apocalypse910
Active Member
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- 272
This seems far fetched but I just had a huge breakthrough with Loki on his second day of toilet training. It could be a fluke, and this may not work for other tegus but I'm very excited about the results so far and wanted to share.
I've been trying to use the tub training method with Loki for the past few months. I haven't had a ton of success. There have been fewer accidents, however, I usually end up waiting for 30+ minutes for him to go. He has tantrums about being in the tub and generally hates it. It also doesn't give him much recourse if he needs to go off schedule which was happening with increasing frequency. Prior to that I tried using paper towels but had zero luck. -
I got a box of puppy pads from the store - One small puppy pad could be cut into 6 tegu sized pads which made it quite a bit more economical. I was concerned about the attractant - but as far as I can tell it is pretty non-toxic and the risk of ingestion is minimal.
I decided to adapt puppy training techniques for my situation.
1. Stopped Tub Training - Don't want to give him mixed signals.
2. When I take him out of the cage I set him on or near the pad.
3. When he has an accident, or does the patented tegu poop wiggle I put him on the pad immediately
4. Pads are placed so that he always has access to them when out of his cage. I think one location would be ideal but he can't free roam. I have one on the couch where he eats and spends most of his out time. I have one on my desk that he can get to when he is sitting with me or on his window perch.
Day 1-
He started poop while on the couch - moved him to the pad in the nick of time.
Day 2-
Afternoon - Got behind my monitor and pooped on my desk. Moved him to the pad.
Evening - Loki was basking on a heat pad in front of the window. He got up, jumped onto my desk, walked across and peed on the pad. He then returned to his heat mat and fell back asleep.
Day 3-
Was laying on my lap -he got up, walked across the couch. smelled the pad and pooped/peed right on target.
Obviously this isn't enough to verify that he's learned - but he's used it twice in a row in a way that clearly wasn't accidental. I expected it to be weeks before I had any results.
I don't know what is going on exactly - I suspect that the attractant is helping him because it identifies the pad with a distinctive scent. I'm assuming that the marking mechanism in dogs is too far off for it to work as intended. It is probably easier for him to associate a smell with the bathroom location as opposed to remembering the shape/color of the place he's supposed to go. It could also be the texture or the fact that it is something new - so time will tell if this keeps working. I had a paper trained Iguana as a kid - and I have to say the pads are a ton easier to clean up than newspapers.
I rewarded Loki with a ton of his favorite tuna treats - Really hoping he keeps this up. Puppy pads can be a bit expensive but they are still much more economical than him using my keyboard every time.
I've been trying to use the tub training method with Loki for the past few months. I haven't had a ton of success. There have been fewer accidents, however, I usually end up waiting for 30+ minutes for him to go. He has tantrums about being in the tub and generally hates it. It also doesn't give him much recourse if he needs to go off schedule which was happening with increasing frequency. Prior to that I tried using paper towels but had zero luck. -
I got a box of puppy pads from the store - One small puppy pad could be cut into 6 tegu sized pads which made it quite a bit more economical. I was concerned about the attractant - but as far as I can tell it is pretty non-toxic and the risk of ingestion is minimal.
I decided to adapt puppy training techniques for my situation.
1. Stopped Tub Training - Don't want to give him mixed signals.
2. When I take him out of the cage I set him on or near the pad.
3. When he has an accident, or does the patented tegu poop wiggle I put him on the pad immediately
4. Pads are placed so that he always has access to them when out of his cage. I think one location would be ideal but he can't free roam. I have one on the couch where he eats and spends most of his out time. I have one on my desk that he can get to when he is sitting with me or on his window perch.
Day 1-
He started poop while on the couch - moved him to the pad in the nick of time.
Day 2-
Afternoon - Got behind my monitor and pooped on my desk. Moved him to the pad.
Evening - Loki was basking on a heat pad in front of the window. He got up, jumped onto my desk, walked across and peed on the pad. He then returned to his heat mat and fell back asleep.
Day 3-
Was laying on my lap -he got up, walked across the couch. smelled the pad and pooped/peed right on target.
Obviously this isn't enough to verify that he's learned - but he's used it twice in a row in a way that clearly wasn't accidental. I expected it to be weeks before I had any results.
I don't know what is going on exactly - I suspect that the attractant is helping him because it identifies the pad with a distinctive scent. I'm assuming that the marking mechanism in dogs is too far off for it to work as intended. It is probably easier for him to associate a smell with the bathroom location as opposed to remembering the shape/color of the place he's supposed to go. It could also be the texture or the fact that it is something new - so time will tell if this keeps working. I had a paper trained Iguana as a kid - and I have to say the pads are a ton easier to clean up than newspapers.
I rewarded Loki with a ton of his favorite tuna treats - Really hoping he keeps this up. Puppy pads can be a bit expensive but they are still much more economical than him using my keyboard every time.
