scared of my own tegu.

[melbel1023]

today he is just trying to find a new way out, but its locked down tight. he is gently walking out of the doors now, which makes me very happy =D

[Tegs Rex]

First off, you need to build better doors with a frame that cannot be pushed out no matter what. Once the door is fixed you can start to train your tegu to behave better. Every time it charges the door or charges you, close the door and leave for 15 mintes or longer then come back and try again. When it doesn't charge or attack, give it a treat. When it does, just close the cage and walk away. The bad behavior should stop in a few weeks.

I agree that you need to repair and improve your enclosure, however despite the Tegu's intelligence I disagree with this method.

First off I'm a dog trainer and the time out is most frequently misused. You don't need a time beyond 5 minutes. That should be the max because Tegus, let alone dogs don't have attn spans that long. The minimum is about 30 seconds. I get phenomenal results from Dogs with 30 seconds to a minute, but I would argue dogs are smarter.

A good method, but more repetitions and shorter repetitions should get better and faster results.

I was in a similar situation once and the way that I got around it was getting a glove and letting my Male B/W out-right bite my hand and just go for it. Eventually when you don't go away (his reward), he will realize this method won't work. The only times I get bit nowadays is regarding food.

Give your little guy or girl a tshirt you don't care much about after you've warn it for a day and he'll get used to your scent. Don't feed in his cage and when you put your gloves on spend time just moving your hands around in his enclosure for periods of time.

Another method proposed by TXrepgirl and other members when I was new was to put on a few layers covered by a hoodie and let your little guy under your hoodie. This "tames" and socializes him building up that trust.

This biggest thing no matter the method is to remain calm and composed. Thing through your options and just relax. The tension will only increase the problem. IF you are bit DO NOT jerk away. Doing so will not only make the bite worse and frighten your tegu into a worse attack next time, but may potentially injure his jaw.