to hit a growth spurt or he could just be going through his puberty stage.

 

[TegusRawsome80]

Extremes have the same potential growth rate as any other tegu. Anyways, I'd say that he could be going through tegu puberty(a period of time where tegus are nippy and a bit wild), mine that I've raised have never had it but many peoples apparently do. I would feed him a lot but I don't think he's trying to eat your toes out of aggression honestly. I think it was a test bite to see if your toes were edible and the blood was simply because he's grown a lot since his last bite. They have a lot of jaw power.

 

[HeatherN]

i often feed him 1-2 times a day, about the size of 2.5 adult mice worth of food. i agree about thinking its not out of aggression. i believe its probably just his time to test me out. i might start feeding him a tad larger meals, because he seems to always be looking for more after. i usually gauge when hes had enough food by looking at his stomach. when the skin is pulled completely taught and he looks pregnant, i figure he's good. though, sometimes i have no clue where he puts it lol.

 

[TegusRawsome80]

Mine would honestly eat til he burst. I feed him a lottt of food but he is a bottomless pit.