New member, new Tegu - need some help

[Bobbydelaneyiii]

Hey guys... just got a Blue Tegu, I've had it since this past saturday... he's been pretty tame until today but, I made some pretty amateur mistakes and need to know how to correct the behaviors that quickly started due to my stupid mistakes...

First off, the tegu is male, is about 3 1/2 feet from head to end of tail, and has a good weight to him, but don't know exactly how much. He's probably a little over a year old to a year and a half.

My mistakes happened after I got him home from the reptile show I got him at. And introduced him to his new enclosure, left him alone to get comfortable. He took to it right away and has been very tame and docile, drank water, sat under the heat lamp, and crapped too, so I figured he was comfortable enough to maybe eat something

So my first mistake happened when first gave him some crickets, and didn't put him in a separate enclosure, it never was an issue with previous reptiles so it didn't register at that time. I figured afterwards I should have put him in another enclosure.

The place I got him from told me he was eating mice... and using crickets or mealworms as snacks or treats... So I figured I would give him a mouse, it was a live one MISTAKE TWO. I let him finish eating the mouse, which he didn't have much trouble with, and let him sit alone in it for a few minutes and then took him out, just like the videos in the other thread. And put him back into his normal enclosure.

So now whenever someone approaches his enclosure now, he goes into search mode for food, which I noticed after the first batch of crickets. After the mouse he's been a bit more aggressive in his searching, and ended up biting me after I was fixing a rock in his tank, it isn't a bad one, could have been worse, he got the knuckle on my middle and ring finger, I was surprised because my fist was closed and about 10 times the size of his head.

So I need to know what I can do, so he doesn't associate people with "I'm getting food" and more-so teaching him, hands are not food.

I know now I should feed in a separate enclosure, and dead mice (crickets too?)

He's really tame and docile when I've handled him and he's out of the enclosure so far, I just don't want him trying to take a chunk out of my (or anyone else's) hand (or ear ) When we try to take him out, or have him out. I would like to eventually let him roam around but won't if he's going to be constantly searching for food and potentially biting people. I wanna fix this before it becomes set in...

ANY other info for a new tegu owner is helpful too if you'd like to share some cool facts or things they can do.... Like I said, he's been nice and sweet so far which was why I took to him and bought him at the show.

Thanks

 

[Pikey]

well 1st off 3 1/2ft tegu he would need A LOT of crickets & worms

if he is going nuts when you come to his cage & looking for food it's because you're not feeding enough

my 3'10" 3yr old B&W will eat 4-5 small rats on rodent day
but will eat all most 1/2 lb of ground turkey/beef liver/fish/fruit on any given feeding

You sould offer them a larger amount of food and alow them to eat until the "wipe their mouth" you'll know what i'm talking about when you see it

& if you want to offer bugs still i'd try big roaches (i have 2 that will both eat 2-3 hissing cockroaches as treats)

I hope this helps....any other questions feel free to ask if i dont know or answer i'm sure one of the other members will

a few things to know
dont use red or black bulbs (can lead to eye probems even blindness)
make sure to have a good UVB bulb (tube or Mecury Vapor)
if it's a large cage make sure to use other lights to get good lighting & proper temps (about 75-80F cool side & 105-115F on hot side)

 

[themedic]

i think its natural for most reptiles to assume that once you feed it, there might be more food agian, my tegus only lunge at me when they are hungry.

if hes lunging at you, feed it more untill he settles down, before mine eat if i put my hands near their cage or try to go inside they run at me thinking i have food. once they eat i could practically put my whole body in the cage and they just sit there and stare at me.

if he goes into search and destroy mode, hes hungry. just feed him.

 

[Bobbydelaneyiii]

I thought that he might still be hungry... but in the past two days (yesterday & today) He's eaten a mouse, and two dozen large crickets.... and at the show on Saturday, I was told he had eaten a few mice and a bunch of crickets on Friday.
So he was calm and docile on Saturday, and until I gave him a dozen crickets Sunday afternoon, then search mode every time someone approached the enclosure.

I mean, how much do these guys eat? My friend had a Savannah Monitor that would eat as long as food was present and wouldn't stop as long as you kept giving food.
Do tegu's got the same eating habits where they'll just eat and eat and eat?
and I've seen my tegu lick his mouth "licking it's chops" kinda motion with it's tongue, is this the "wiping"? or will they do it with there hand/claw?

I only ask cause mine's done it a once or twice while eating crickets and then just goes in for more...

 

[mastroj]

Im a still a beginner with tegus but I am pretty s ure she doesnt mean literally whiping their mouth clean, just they are finished eating. When they are done they go off and do something else. They might go back after a while if left alone with food, but once they go distracted and go off then they arent technically hungry anymore. Pikey stated that his/her tegu will eat 1/2 a pound of food at a time so one live rat and a couple dozen crickets isnt nearlyenough for a couple of days (with the behavior he is showing). Wear some gloves and get your tegu out. Once you get him out he will probably be come when he realizes you dont have food. Then place him in a seperate enclosure that already has food in it. That way he doesnt see you with food at all. I figure after a little while he will break the association of hand=food. He simply bit you because he thought you were food or had food, i dont think it was agression just give me food behavior.

Good luck.

 

[Bobbydelaneyiii]

That's what I was thinking... I know it wasn't aggression... I know it was looking for food or thought I was edible. I mean his body was fully extended, even actually partially tripodding to get the height needed to get a nibble as I removed my hand.

 

[JohnMatthew]

Boon almost always wiped his mouth clean on the ground after a good meal. Welcome to the forums btw, hope you enjoy your stay. :-D

 

[Pikey]

no they do not eat and eat and eat offer them a good amount of food and they will eat until full.... when the wipr the mouth they wipe both sies of their month on the floor of where they are eating. And crickets or meal worms would be like giving a full grown pitbull dog a hand full of dry dog food for a full days meal... i just ouldn't offer them any more a 3 1/2ft tegu would prolly eat 15 doz. before even starting to fill up (than and a cricket dont have much meat on them)

 

[chelvis]

Like others would be saying at a year old ditch the crickets. They aren't worth the tegus time or your money. Ya they are fun to put in there every now and then but as for food, not worth it.

Second perkilled mice always needed. Bosco my blue tegu at a year was going through 3lbs of ground turkey, 4 adult mice and some treat meat and bugs (fish, chicken, hornworms roachs, whatever was at the local store or i was eatting for dinner) a week. These guys eat alot, and at a year his still growing. Don't worry they will not eat themselves to death as long as they have enough water and proper lighting and heating they will be fine.

As for behavior. You're going to have to ake it slow. Get him well fed for about a week and once he starts to realize that food will be offered regularly they tend to calm down a bit. Now if you can't get him to calm down enough to transfer him to another cage try bowl feeding him. Get a heavy dish bowl, put that days food in it and place that in the enclosure. After a few days he will start to assume that when he sees the bowl then its feeding time, no bowl means no food. After awhile you can start getting him out (make sure there is now bowl near by) and then place him in the feeding encloure and start using that technique. The bowl method should only be a transitional thing really. With the mulch and beding it does tend to be safer to feed them in a sperate cage.

Well two simple roockie mistakes, don't worry easily fixed. Good luck with the new tegu and welcome to the fourm.

 

[Bobbydelaneyiii]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate it!

I knew I messed up right after I made em' and assumed that what you guys have said was the best recourse, just wanted to make sure I don't make any more stupid mistakes.

Any other info you guys can share on tegus that I probably cant find anywhere else on the net, I'm all ears.

I was also interested in the entertainment aspect, I hear about animals "playing" and I've only seen it with my late iguana Isis, who would run up a few stairs, and jump off... run up again, jump and repeat... It was pretty funny. Is it just something you have to experience and see what it does? I mean I don't think it's like a dog and can wag it's tail and bark (that'd be awesome) but are there any signs or behaviors it displays when "playing"?

 

[chelvis]

I know with my tegu when my roomate had her cat he would pick up the rattle mice and grap it by the tail and just carry it around with him. The frist time he did it i was worried he was going ot eat it and we had a tug o war over the mouse. I figured if he wasn't liking the tug o war he would ahve let go, tail whipped, death rolled to puffed something aggressive to get me to let go. He just kept pulling.

He also tries and climb into the bath tub or kiddy pool and loves to swim. I often have to help into it but it seems to be his idea. I noticed at the more i let him free roam the more into 'playing' he seems to be. I can now take the toy mouse (stole it from my roomy) and throw it and he will go chase it, his a crazy tegu.

It just takes time, i mean u probably know that having had an iguana, it takes a while for thier adult personalities to come out. Some tegus will be chill and just sleep aorund and won't mind to be petted. Others will want to explore and not bothered and then there are those who are just well... odd, lol for the lack of a better word.

 

[Kingwolf26]

my tegu girl has never ate a rodent since she was mine. always prepared foods. Also your mistake could be feeding the food from your hand, despite using a different feeding container. I have tegus because they are the easiest thing to feed without buying crickets or mice and rats. she either gets ground turkey, tilapia or lobster cockroaches. I will be soon on the hunt for large bush grasshoppers as soon as they reach maturity. Mine also roam free in a room and as of now they either go driving with me and take in the sunlight on the lawn where the spread out, warm up and poop. they eat out of a plate every 2 to three days, they get their calcium supplements and the sunlight and cod liver oil tablets. life kept simple.

 

[fireimp141]

Ok well first off, read bobby's care sheet located in the tegu care forum as well as the food list. These guys eat like monsters. Last night tyson, my 3.5ft bw 1 yr old had 2 small rats, some beef liver and blueberries. The night before about 35 shrimp. And as far as crickets go definately ditch those. Main diet is rodents and meat, couple veggies or fruits, coupled with calcium dust without d3 and some cod liver oil. But they most definately do "wipe their mouths" when they are done. They will drag it accross the bottom or side of the enclosure until they don't have anything on their chin. And the best way to get your gu to calm down is interaction. The more the better. I can pick up tyson while he is eating and he doesn't care cause he is used to me. All gus are different from one another you just gotta figure yours out. But overall most importantly, read the care sheets. They should answer any and all questions.

 

[Herplings]

I would have to see and work with the Tegu to give you a correct observation of what is going on.
I would ditch the bugs. I don't feed them, even to hacthlings, unless it is last resort. And by last resort, I mean I have expressed every available option twice.

Not all these guys eat like pigs. Some do, some don't. It has a lot of variables. Eating heavy, large consistent meals is a learned behavior. A lot of people feed heavy from the time they get there Tegu and continue to into adulthood and as a result have adults that want to eat heavy meals all the time. Its learned behavior.
You also don't have to look far to find some very over weight Tegus.

I have a female B&W that hardly eats a thing. 2-3 bites of food every 2-3 days and will eat 1-2 small rats a week. At just over a year old she is 37 inches long. She might eat .5-.75 pounds of food a month. She is healthy, active, and very tame.
But, I have never fed this animal heavy. Even as a hatchling. I have owned her since she was still pretty green in color. Since she was a week old maybe, a bit older.
As a result. I can give her all the food in the world everyday and she will not eat it. Its a learned behavior.

In my opinion, your main mistake is taking your Tegu out of its cage and putting it in a box and feeding it. This more times then not makes animals think that when they come out, and every time they are not in their cage, its time to eat. Your animals cage is there for its and your protection. It is also there for control. Use it as such.
Secondly feed your animal out of a bowl, the same bowl every time. It will learn to see the bowl as food.

I agree with feed the animal what it will eat, with in reason. Most will stop eating when they have had enough to eat. After some time, you will be able to gauge better how much and how often your animal needs to eat.

Give him time to calm down, eat some food and get used to his new home before you try handling him to much. Make sure you have his temp and UV right and with some time you should see positive results.

Remember you bought an animal that is an adult, or getting close to being an adult. How the animal was cared for prier to being in your care at this point is unknown. So, take is slow and play it by ear.

Good luck.

 

[themedic]

if you want a tame, non - aggressive tegu you will have to train it.

you just got your tegu it takes weeks, months and sometimes years to get tegus tame.

i would not rush anything when i got my tegus i didnt pick the male up for 2 months because he was skittish one day i went to feed him, he jumped out the cage and I had to pick him up once i did that it was an instant bond he didnt try to run away or anything since then me and him are best buds.

it takes time, and more importantly patience dont give up on your tegu dont rush anything, in time he will figure out your a friend.

 

[Keith_w]

As said before, taking your time is key. You need to learn about your tegu, and its behavior, just as much as it needs to learn about you. In time your tegu will learn to trust you, and potentially want your attention, if you feed, treat and house it correctly.

 

[Bobbydelaneyiii]

Thanks guys, all your help was very helpful, I appreciate it!

So he's started to calm down, not as nippy... he's still very inquisitive and has to explore EVERYWHERE, so he refuses to sit still for more than 30 seconds or so. I don't know if he'll eventually just sit still or what... I'm pretty sure he knows who I am since he doesn't run from me while he's on the ground, I can walk by him placing my size 14 right next to him and he just ignores it... when holding him or when he's crawling on me, he will sit on my shoulders, even though it's never for long I think it's just to get a good vantage point and see where he wants to explore first....

I also found out he's not afraid of dogs either, my dog, a 100 lab mix was very interested in what this animal crawling around was.... cautiously started sniffing him, and the tegu looked up, flapped his toungue and licked the dog's nose... Which actually scared the dog and he jumped backwards. The tegu just went on it's business... It was pretty humorous.

So I've named him Baloo, and he seems pretty content... and happy which makes me happy :-D

 

[reptastic]

lol nero was raised around dogs and she is the same way, its funny how the dogs are more afraid of them!

 

[Bobbydelaneyiii]

Hey guys, got another thing to ask about.

I've been feeding basically ground turkey and hard boiled eggs to my tegu... The turkey, was cooked slightly so it won't fling around at all, they're basically really raw turkey burgers. And sliced hard boiled eggs.

Now my tegu seems to have been getting some Diarrhea, and I think it's from the turkey... He drinks an good amount of water, so I know he's keeping himself hydrated. He still acts normally though...

What can I feed him that will harden up his deuces?

I've heard a lot of people say chicken gizzards are a big hit.

Any help on the easiest thing to give regularly, I read somewhere on here, someone fed theirs a certain kind of cat food, or again the chicken gizzards seem appear popular.

The main problem is he likes to roam around in my basement, every time he's on the carpet he defecates (#1 and #2), it's a pain in the ace to clean up too.
I guess a second question is: Is there a way to "train" him not to go on carpet?

He's getting pretty big now, he's probably an inch or two longer and at least a pound and a half now.

Once again, any help is appreciated, Thanks guys

 

[lazyjr52]

Here is a great food list for tegus. Adding rodents to your gu's diet will help also.

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I never potty trained my gu's but I usally give them a soak before letting them free roam. And I also do not feed them right before I let them out because mine always take one soon after they eat.