New Baby Tegu

firecar96 · Member Joined: Jan 27, 2008 Posts: 40 Location: Michigan

Well I ended up buying another baby columbian. Its been two weeks since Joanna died. I couldnt help it. I couldnt stand looking at Joanna's cage completely dark and empty. I really wanted to buy an arg but couldnt find any locally for under $200.00 and didnt see any in the classified forum. So I settled for a tiny columbian. He is alot smaller than Joanna was when I first got her. He is so fast and hates being held. Occasionally he will fall asleep briefly in my hand but will not miss a chance to dart out of my grip and hide under the entertainment center.

My question I guess is, should I hold him and not allow him to get away. What can I do to get him to relax a little more around me?

I have been holding him every night. I cant remember what I did to calm Joanna down because it was so long ago. I know it didnt take much before she became an absolute sweety though. But then again she was not nearly as young as this new little guy is, when I got her.

Any suggestions

Thanks,
Steve

angelrose · Moderator Joined: Jan 05, 2008 Posts: 1474

hello firecar96, I am so happy to hear you got a new colombian tegu

Congrats. I have had my Angel for about 3 yrs and it is hard to remember

I placed her in an area where she could see everything and everybody to get use to us. I remember feeding her alot and water around the same time everyday and just petting her in the beginning and then started picking her up and the rest was just time I let her do things when she wanted to and time went by and now she walks around and on me etc.
(perhaps because I have her placed near the kitchen and when I am cooking she will come over and lay in front of the oven and I will hand feed her whatever I am cooking)

I am very glad to hear you did not give up. I truly hope this little guy makes you very happy as well.

txrepgirl · Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 3:04 am Post subject:

Hi Steve.I'm happy to hear that you are still keeping in touch with us on this forum.Congrats on your new Tegu.We have Leonidas since October of 07 and he was just 2 1/2 weeks old.What I did from the beginning was I put on two shirts.One so I will not get scratched up and the other one is for him to hide under.You know how it goes.When they have a place to hide they feel save so you are the hiding place now.If he is calm try to put your hand on him and leave it there for a while.Than try to rub him really gently.If he doesn't like that than just let him relax under your shirt.He also will like the warmth of your body and will get to know you better because he also can smell you.Leonidas still hides under my shirt when he is scared like when we go out side he crawls right under my shirt and just sticks his head out

.With Zeus I really haven't done that much because we got him in December of 07 and he went into hibernation soon after that.He has been up since yesterday.Oh,a nother thing if you have things to do around the house just tuck in your shirts and walk around with him like that.Like this you don't have to worry about him sliding down your shirt and falling on the floor and get hurt.Hope that helps.Good luck.What did you name him ? do you have any pics of him ? take care.

firecar96 · Member Joined: Jan 27, 2008 Posts: 40 Location: Michigan

I haven't named him yet because in all honesty I don't even know if its a him. And from what I have been told there is no way of knowing until its older. I found out Joanna was a girl all by freak accident. We had a small fire in the basement when she was about a year old, so I immediately rushed her to the vet and had her checked for smoke inhalation and stuff. So while I was there the vet sexed her.

I will try and post some picks of the new little guy as well as Joanna, in a little while.

I will try the double shirt idea and see if he likes it. He has started eating crickets and mealworms. What else should I feed him at this age?

Check back in a little bit for pictures.

Ben3233 · Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 9:52 pm Post subject:

Firecar96,

firecar96 · Member Joined: Jan 27, 2008 Posts: 40 Location: Michigan

Ok guys and gals, I set up my gallery. So feel free to comment on any of my pics. I will be adding more photos shortly and frequently in the future.
_________________
Same old circus, different clowns. The story of my life.

txrepgirl · Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 4:37 am Post subject:

Thank you Ben3233 for the funny compliment

.

txrepgirl · Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 4:47 am Post subject:

You have some cool animals Steve.Joanna was very pretty.And your new baby is so cute

.Take care and thank you for sharing the pictures with us.

firecar96 · Member Joined: Jan 27, 2008 Posts: 40 Location: Michigan

Well I tried txrepgirl double shirt idea and it worked pretty well. I spent about 4 hours with the new little guy hidden in my shirt and he seemed to be pretty happy in there. He would find a new comfy spot every 20 minutes, which just ended up tickling me to death. He mostly stayed up by my lower neck and upper back. Then after a couple hours of him under the shirt, I tried just holding him in my hand which worked well. I didn't have to grip him at all. He just sat in my hand. Then after about 10 minutes of that he started getting antsy, so I put him on my chest outside of the shirt and he fell asleep. So far its looking good.

After I held him for all that time he did end up jumping off of me and running like crazy all over the room. I couldn't even catch him. So I figured he had enough play time for one day and wanted to go back to his cage.
_________________
Same old circus, different clowns. The story of my life.

txrepgirl · Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2008 5:08 am Post subject:

I'm happy to hear that it worked for you,too.At least you got some laughter out of it when he tickled you

.I'm also happy to hear that you got to hold him when he was on top of your chest and didn't had to grab him.Just want to let you know that ( I don't know if it is with other Tegus like that,too ) when Leonidas doesn't want to be held any more and wants to get down is because he has to go poop

.If you hold him like you have been for like 30min. to 1 hour a day you get to take naps with him soon,too

.I'll try to have my boyfriend film Leonidas and I when we are taking a nap together so you can see how tame they can be.Keep up the good job.