Need help taming my chacoan tegu

[Emiliano zarco]

I have a chacoan tegu that i got February 15th, idk if its a boy or girl but i go with boy. Anyways i let him get used to his enclosure for 3 weeks when i got him, and he startes eating on the 3rd week too. So after that i started handling him (or at least trying) hes very skiddish and once in a while whips his tail when i try to grab him. Its almost gonna be 2 months since i got him. And i want him to get used to me but idk what to do. He runs away when i take him out. And he trys to hide. Does anyone have advice on what i could do to calm him down? Or tame him?

 

[JimB]

Just keep doing what you're doing I'd say. I have a TegusOnly Tegu which I've only had for about 5 weeks now and she (I'm told) is coming along slowly. After holding her for a bit each day, I take her into the bathroom and sit on the floor while she roams around. She'll crawl under me, but won't crawl onto me just yet. It's a slow process I know. I'm told mine (Names PepperJack) is Chacoan as well, but I don't give that much thought.she's just a B&W to me.

Post pics, we all love pics & Videos.

 

[Walter1]

Let him see you around when he's out. Work in his enclosure with or wothout touching hum. Reach/approach from under or sides only. Placeca worn shirt in his hide for familiarity. They come around pretty quickly. Ersonally, I'm not opposed to pulling them out of their daytime nap to hold. Will probably try to hide under your shirt if on your lap.

 

[Walter1]

Just keep doing what you're doing I'd say. I have a TegusOnly Tegu which I've only had for about 5 weeks now and she (I'm told) is coming along slowly. After holding her for a bit each day, I take her into the bathroom and sit on the floor while she roams around. She'll crawl under me, but won't crawl onto me just yet. It's a slow process I know. I'm told mine (Names PepperJack) is Chacoan as well, but I don't give that much thought.she's just a B&W to me.
View attachment 11803

Post pics, we all love pics & Videos.

A lot of white on Pepper Jack for sure.

 

[Greg Meißner]

Try to avoid situations in which you need to chase or grab him. Mine learned to come to me as a way of getting up, out of his enclosure. That's how we became friends.

 

[DangerousDann]

It takes time, I work with my giant Dozer everyday. Dozer was only 3 months old when I got him and was very skiddish for a few months but I worked up to hand feeding and handling everyday, and now almost 2 years later Dozer is very tame, very big (almost 5' 6" and nearing 19lbs, and I'm still able to hand feed him. The thing that made the biggest difference in the beginning was moving him to an enclosure with a front opening door.
I post videos on here occasionally showing his progress over the last year and a half.

 

[Jack Curry]

I have had my tegu since around Feb 25. We seem to be bonding really quickly, this is what I've been doing. The first 1-3 weeks i didn't take him out of his enclosure. I would just reach my hand in there and place it by him until he stopped huffing and puffing. Then, I would put my hand on top of his back and gently pet him until he stopped hissing. A major step in this process is to not move your hand away when s/he hisses, then they will figure out if they hiss and tail whip that it will make you go away. After I could stand by his tank without him hissing and reach my hand in without him hissing I moved onto the next step. I would pet him until he stopped hissing then I would slowly put my hand under his front legs and just pick his upper half of the ground. Don't rush picking them up because they feel very vulnerable when you don't support all four of their legs. After he got conformable with me doing this and okay with my hand petting him I started to pick him up. I make sure to support all four of his legs when I do, at first i didn't pick him up to far of the ground (this is still in his tank). Continue this and you will build trust quickly. What I do now is I pick him up out of his tank and put him on my shoulder then I walk to the bathroom and let him do his own thing in there. He will come to you out of his own curiosity. After almost 2 months I can pick him up, walk around with him on my shoulder, and sometimes he will doze off in my lap. Hope this helped!

 

[Walter1]

This thread is a "must-read" in my opinion on the subject of socializing/making friends/trust-building.

 

[Jack Curry]

Thank you!

 

[FUNKSH4RK]

Im also a new tegu owner. Picked up my little guy, Bloo, back in November and was super skiddish upon arrival. Anytime he would see me, he would dart and slam face-first into the wall of the enclosure. Initially I set him up in a front opening door style enclosure and I placed it in my bedroom where I would always be in his line of sight. I would slowly inch my way closer to his enclosure and stay perfectly still until he was over his freak out. After 2 weeks, threw in a worn shirt and whenever possible carefully place my open palm in his cage or under his basking spot until he was curious enough to come check me out. He eventually would learn to trust and bask on my hand. At this point he also learned to come to my hand whenever possible as a way get out. Keep working on this and It'll be become routine over time and your Tegu will seek you. Patience is key. I'm currently trying to get him to be comfortable with roaming on the ground. He freaks out and dashes whenever he is put down but is a sweetheart whenever he's in his cage or being handled lol. [emoji29]

***Like a few others,I've watched countless "taming/socializing" videos on YouTube. From my experience, I like to think Ive had some success(?) taming down my pair of ackies and (now) Tegu with some influence from Kevin McCurley @ N.E.R.D. Reptiles. Long story short, keeping an enclosure at bare minimum thus encouraging interaction. (I'll post the link in case anyone is curious) Wondering if anyone has heard of or attempted this method?



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[FUNKSH4RK]

Here are 2 of the videos I mentioned. Granted he's talking about water monitors but obviously can be applied to this taming scenario.

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[Walter1]

Useful.

 

[Jack Elliott]

I think a good key to getting your Tegu to trust you is making it it seem like it was your Tegu's idea (a little Tegu-seption). For example, Sir Dan is only a few weeks old and I've had him for a week, but I can already hand feed him and comes to the top corner of the tank when he wants to come out. However, each Tegu is different so found out what he/she likes and use that to your advantage. Sir Dan is a hungry fat little man, but he's a little cautious with hands, so I lure him to my hands by putting crickets up my arm and making him craw on my hand to get the food. now he is very comfortable with me. Try small things that give your tegu that extra exposure to you and make him feel more comfortable.

Cheers,
Jack

 

[DangerousDann]

I still hand feed my 2 year old Chacoan Whitehead. I sit on the floor with him for at least an hour a day. It's good for both of us.

 

[Walter1]

I still hand feed my 2 year old Chacoan Whitehead. I sit on the floor with him for at least an hour a day. It's good for both of us.

Dozer- You're looking great!