Brand new tegu!

clx · Member Joined: Jun 28, 2008 Posts: 20

So, I just got a *Argentine* B&W. I kinda found him...

My neighbor called me, knowing that I'm a bit of a lizard nut saying that there was something living in his garden, eating it and feasting on chipmunks. I was kinda skeptical, but we set a have-a-heart trap armed with some uncooked bacon and waited. Sure enough, the trap was sprung by a 18" very healthy and active tegu! He's a bit jumpy and snaps at me, but he's very active. Right now, he's in an aquarium, sound asleep curled up in a cut-open shoebox until I can get a better enclosure built (hopefully next weekend.) I'm going to bring him to my vet early next week to get him checked out.

I had an iguana I got who was about a year old and extremely aggressive. Daily handling calmed her down after a few months, and I'm hoping that with handling and 'good lizard training.' I put on a heavy sweatshirt and after a few minutes he let me pet him on the back, only snapped a few times and stopped trying to run away. I have high hopes!

*** edit, my bad, I had the pictures wrong

laurarfl · Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 8:21 pm Post subject:

Cool story!

Here's a great tegu taming article that helped me tame my Colombian when we got her a couple years ago.

http://thetegu.com/contentid-17.html
_________________
Laura R (FL)
0.1.0 Colombian Tegu
0.2.0 Argentine B&W Tegu
1.0.0 Red Tegu
1.0.0 Green Amevia (yet another teiid)
8 other lizards
1 little gator
13 snakes
4 frogs
some bugs
and a partridge in a pear tree

clx · Member Joined: Jun 28, 2008 Posts: 20

Yeah, I read that. Good stuff, I never thought of putting something that smells like me in the cage to get them used to it, but that makes a lot of sense.

clx · Member Joined: Jun 28, 2008 Posts: 20

Update! He seems to have calmed down a ton already. I picked him up with my bare hands and cuddled him for a solid 10 minutes. He loves crawling around on me, but he keeps trying to burrow into my couch. He isn't actually white, but kind of a yellowish color and black. My neighbor came by to see him and told me that he once caught a starling in flight so, I've named him Dr. McNinja for his leet skills.

laurarfl · Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 7:33 am Post subject:

My tegus like to dig into the couch, too. One got way under the cushions before I noticed he was missing! Your little guy is probably liking regular meals and a safe place to sleep!
_________________
Laura R (FL)
0.1.0 Colombian Tegu
0.2.0 Argentine B&W Tegu
1.0.0 Red Tegu
1.0.0 Green Amevia (yet another teiid)
8 other lizards
1 little gator
13 snakes
4 frogs
some bugs
and a partridge in a pear tree

clx · Member Joined: Jun 28, 2008 Posts: 20

He hasn't actually eaten yet. I offered him some ground turkey and he looked at it then went back into his box. I think the little guy is somewhat stressed out and might want to just rest for a while. He did drink some water, though, so I'm happy with that.

txrepgirl · Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 5:52 am Post subject:

Hi clx.Welcome to the Tegu forum family.It's nice to have you as a new addition here.Congrats on your Dr. Mc Ninja

.I love that Name ( and the story ).Where are you from if you don't mind me asking ? you might like to see this video that i0r ( Chris ) made about a wild Tegu.Good luck with him.Don't worry if he doesn't want to eat for a few days.He will be fine.Please keep us posted on how he is doing.Thanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idAlq1M8khE

clx · Member Joined: Jun 28, 2008 Posts: 20

I'm from the south shore of MA, and he finally did eat a raw egg last night. Well, he didn't so much as eat it as he smashed the yolk with his face and drank it. He's not a very pretty eater, but he did go to the bathroom twice yesterday and once the day before that. And he drinks plenty. I'm glad I caught him before it starts to get cold outside, winter comes on quickly up here!

txrepgirl · Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 12:21 pm Post subject:

yea, Tegus are messy eaters.Sounds like everything is going well.Keep up the good work.Did he eat any meat yet ? try to give him as much as he wants because since you sad that it's getting cold where you are he might want to hibernate soon.They usually it allot before they go into hibernation.