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Will they get over it?

slideaboot

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5 Year Member
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736
OK...

So, Aesop and Francis free-roam together ALL THE TIME. If they cross paths (in the past, that is), they usually ignore each other and go on their merry way. BUT, yesterday, OH MAN, yesterday...

Let's just say I got my cardio for the week in about 2 minutes...

Aesop is considerably bigger than Francis (same age, but about 3-5 pounds heavier). Aesop seemed a bit more curious about Francis than usual, but I didn't think much of it. That is, until Aesop opened his mouth and tried to snatch Francis up. Luckily, Francis escaped and started BOOKIN' it! But, that didn't stop Aesop--he just left his mouth open and chased the hell out of Francis. Needless to say, this scared the bejesus out of me and I quickly got up and separated 'em (which was NOT easy to do AND avoid getting bit).

Now, once I got Francis out of there, Aesop was cool--not aggressive or huffing or trying to bite me. He let me pick him right up and put him back in his enclosure.

My question, after this incredibly long-winded story, is this: Are these guys done free-roaming together? Obviously, if they were to ever roam again together, I'd have to be incredibly careful. But, is it just something I should forget about? It won't break my heart to not let them roam together, but it was a helluva lot easier and time-efficient to let 'em roam at the same time.

Thoughts?
 

Rhetoric

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I don't think they have to be done roaming together. I'd definitely give them a cool down period though. Gary did something similar with the other tegu, he chased it off with his mouth open. He didn't get a hold of the other one though. For me, it was food related but after he was fed and had cooled down they acted as if nothing happened.
It could have been a puberty thing, one of them could have felt that the other was intruding on "his" territory or the need to compete or dominance. How old are they again?
When and if you do decide to introduce them again make sure its in neutral territory and take things slower. IMO tegus don't seem to hold grudges against each other really. I'm glad that no one got hurt! I would have been scared :(
 

slideaboot

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736
Yeah...I freaked out. Thank god Aes was cool about me.... I'm not into a big ol' fat bite (not with these pretty fingers!).
 

reptastic

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it could be a,puberty thing, i know my male red went through a similar stage he attacked my female b/w while free roaming and started jowl popping alot over the other female, he would just run at them mouth open(even though he was a mere 30" and the females were 39" and 50"+) i know it wasnt food aggresion because i would always feed and poop them before free roam, and it definately wasnt territorial cause nero the largest female owned the room, but she didnt mind other tegus in her room
 

new2tegus

New Member
Messages
277
I'm new to tegus, but not animals, I know that sounds really umm dumb,but normally when you have two animals occupying the same space and one has about a 3-5pd difference, someone is going to want to have his way and space. Sounds also like they are both males. I'm not saying this would help,but maybe try and get the smaller one up to speed, it may not take care of the one having a go at him,but it might make him think twice. Animals are simplistic in that, unless you get one that has a really even keel, size is normally king. Most of the time though, most animals will only chase to make their point, and any fighting done is kept to a minimum, both animals know they need to function to live so most won't risk an all out death match unless it's something that can't be worked out. Just my 10c.
 

montana

New Member
Messages
253
Setting up a breeding territory ....

Could very well stop as the summer goes on ...

The good thing is you are aware ...
 

slideaboot

Member
5 Year Member
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736
Kingwolf26 said:
i watched one of your vids and I wonder how you know Aesop is a boy, looked female to me

I definitely don't "know" that Aesop is a boy...in fact, I've been tossing the idea around for a while on here that "he" could be a female. Bobby thought Aesop was a male when he picked "him" out and shipped him to me.
 

new2tegus

New Member
Messages
277
slideaboot said:
Kingwolf26 said:
i watched one of your vids and I wonder how you know Aesop is a boy, looked female to me

I definitely don't "know" that Aesop is a boy...in fact, I've been tossing the idea around for a while on here that "he" could be a female. Bobby thought Aesop was a male when he picked "him" out and shipped him to me.

Maybe...she's pissed you think she's a he haha. I know this one Macaw that developed a complex almost because they thought he was a she lol.
 

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