Interesting, uh, pooping behavior

[Chance]

Now that I've had my EG tegu for over a week I've started noticing some interesting behavior. First off, she has yet to use the bathroom in her enclosure. She has crapped four times that I know of so far (and I assume I'd know if she went in her cage when I wasn't around because of that smell....whew....). The first time was on the floor of my classroom. The second time was out in the yard at my friend's place - where I was taking pictures of her. And the other two times were in a carrying container I use to transport her. So is it that tegus don't like to sully their surroundings and instead will try to go, when possible, away from where they live? Could they actually exhibit that kind of dog-like intelligence? Could I possibly turn that into a dog-like routine of 'going' outside??

Something else I noticed is that when she goes, she'll hold her tail off to the side and drag her bottom along the ground, as if wiping. I mean, seriously. If that is not a sign of some kind of intelligent behavior, I'm just naive. My mini schnauzers are not even this hygienic when they go....

I know it's an odd discussion but I'm a bit of a student of animal behavior and I find this fascinating.

 

[Chance]

Forgot to subscribe! 8)
Is there a way to make it always subscribe?

 

[preston897]

i have heard of tegus not going in their enclosures. they can be "trained" to only go in certain places. they are cretures of habit. alot of people train them to only go when they are taking a bath. and people also do get them to go outside. they take them outside on a daily basis to go at a certain time every day. i believe a guy on here named reptastic does that with one of his....but i could be wrong about that

 

[the enigma]

Yep, Zilla is like that. I don't know why he does that. I think it's because he is smart and knows I'll clean it up really quick when he is out. (opposed to when he poops in his cage and and I'm in another room or not home.

 

[Toby_H]

I do not believe for a minute that a Tegu can be 'potty trained'...

But I do compltely believe that we can learn their preferences and modify a routine that works for them as well as us...


I've also found that my Tegu dislikes using the bathroom in his own enclosure...

I've found that my Tegu relieves himself around 20~22 hours after a full meal...

I've fonud that the when my Tegu warms himself up (basking or warm water) this often 'triggers' the need to 'go'...

I've found that my Tegu will soil the same area over and over and will otherwise avoid that area...


Using such details to try to create a method that encourages your tegu to relieve him/herself in a manner that is more desirable for you is wonderful... but This is far more a fact of your Tegu training you than the other way around


Oh, and mine does the same thing avoiding dragging his tail through his stool and rubbing his booty on the groud as if wiping. I can only understand this to be an intentional act of cleanliness and I love it!

Similarly when he is finished with a meal he will wipe his face on the ground to clean off any leftovers.


I've seen signs of intelligence in Tegus I've never expected to find in a reptile. I'm highly impressed...

 

[TanMan57]

Both of my tegus will move their tails to the side to avoid dragging their body through their waste. Both of them will also wait as long as they can before they finally go in the enclosure. If I give them a bathe every morning for a week I will only have to clean for shed. When actually do finally go in their enclosure, it will always be in the back corner of their enclosure.

That being said I believe tegu's choose to be cleanly rather than dirty. I think they can make simple rational decisions much like cats and dogs.

 

[reptastic]

preston you are kinda correct nero will only go outside in the grass and occaisionally in the tub, when i put her in the tub it takes a while brfore she actually goes, but when outside she sniffs around with her toungue and then she goes within a few mins of going out, i havnt had an incident in the reptile room for a while now, but i didnt train her to do this she did it on her own! oh and all of my tegus raise their butts and tails in the air to avoid touching the poop lol!

 

[HorseCaak]

oh and all of my tegus raise their butts and tails in the air to avoid touching the poop lol!

My girl does that too. She is careful to avoid it right when she drops a load, BUT she will often turn around and step right in it! As if her cage isn't big enough already to avoid it! I swear she is smart sometimes, and stoopid other times!

 

[Chance]

This is all very fascinating. Reptiles are usually thought of as purely instinctual predators. In most cases I would agree that's true (snakes) and say that's why you can never completely trust them. But tegus and certain other lizards definitely show signs of higher levels of intelligence, or at least behavior that primates such as we in our arrogance can say equate to 'intelligence' because that's what we do.

When I walk over to my girl's trough, if she's awake she'll look up at me with seemingly questioning eyes. Sometimes she'll regard me for a few moments and go on about her basking or whatever it is she's doing at the time. If she's hungry, she'll watch me far more intently to see if I've brought any treats. I've started using this as a guide for myself. When she acts like that, it's food time! Even if it's not on 'feeding day,' so to speak. She seems to appreciate it, and as long as we have that understanding, I don't anticipate that rather formidable mouth getting ahold of my flesh.

 

[First Time Tegu]

I think my female has only went in her enclosure once since she arrived only weeks old. This was when she was tiny and lacked a routine. Now I just take her out and put her in the tub to eat, when she is done I always run warm water over her for a little while (she loves it). She goes within 5 seconds of the warm water hitting her. I can't say she is trained because she did go on the floor once, but I know she seems to not want to poop where she sleeps.