Got bit with zero warning

[apocalypse910]

We had a massive storm here today - not sure if that stirred him up or what. Loki has never bitten since he was a hatchling. he's a pain in the ass but up until today I've trusted him completely. I took him out of his cage and was petting him / gently helping with a stuck shed. He wasn't huffing and seemed fairly calm with no particular signs of stress.

My husband started talking to me and I looked away. next thing I knew Loki grabbed my forearm and would not let go. He continued to chomp down for about 15 - 20 seconds. I did my best to not jerk my arm away and make it worse - hurts like hell, puncture wounds and a ton of swelling. Just glad he didn't thrash.

Not sure what brought this on exactly, perhaps this is the terrible ones, maybe the storm. Either way I'm more upset about not being able to trust him anymore than the actual bite. Up until today I had no reservations having other people pet him but it will be a long time, if ever, before that happens again.

 

[Josh]

Yikes! Thanks for sharing the story. I guess there's no way to tell if something like this is going to happen though. Maybe he was just having a bad day? I hope you recover quickly!

 

[laurarfl]

That is odd. The serious bites can really hurt, I'm so sorry.

 

[viejo]

I'd be willing to take odds on the major stormy weather being a factor. Low atmospheric pressure & other things connection to inclement weather put a number of animals in reproductive mode. Loki's hormones were most likely @ a high state & you most likely were the recipient of tegu 'foreplay'. No less painful however. Kinda sounds as if getting up close & personal with male tegus during thunderstorms should be cautioned against.

 

[Skeetzy]

I was going to say what Viejo said. The pressure is my bet. My little guy wanted out of his cage as soon as the storms started rolling through. He was very restless, and almost seemed to be pacing in the cage. When I let him out he wouldn't sit still and seemed a little off.

My cat always goes crazy when storms are coming. Moves quickly from room to room, keeping his body close to the ground, going from one hiding spot to another. While we don't feel the pressure change too much, animals have much smaller bodies and are more exposed to the pressure change. It is probably somewhat stressful for them. Especially with the loud thunder.

 

[apocalypse910]

I'd be willing to take odds on the major stormy weather being a factor. Low atmospheric pressure & other things connection to inclement weather put a number of animals in reproductive mode. Loki's hormones were most likely @ a high state & you most likely were the recipient of tegu 'foreplay'. No less painful however. Kinda sounds as if getting up close & personal with male tegus during thunderstorms should be cautioned against.

Interesting - that didn't even occur to me. Makes sense. He didn't seem mad and frankly he could have done a ton more damage if he was trying to really hurt me. Seemed like an serious bite yesterday - today the damage seems pretty minimal considering.

Never thought I'd say this but I wish he'd just hump my damn leg like a normal pet.

 

[TegusRawsome80]

Any pics of right after it happened?