Trust and Taming

jose2187 · Honored Member Joined: Mar 08, 2008 Posts: 261

I am posting this because another member purchased a new teg that is very wild and jumpy, he is from the same clutch as mine so i thought i would post this, it worked well for the b&w and the red. I have some issues with the trust theory, well the hide i mean. people say not to take tegs out of the hide but, i have some issues with that, I don't need to take my teg out of the hide he is very active. he does free roam alit, and he loves to crawl into the cushion on our chair he will sleep in it for hours he always goes to the same two hiding spots in the house , why? he feels safe so you have to disturb him to put him back in his cage. so it's betraying his trust everytime you take him out of any hiding spot and if you let your teg free roam enough he will find spots he likes. my teg spends about 3 hours out a day and he never fears me or gets a temper even while shedding , he is very consistent and thats because by now he knows i mean him no harm. I have a handling method i call it "the what goes up must come down method".
first if your teg bites get a glove wear it inside out for a few days just to get your sent on the outside,next go in very slow no sudden movements and pick him up, he can't hurt you through the glove so be firm and pick him up, but don't man handle him.
hold him for just a few minutes then put him back in the enclosure, wait 10 to 15 minutes then repeat on and off for about 2 hours.
If you like to watch ta.v take him out during commercials then put him back when the show comes on.
teguas are smart and they learn by routines, thats why people don't feed them in the cage cuz they learn that, hey hand comes in food comes out. so in a few days of doing this , when you go to put the teg back don't just put him in his cage ,open your hand and give him the choice to jump off or get down. you will notice he will not mind sitting in your hand. Then you can start taking him out longer and then you will realize that he doesn't mind coming out of the enclosure as much. It is because he realizes when you take him out he is always going back to the enclosure at the end.
so basically what gets picked up comes down in the enclosure at the end.

cwj108 · Valued Member Joined: Mar 18, 2008 Posts: 104

THank you very much for the post. When I first would pick mine up, it would just squirm and squirm in my hand, shes not as bad now. The only time I have problems is when I first go in to get her to put in her feeding bin. When I take her out of the feeding bin, she is more easy going due to the fact I just handled her and she knew she didnt get hurt. I also noticed that she isn't hiding as much anymore either. It used to be I NEVER saw her out, now I am seeing a lot more of her. I just want to get her to the poin where she wants my attention and doesn't think I am coming to hurt her. I usually put my hand down in the tank for a little bit before I try and take her out, I can even put it withing an inch of her now and shes fine till I touch her. Slowly but surely I see her coming along, I cant wait to try out your method. Thanks again!!

Oh yeah, she started her first shed since I got her, already!

Ben3233 · Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 6:39 pm Post subject:

I am not sure to understand, are you saying that we have to take the Tegus out even if he is in his hide? So he can understand that handling him is not dangerous or scary?

thank you!
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Ben3233
0.0.1 Bearded Dragon (Uresaii)

jose2187 · Honored Member Joined: Mar 08, 2008 Posts: 261

no i was stating 2 things that when your tegu free roams he will find hiding spots if you leave him out long enough he will fallasleep and when you go to get him its like going in the hide, the second statement was just a way to build trust with your tegu and build a routine.

Ben3233 · Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 9:57 pm Post subject:

oh ok thanks!

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Ben3233
0.0.1 Bearded Dragon (Uresaii)

i0r · Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 10:53 pm Post subject:

Yeah very good point Jose. It should be enough jsut letting your tegu have 1 safe place and not get used to any comfy place it finds while free roaming.

When letting Juancha free roaming the house i always make sure she's actually free roaming. If i see her too still i simply take her out to her enclosure so she can bask or sleep in her hide.

But for the best sake of trust between owner and tegu it's better to let your tegu know it only has 1 safe place where it cant be bothered.....and also respect that.
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0.1.0 Argentine B&W, Juancha

jose2187 · Honored Member Joined: Mar 08, 2008 Posts: 261

i miss the bbq in argentina, good meat. i have gone to places to eat here but not the same

Alek · Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 1:34 am Post subject:

I think every body with reptile experience creates and grows to learn different methods that work for them. If your tegu is healthy then you are doing a great job period. If they are stressed out you can tell right away bad shedding, lost toes, skinny, over wait, they are almost like us in away.

The hide thing never worked for me. I feel the tegu should always see you to get use to you some thick bedding for him to barry him self worked great for me and it was safe and clean. I also let him roam freely when I was home. I handled him half hour to 1 hour a day for the first month when I watched TV he was with me when I was playing some xbox he was with me and he tamed up fast no lie I had him voice trained, He new the word no. It takes time and confidence. Being confident was key to taming any reptile Not stupid. but confident. Research the animal before purchasing one. Search for forums like this and ask questions it doesn't make you uncool to ask and is not fair for the reptile. I do and respect one thing that a lot say "they did not ask to be your pet". I bet right now all the big time breeders of all herpes see and experience new things every day.

I do believe in reptiles having there own temperament. I have a tegu right now who hates the spray bottle when I mist the cage he wants to jump up and bite it. I think some of the workers at the shop I got it from use to do wrong things to him with a spray bottle but I could be wrong.

Imaginer · Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 7:07 pm Post subject: Question on training

I have a 5 month old tegu, Izzy and was told NOT to let Izzy roam free until he/she? gets bigger. Izzy gets a bath everyday and exercises that way, but that's the extent of "roaming" is in the tub. So, Izzy's only hide is the tank where all time is spent other than when I'm holding her/him or tub time. Also, I was told it was OK to get Izzy out of hiding in the tank. So, now it's my understanding that I should never take Izzy out of hiding when in the tank? That's confusing because I was told Izzy should be handled every single day, and somedays Izzy doesn't come out when I check on her/him. Don't know the sex yet. This is my 1st tegu, obviously, so any suggestions about anything are welcomed.

Alek · Posted: Sun May 25, 2008 8:38 pm Post subject:

See that is what I mean You need to handle him in all possible events what if you have to pull your tegu out incase of an emergency. When he hisses pick him up, when he breaths heavy pick him up. when you pick him up and chicken out and let go of him when he wiggles you better complete what you started and pick the tegu up or else it will know what u are afraid of and just do that for you not to handle him. Taming your reptiles is the smartest thing to do because when you have to clean there cage or change out there water bowl or spot clean there cage it would be a pain in the neck to have the tegu wiping and attacking you when u are trying to take care of it. That is also why I also say make sure you know what you are getting in to before you get in to it.

Imaginer · Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 11:56 am Post subject: Taming

OK, I did do research. My research has been w/a great guy who I got him/her from & who has a four year old tegu who is totally tame and super friendly. I talk to him almost daily to assure I am doing the right things. What I'm saying is I am getting mixed suggestions on taming when I read these forums. One person says it's OK to dig him out of hiding in his tank and another says to never disturb them when they're in hiding unless it's an emergency. He is fairly tame and came that way, he doesn't hiss at me and now roams the kitchen and comes right up to me with no fear. I'm just confused about the exposing him from his hide in his tank.

angelrose · Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 12:25 pm Post subject:

the whole idea is to build trust. do not disturb them when they are in their hide. tegus are very smart and will come out when they need to.

here is some helpful reading on handling of reptiles:

http://www.anapsid.org/handlingreptiles.html
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0.1.0 b/w Colombian tegu
1.2.0 b/w Argentine tegus
1.0.0 Savanah monitor
1.0.0 Brazillian Rainbow boa
1.1.0 Ball pythons
1.0.0 Burmese python

Imaginer · Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 3:12 pm Post subject:

Thank you Angelrose! Very helpfull. One more question I may have been missinmformed on. How long should I wait AFTER Izzy has eaten to hande him/her or let Izzy roam? I was told half an hour. I can't wait to find out which sex Izzy is so I can stop referring to Izzy as him/her! They said one more month and I could bring Izzy back to the shop and they'll be able to tell.

angelrose · Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 5:53 pm Post subject:

sincerely welcome. it's all about the tegu

oh, it won't be long now before you can tell the sex they grow so very fast and if it's a boy you should be able to start seeing big jowls.

do you have Izzy's (really like that name) temps down ...
90 - 110 on the hot side (basking) and 70 - 75 on the cool side (hide box).

I have all the basking lights, UVB's, heaters ...etc. all on timers (they are not that expensive) for all my herps and it has made a difference (kind of like when the sun comes up and goes down everyday). not long after the lights (mercury bulb) comes on I see them coming out of their hide and start to bask. I get their food ready right away. 2 of my tegus want to eat right away and the 1 wants to bask for a while.

ok, your answer. I noticed it's about an hour. if you watch them you can tell because they will start walking all around their enclosure and sticking their tongue out alot. this (I noticed) means they have to 'go'. I bring them out into the bathroom (easier to clean) and they walk out to roam around and if you just sit or lay on the floor they will come over to you. (so cute and curious) and this is how you start to build trust also.
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0.1.0 b/w Colombian tegu
1.2.0 b/w Argentine tegus
1.0.0 Savanah monitor
1.0.0 Brazillian Rainbow boa
1.1.0 Ball pythons
1.0.0 Burmese python

angelrose · Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 9:51 am Post subject:

just want to add one more thing that caught my eye.

bathing a tegu is not neccesary ...unless

he has not gone poo and that usually helps or a little activia yogurt (tegu friendly) .....or

a bad shed (which should not happen if the temps & humidity are right) where some shed maybe stuck on the limbs or toes to get it off before it stops circulation and possible loss of limbs. if you mix in a little COD LIVER OIL in with their ground turkey (go according to size of tegu) that will help the skin and shed. (is tegu friendly also).

recently I just built them their enclosure and I added a large, large enough water bowl for them to decide if they want to take a dip. (I call it their indoor pool).
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0.1.0 b/w Colombian tegu
1.2.0 b/w Argentine tegus
1.0.0 Savanah monitor
1.0.0 Brazillian Rainbow boa
1.1.0 Ball pythons
1.0.0 Burmese python