Trying to hold my tegu

[Steven.]

Hey guys, i'm trying to figure out a new way to hold prime, my 2011 aa. I got him in sept of last year, he went down in november and woke up the first week of may. I usually just wait for him to walk in my hand but sometimes that takes 30-45 minutes. And it's longer than that for anyone else to hold him. Sometimes we have to use the thongs with a piece of grape to lead him to our hands. If i get to close to him sometimes, he gets up on all 4 legs and wiggles his tail {he does this right before the tail whip}. If you touch him, he whips. Literally, anywhere. His tail and his body is the worst. You can't even pet him when your holding him or else he'll flip out and fall out of my hand. You can sometimes rub under his neak, but be careful not to touch his legs or else you'll get whipped..lol. I try my best to hold him everyday. I take him from his cage in my room, to the cage outside by the pool area. Where he can spend his day in the florida sun. And then back to his cage upstairs around 5pm. But theres days where i cant get him to come in my hand. So then i need to feed him in his home cage, where he shakes all his food everywhere and i have to turn on the lights and leave him. I dont know how else to get him. I dont want to force my hand onto him, or disrespect his space. But i want everyone to enjoy him and hold him and be able to pet him. He's a great tegu. Never snapped or bite anyone. Just the whipping and heavy breathing. I want to try to be able to scoop him up, put my hand right under his belly and lift him up. That way i can pick him up anytime i want too. And so can anyone else. If i can get him to a point where you can pick him up without too much of a fight, then everyone can hold him and his taming process will move much faster and he'll be AWESOME =].. I just need some expert advice on reachin my goal from the pros. Where you guys at?...

P.S-- He can still fit in the palm of my hand. He grew from the time i got him, but he's still small.. Is he growing normally?.. My first tegu as you can tell...sorry :s

 

[JohnMatthew]

Size sounds about right for a GU that's only been active/eating for a couple months of his life. He won't easily fit in your hand at the end of this growing season, that I can tell you! As for handling, patience and understanding are your two best friends. I basically ignore my GUs until they get a decent size. Just doing daily maintenance and feeding should be enough interaction for them to slowly get used to you. I know most people want to handle at an early age and that's fine so long as you take your cues from their body language. When your boy arches up it's because he's scared and is either going to attack you or run like the dickens if you get any closer(you've reached his fight or flight threshold, instincts have kicked in and he's on the defensive). When he does that just freeze until he settles back into a calmer position then try getting a bit closer. You have to convince your GU that you aren't going to eat him, some learn this faster than others but a rough handling session can cause them to unlearn previous progress. Just try to have positive sessions with your tegu, chances are he'll come around in the end.

 

[Steven.]

Excellent... Thank you so much for your response.. I was stress about his size..lol.. I figured patience and respect is the best way... I think ill use the bath tub to help me... He hates the water, so ill scoop him up couple of times while he's in the tub to show him my hand is safe... Hopefully that will work...

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Another thing... would you say he's 4 months old since he's been awake for that time... Or would he be 8 months old even though his life was on pause for 4 months?... I never understood this.. 1 year old gu's are twice the size of prime.. I can't imagine him growing that fast in the next 4 months...lol

Sent from my phone to your eyes

 

[JohnMatthew]

They grow in spurts but go ahead and take a picture now and another when he starts slowing down at the end of the season. Take it next to the same object for size comparison, always fun to do. I wouldn't do the drowning lizard, I'm your savior, technique. You'd just be adding stress(your hand) to an already stressful situation. There aren't any good shortcuts and I know you want him tame now but believe me when I say it will be well worth the time and effort when he's a big, calm adult.

 

[Dana C]

I got Eva in late October. At the time she was 13 inches or so. Since believe she was an import, I think she was maybe two months old at the time.
She started periodically sleeping for a few days at at time mid December and began to sleep for a couple of weeks at a time in January and really didn't get back to fully done with brumination until early April. Since that time she has begun to eat impossible amounts of food and has grown 6" in a little over a month.
Be sure you are feeding enough and a variety of things. Make sure you are supplementing with calcium and your enclosure temperatures are in line and watch your baby grow....fast.

 

[Steven.]

Well temps and humidity is no issue in fl... But dang.. 6 inches in a month uh.. Its hard to believe when their so small...lol

Sent from my phone to your eyes

 

[Dana C]

Some days if I am around her enclosure when she wakes up and pokes his head out of the substrate, it's like "Wait what happened to the tegu that was in there yesterday"? He won't grow that fast every month. They will have growth spurts like human children.