Friendly baby turn aggressive monster...

[First Time Tegu]

Ok so I bought a Giant from Bobby in July and have had him in an exo-terra cage (about 18" x 18") since that time. I felt it was time to move him to his adult size cage now since it has by far better lighting and much more space.

From day one when I took him out of the pillow case he has been awesome (much better than my argentina red baby). I hold him all the time, watching TV, sitting on the computer, he is not even the least bit skiddish. I put my hand in his cage and he walks right on it, crawling up to my shoulder or sometimes my head. This guy really is/was the best behaved animal I have ever had.

He eats all the time, and even more than I think he is physically capable of eating sometimes. Always out basking and really only hibernated for a month or so.

Anyways on to the problem....

From the moment I moved him to his new home he became very very skiddish, he ran from me and started hiding under everything. For the last two days he doesn't really run anymore...I stick my hand in the cage and he charges it trying to bite me...everytime. I put a glove on just to see if he is just trying to scare me and he did bite the glove several times.

I don't think it is because he is hungry because I tried this a month ago and he did the same thing so I put him back in the smaller cage. I want to leave him in the bigger cage because it really does have a much better setup for him, but at the same time he is being an ass right now. Even in the tub where i feed him he is acting this way...

Any tips or ideas of why this could be happening and what I could do to prevent it would be great. Thanks guys

 

[DaveDragon]

He's scared out of his mind. He used to be in this little space and now he's wide open to the "new" world. Give him lots of hides. Is the new cage open on all sides? If so, cover them all up and only leave the front exposed. He'll get used to it eventually. Don't force handling him, he's scared enough. Post some pics of the new cage.

 

[Bentley83]

I would agree with Dave. He was used to his old home now he is in a new home so its going to take some time.


Chris

 

[First Time Tegu]

The cage on top of the bigger one is his old one, the big green one is what I transfered him to.

 

[Meg90]

I'd love to see a picture of the tegu in question as well. As a tip, wear a shirt to bed for a few days (no deo or bodyspray) so that it smells like you, and toss it in there in a hide or some similar spot so he gets a refresher that you are associated with safety.

 

[isdrake]

I think you should provide your Tegu with more hiding places. There is much you can use, not only caves. Just a large piece of bark/wood would be good that he/she can burrow under.

What where you you thinking putting him/her in that small Exo terra terrarium? It's terrible small, even for a baby... He/she will probably grow out of the big terrarium shorty as well.

 

[mr.tegu]

this aggression will pass. like stated already, its because the first enclosure you provided was real small and the tegu was feeling safe and secure. now this huge enclosure was offered and the tegu is not yet comfortable with it and is not sure if he/she is alone. also at time enclosures can be to big for baby tegus and other lizards and this can be stressfull for them. its advised at time to go from a small tank and move up one size bigger each time and not from a 20 gallon to a 32 square foot enclosure. just let it get use to everything first then try and handle your tegu in a few weeks.

 

[Red Earth Exotics]

I can't imagine even a hatchling being stuffed into an exo-terra tank.

 

[mr.tegu]

well i agree. the design of them is more for climbing reptiles.

 

[Meg90]

An 18x18 maybe. I use a 36x18x24 with no problems for my 5 mos old. I agree that the previous cage was too small.

I want to see how big the gu is, that lives in that giant green cage.

And no, it will not outgrow that new cage.

 

[isdrake]

An 18x18 maybe. I use a 36x18x24 with no problems for my 5 mos old. I agree that the previous cage was too small.

I want to see how big the gu is, that lives in that giant green cage.

And no, it will not outgrow that new cage.

The new green terrarium looks like something you could put a bearded dragon or something in, not a tegu. A full size tegu in that is just cruel. But maybe he will change to a bigger one then it grows up.

 

[First Time Tegu]

The exoterra is 18x18 so imo at his size he did fine, plus I had him out all the time...half the time he was out with me watching tv.

The green one is 7x3x3...plenty for a very long time...I may need to move him outside once full grown, we will see when the time comes.

I have done the initial taming of him, and like I previously stated he was easily the most calm animal I have ever owned, he has only become aggressive after putting him into his larger home.

His large home right now has a 2 1/2 ft log for him to hide under, he hides under his oversized water bowl, and there is about 3 inches of mulch for him to burrow under.

 

[mr.tegu]

7'-3'-3' is fine size inclosure for a tegu. and like you said already, with free roaming allowed at least 4 days a week this inclosure is almost perfect in my opinion. a GIANT MALE may be a little tight so getting him out more often to roam would be a good idea. also your inclosure looks great to....good job...

 

[isdrake]

I still think that that terrarium is to small for an adult. But I guess it will be great for some time. And I wouldn't worry about your tegu atm. Maybe you should just leave it alone for some time and let in get used to his/her new home.

7'-3'-3' is fine size inclosure for a tegu. and like you said already, with free roaming allowed at least 4 days a week this inclosure is almost perfect in my opinion. a GIANT MALE may be a little tight so getting him out more often to roam would be a good idea. also your inclosure looks great to....good job...

I wouldn't ever put a full size tegu in that thing. Haha I couldn't even if I wanted too, it would be against the law. XD

 

[Red Earth Exotics]

I wouldn't ever put a full size tegu in that thing. Haha I couldn't even if I wanted too, it would be against the law. XD

Well thankfully at the moment that is the one aspect of our life that our government has yet to infringe upon, although they are getting dangerously close to it...

 

[Meg90]

I think that's perfect size. The measurements of choice are usually 8x3x2 so the one down there is good.

Isdrake, where are you where it would be against the law, and how big is your tegu enclosure?

 

[isdrake]

I think that's perfect size. The measurements of choice are usually 8x3x2 so the one down there is good.

Isdrake, where are you where it would be against the law, and how big is your tegu enclosure?

I live in Sweden. We have laws about enclosures for every animal that is allowed as pets. And I'm really glad that we do (even thu they are in need of improvement).


We only have a small temporary enclosure for our baby tegu right now. 1,5m W x 0,6m W x 0,9m H
In feet that's about 4,9W x 1,9D x 3H


However we will start building a new enclosure right after christmas that will be used for our tegu even then he/she is grown up.

It will have this size:
3m W x 1,5m D x 1,2m H
In feet that's about 9,9W x 4,9D x 3,9H

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I'm interested in peoples opinions about this kind of stuff. So I made a thread about it a couple of days ago. You are most welcome to join. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://tegutalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=5813" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://tegutalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=5813</a><!-- m -->

 

[First Time Tegu]

Ok so i'm not sure what to do now, I gave him a lot of time...moving a new shirt I wore into the cage every other day since my initial post. I left him alone for the most part over this time period so he could settle in. When I saw him basking in his light I would just put my hand on the complete other side of the cage just to get him use to it being around (not approaching him). Sometimes he would just sit there, others he would jump off his log and charge me with his mouth open.

I had to force him out today because he NEEDED to eat and I couldn't take it anymore...once out he was fine again, he ate everything I gave him and I took him aside for about 2 hours while watching tv and handled him with no problems at all.

It is hard to make any progress with him when he is so territorial and isn't afraid to bite non-stop. I guess i'm just looking for suggestions, I have dealt with a lot of scared animals, even some mean ones...but never one who is this territorial before.

Thank you for any help ahead of time.