I bought a tame golden tegu and need a little help understanding her

[JazziCrystol]

Rundown: Sometime in December or February I purchased a Tegu that was very tame, I didn't get any info on how old she was, just that she was female and easy to work with. She was about 6 inches long in body, her tail being around 10 inches long. it's been around six months and she's about 20-23 ish inches in total now I think.. anyhow, When i purchased her, she was very tame and would let me hold her lots and would chill out with me just fine. I left her with my brother for a time while i purchased her a new cage and things. He had done some research on Tegus finding to feed her ground turkey and other meats (which is fine) however, he did not realize that she needed to be left alone when she was sleeping and in her hide / burrowed. I didn't know this either until I had finally gotten her back and she was very, very moody with me. I had done as much research as possible learning you need to respect them, let them come to you, not force them to do things they don't want to, and even so much to not making eye contact with them. throughout the months I have been feeding her ground turkey and scrambled egg mixed with lettuce and sticking my hands in the cage. She shows absolutely no aggression to me being around typically and is totally fine with me sticking my hands in the cage and sometimes even just petting her. But other days she is very moody and will huff at me and stand up, which i know to leave her be. I try to pick her up now and then to see if i can hold her, but she almost immediately scurries out of my hands like liquid putty and will either just lay down on her sun bathing rock, or run into her hide and lay down. I assume she's angry with me but im unsure what about... sometimes I've gotten far enough as to pick her up and take her very slowly out of the cage, she'll relax on my hands like she's enjoying the heat, then as if some hawk just flew over head she'll leap right back into her cage.

I know im sure there are some things i could do more, but I really don't want to risk doing something wrong to scar her, I don't know what my brother had done to make her have such a different attitude, or if maybe she's just got some odd teenage phase going on... but i wanted to seek out some help as it really breaks my heart seeing her trying to get out of her cage, climbing the walls and jumping from one side to another, bumping her nose on things and digging stuff up. I want to take her out so bad, but she's never wanting to let me get her far out before wanting to jump away from me.

Some things I've tried:
I had put a sweater in her cage before in hopes she would catch my scent and be fine with me, in which she thoroughly enjoyed dragging into her home, sleeping in it, and pooping on it.
I moisten her EcoEarth Coconut coir whenever it starts looking dry and refresh her water when it gets dirt in it, moisten her cage to keep it humid, and typically have one side with a basking spot around 70-80 F and the other without where its much cooler, A dry spot if she wants out of the moistness, and some fake ferns to make her feel hidden if she wants.
I at times will stick my hand in the cage for about 5 to 10 mins at a time to see if she wants on it (usually she just lays down and stares at me)
sometimes I will open the cage and very slowly and gently reach in and pet her back,sides or tail. Sometimes she will not care and just let me pet her and I will do so for a minute and let her be.
Other times She will squirm away from me like i were diseased-
There was one time I had set my fingers in front of her and pet her head, which i assumed she liked sense she had actually lifted her head at my finger. Though I haven't tried this too much in worry she'll think im trying to hurt her somehow.

So Im trying really hard to better understand how to get her to trust me and calm down, and especially trying to understand what it is about her cage she doesn't like / what i might be able to do to make her feel better. Hopefully im not totally screwing this up, and have been doing things relatively right for her ;v;

I've also added photos of her before and now (the before is her on my shoulders, and the now is her chilling on her basking rock.)

 

[AlphaAlpha]

At 20-23 inches your Tegu is still very young and learning....... Sounds like alot things you're doing great and this is just general Colombian behaviour that you're witnessing.

Be a little more assertive in handling and forceful.....start pushing your boundaries and pick the tegu up, if scrambling hold and talk softly until calm, take it to a room or hallway where there's no hiding and you're the only thing of interest.

From what I have found with my Colombian is that they seem to take more patience to tame and you have to engage the interaction a little more ...... otherwise they are quite happy just doing their thing.

Just as a side note too I'd be upping my basking spot to a surface temp of above 100

 

[Debita]

Beautiful animal!! Alpha Alpha is a great source for Colombian Tegu behavior and helped me get through the 10 months of taming of my B/W Argentine. Your patience will win out - it sounds like you're sensing things the right way.....like when they lift up and huff at you - I just give no food, and no love and walk away. They will tire of it, but it really takes time with some of them. If you don't just leave them be, I have only seen them escalate that huffing, and increase it to worse levels. The huffing is usually just a first warning from them. They don't want to be bothered. It's the one time I give in to it's desires. When you do that, they become more curious in time.

Hang in there, and stay with your instincts! You're doing well. Def don't worry about scarring her. You won't hurt the animal by keeping up an effort to calm it down.

 

[Godzilla Earth]

looks like your doing a great job! keep it up