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Joined: Dec 08, 2004 Posts: 998 Location: South Florida
Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2005 6:42 pm Post subject: Intelligent Tegus
Please DO NOT try this. This was done at my Discretion in which could of turned into a painful ordeal! I saw a threat on the monitor forum on another site. They had mentioned how smart monitors were and that they could be hand fed in this manner. I decided to try it on tegus and I witnessed the same thing as with monitors. In a few days I will try closing my hand and seeing exactly what happens. This is not something I would even consider risking with a large animal (all of the others were feeding babies/juvies as well). One of the guys even used a glove! Anyways When a tegu does eat you can usually tell when they are going to open and bite. If this were to happen I would pull my hand out and quit the experiment (or get a glove). I just thought this was very interesting. Again please DO NOT try this.
These pictures were taken without flash. If I would of used flash this close the pictures would of been washed out because the animals are albino.
Joined: Jan 14, 2005 Posts: 613 Location: The Netherlands
Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2005 7:21 pm Post subject:
Seeing how my red reacts on food this CERTANLY will not be risked in my house...
And I would call everyone who tries this with an adult tegu (or monitor or any large reptile for that matter) a fool.
They might be smart and they might not bite the first time or maybe the second...but when this gets out of hand...you might loose the hand!
You can never put full trust in a reptile no matter how long you got him and how loving he seems. Always know what your doing when your doing something and always be prepared the animal could turn against you.
I know of a guy who owns a little B&W, we call it Theo the cuddle tegu...Well hes nice and cuddly, he could even sit on Patrick (my son of 6) his lap and be stroked no problem. We almost tought this one tegu was not fully right in the head the way it was that calm and mellow.
But one night the owner forgot the rules about dealing with reptiles and forgot they remain wild animals and as he was handeling it he thought he needed to take a bit of rubish off of the mouth of this tegu....He got bit.
Luckely for him this B&W is only a small one still else he might have lost his finger or maybe a bit more...
And this is a guy who owned and is used to handling large monitors like salvator and such who are by no meens tame. _________________ 1.0.0 T.rufescens
0.1.0 T.merianae
1.0.0 Testudo horsfieldii
1.0.0 Stenodactylus sthenodactylus
0.0.1 Ceratophrys ornata
0.0.1 Geocholone elegans
0.0.1 Python regius
2.0.0 Mustela Putorius Furo
0.1.0 Bouvier des flandres
Joined: Dec 08, 2004 Posts: 998 Location: South Florida
Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2005 7:35 pm Post subject:
Quote:
And I would call everyone who tries this with an adult tegu (or monitor or any large reptile for that matter) a fool. You can never put full trust in a reptile no matter how long you got him and how loving he seems. Always know what your doing when your doing something and always be prepared the animal could turn against you.
Don't do as this fool does please
Bri,
let me tell you a little story about a friend of mine. I'll find out which zoo he used to work for but untill then here goes. He was incharge of the komodo's. He could walk into the enclosure and pet these calm beasts. The animals would always know when it was feeding time as they could very easily pick up the scent. These giants would lick all over my friend looking for food. The rats were in his pocket. The Komodo would slide his nose into his pocket and pull out the rats. When they were all gone the animal stuck his nose deep into the pocket and tried to look around. He knew all of the rats were gone. He never took a bite doing this.
Now another quick story:
I know of a person who will remain unnamed that tried to hand feed an adult tegu a large rat. Needless to say this person did not know what they were doing and ending up losing a thumb and requiring immediate medical attention!
Like I said it's not something I would recommend. The tegu I sent Rick had a very strong feeding response and I had to be very careful when I hand fed him. If I opened the enclosure and tapped on the mulch he would come running looking for food. _________________ John Light
http://www.jlexotics.com/
Joined: Jan 14, 2005 Posts: 613 Location: The Netherlands
Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2005 6:07 am Post subject:
Rats for a komodo?
This should either be a very tiny komodo...or a not to hungry one
And I still say its foolish to put complet trust into a reptile!
They show no emotion so do not bond and there for will not care if they hurt you in the proces of getting food. _________________ 1.0.0 T.rufescens
0.1.0 T.merianae
1.0.0 Testudo horsfieldii
1.0.0 Stenodactylus sthenodactylus
0.0.1 Ceratophrys ornata
0.0.1 Geocholone elegans
0.0.1 Python regius
2.0.0 Mustela Putorius Furo
0.1.0 Bouvier des flandres
Joined: Dec 08, 2004 Posts: 998 Location: South Florida
Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2005 9:45 am Post subject:
Colossal rats were used as a treat. Anyways I'd like to get something straight. I do not completely trust my tegus. Like monitors they have an amazing feeding response. I'm going to mention the Croc Hunter episode where the komodo chased Steve up a tree. This is just one example of their feeding response. One minute they are fine the next they want to eat anything and everything (it's not exactly something they can control it's instint). I'm very careful when I do feed with my bare hands. I've worked with reptiles long enough to know their behavior and how it associates with when they are going to bite, when they are stressed and so on. If you learn an animals behavior it's not to difficult to do. The risk is always present and this is why it's not something I'd recommend.
Off topic but similar:
I am also pretty big into venomous reptiles. Mainly I like working with cobras but I also deal with rattlers and other vipers. Anyways if one wants to work with these animals they must be willing to risk being bitten. If you don't want to risk it, don't work with the animals. The way I see it: if you work with them long enough, soon or later you will be bitten. One must be very careful and never let their guard down, or else it's going to happen!
Keep in mind I've been hand feeding my reptiles for years (never venomous!). Like I said it's not something I would recommend, it's just something I do. It's not wrong, it's not right, it's just not recommended for obvious reasons. _________________ John Light
http://www.jlexotics.com/
Joined: Jan 06, 2005 Posts: 300 Location: Portsmouth N.H.
Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005 11:37 am Post subject: hand feeding
Brisamen is right. Reptiles are not capable of feeling human emotions. They will never be your friend. A Tegus behavoir and temperament can be predictable, but never definate. Tegus are indeed smart animals. The smartest lizard I've had experinence with! But accidents can always happen. To a novice I would strongly advise against hand feeding.
Joined: Dec 08, 2004 Posts: 998 Location: South Florida
Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005 11:44 am Post subject: Re: hand feeding
James_James wrote:
Brisamen is right. Reptiles are not capable of feeling human emotions. They will never be your friend. A Tegus behavoir and temperament can be predictable, but never definate. Tegus are indeed smart animals. The smartest lizard I've had experinence with! But accidents can always happen. To a novice I would strongly advise against hand feeding.
Brisamen is infact right, your correct. Accidents can happen, again your correct and this is not something I've tried with an adult (nor do I think I would)! Feeding like this is something you must be very careful doing, and you must know the risk you are taking! _________________ John Light
http://www.jlexotics.com/
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