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Thread: New guy with a new pet.. need a lil help.

  1. #1

    Default New guy with a new pet.. need a lil help.

    Hi my name is andrew. i bought a black and white a couple days ago from a craigslist ad. he/she is about 24in or so he was in a 20g tank and he was nose to tail in it. so first thing i did was clean out the old boas cage 6x3x4. i put down ceder gave him a large dog bowl. everything was all set up and ready. As i went to put him in he started tensing up and squriming.. i set him down and he freaked out running back and forth runnin into the sides of the cage. now when i walk up to to the plexi doors he starts puffing up with short hissing like sounds and opening his mouth as a warning i suppose, today he was burrowed in the bedding i moved it aside picked him up and he was showing me his teeth for the first 10min of me holding him. He calmed down for a few min then started the tense thing again. anything i should do?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    San Antonio,TX
    Posts
    9,505

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    Hi Andrew. Welcome to our Tegu forum family and congrats on your new Tegu. Are you sure the bedding is CEDAR ? If it is PLEASE take it our right away. Cedar is very toxic. I recommend putting all Cypress ( no blend. In case it has cedar in it, too ). I know you have mentioned that it's a black and white. But do you know if it's a Argentine or a Columbian Tegu ? Could you please post some photos. I use photobucket because it's easier to post photos on her like that.
    Rich is not how much you have, or where you are going, or what you are.Rich is who you have beside you.

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  3. #3

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    yes cypress is what i am using. i didnt mean to say cedar, i know better from raising boas and pythons.. he is an argentine black and white.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    clydebank, scotland
    Posts
    39

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    hes possibly finding the huge space difficult to cope with if he was cramped in a small viv before, id say give him time to settle in and get used to his new enviroment and take the handling slowly and build up a relationship with him

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    San Antonio,TX
    Posts
    9,505

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    Wow, I'm so relieve to hear that it's cypress mulch . The reason why I asked if he/she is a Argentine or a Columbian is because Columbians are more skitish at first ( not all the time ). If you want to you can put a old shirt that you had on in his enclosure. This way he can hide in/under it and gets to smell you. But please make sure there is no deodorant or cologne on it. He will get used to the big space. He is just very stressed out not just by having a new owner but also being in that big enclosure like kazzym mentioned. If you want to you can open the enclosure and just lay your hand in there and don't move it. This will show him that you are not going to hurt him. Do this a few times and he will start to get more relaxed when you are around. Also move very slow. If you are worried about getting bit you can try what I did in the video below.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UscbESzNseg
    Rich is not how much you have, or where you are going, or what you are.Rich is who you have beside you.

    Our videos :

    http://www.youtube.com/user/txrepgirl

  6. #6

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    alright thanks for the help guys. ill try the shirt thing as well. so for now while he settles in should i go ahead and feed in the cage? i did lastnight i put some ground turkey on a plate and he came out of his burrow ate and went back under.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    San Antonio,TX
    Posts
    9,505

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    If you do have to feed him inside of his enclosure I recommend putting some slate/tile under the plate. So if he does drop some food it doesn't get onto the mulch. You wouldn't want your Tegu to get impacted if he eats a piece of mulch.
    Rich is not how much you have, or where you are going, or what you are.Rich is who you have beside you.

    Our videos :

    http://www.youtube.com/user/txrepgirl

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