outdoor walking

[mis jaksin]

my b&w yearling boy walks differently as soon as he steps outside. we have a deck that we made 'tegu safe', so we leave our apartment door open when we're home so that he is able to go out whenever he wants... and as soon as he walks out the door, it's like he's swimming. he gets his head and body low so his belly and drags on the ground and he kinda slithers along as he walks. does the same thing when we take him into the grass or anywhere outside. as soon as he steps back inside, he walks normal. we open his enclosure door about 9am and close it once he goes to his hide around 6pm. so if he's roaming the apartment and we haven't opened the deck door yet, he'll wait at the door till we open it for him... therefore, i know he's comfortable being outside... he'll lay out there and bask on and off for hours.

sooo, was wondering if anyone else has a tegu that walks funny outside, or if it's just my brutus that does this?

*kinda hard to tell from photos, but i think i got video of it.. i'll post a link once i load it on my puter.

 

[carcharios]

Frieda slithers as well but she does this quite often - even in her enclosure. I have on few occasions seen her walking with her body and tail elevated like Kimo, but for the most part, she slithers. However, I think her issue has to do with perhaps too much heat last summer that affected her muscles or nervous system because her coordination seems off even though she got full sun and turkey balls with calcium supplements. I hope I'm right though and it's just her style of locomotion!

Can you tell me where you got your harness and if you like it?

 

[reptastic]

well when i take nero out she tends to act very different like rolling around in the grass kinda like a dog, but she does stay lower in the grass. probably a instinct thing so they cant be spotted by predators.

 

[mis jaksin]

Frieda slithers as well but she does this quite often - even in her enclosure. I have on few occasions seen her walking with her body and tail elevated like Kimo, but for the most part, she slithers. However, I think her issue has to do with perhaps too much heat last summer that affected her muscles or nervous system because her coordination seems off even though she got full sun and turkey balls with calcium supplements. I hope I'm right though and it's just her style of locomotion!

Can you tell me where you got your harness and if you like it?

it's a small dog harness ($7.39) (plaid orange leash $7.97) i got at target. it works well for now, but if brutus' jowls get much bigger it won't (i'll probably have to get the next size up). females wouldn't have a problem at all because they don't have them big ol' jowls. the front strap on the harness has to slip over their head because it doesn't have a clip like the strap that goes under their arms...you can still adjust the diameter though.

I started with a rabbit/ferret harness and he hated it... it had a lot more material that covered his skin, and he was constantly trying to get it off. with this one, i put it on right before i feed him usually, so he forgets it's on by the time he gets done eating. sneaky sneaky

 

[JohnMatthew]

Maybe he just likes the feel of cool, soft grass on his belly. I noticed Boon would do the higher step/walk on rougher surfaces or when he was trying to be intimidating. The slither seemed more like a comfortable slide through smoother territory. The slide also seems more like a lazy out and about whereas if he had a mission/purpose he would usually high step.