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Thread: hi there, newbie here

  1. #1

    Default hi there, newbie here

    hello all,
    newbie just arrive n join the forum..

    i bought juvenile BW tegu, need advice n suggest especially to tame the tegu since i have juvenile not from baby
    and is it good if i give him frozen mouse ?


    thanks before

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

    Default

    Hi sv7en. Welcome to our Tegu forum family. It's nice to have you here. I'll give you some links to some videos for you to check out. Hope they help. Once you have the Tegu out of the enclosure you can sit down some where. Put a pillow on your lap ( in case you are worried about getting bit ), put him on the pillow and put a towl over him. Tegus feel safe when they can hide. The towl will be his hiding place. Put your hand on him and don't move for a while. If he feels like he is relaxed then try to gently rub him. Most of them like it on the neck. If he is still calm then slowly remove the towel and put your hand on him again. How old and how big is he ? It would be great if you could post some photos of him/her.

    Tegu care sheet:

    http://www.thetegu.com/showthread.ph...Tegu-Caresheet

    How to get a Tegu out of the enclosure:

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

    Yes, you can feed him some frozen/thawed rodents . They are very good for him.

    http://www.rodentpro.com/qpage_articles_01.asp
    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

  3. #3

    Default

    wow thanks alot for your reply and comment, i really need that .. umm btw sorry for my quite bad english

    he (umm i dont know exactly female or male anyway lol) is about 70cm +/- , i dont know the age maybe about 1 year, i ll take photo later

    oh yeah, my tegu didn't like fruit, .. how can i make him to eat fruit as variety for his meal
    and can i make him 'poop' with schedule.. in example when i soak him in water so that is the time for him to poop

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    San Antonio,TX
    Posts
    9,505

    Default

    You are very welcome. Any time. Don't worry about your english. You are doing just fine . I'm from Germany and I misspell alot of things myself. It's hard to control on when a Tegu should poop. But I have noticed that ( like you have mentioned above ) when I give our Tegus and the other lizards a bath they have to go poop. They also poop after they are done eating. Sometimes they eat, stop for a minute to go poop and then go back and eat some more. This is why I feed them inside the bathtub. This way I can rinse them off if they go poop or walk through the food.
    It works well if you put some smooshed fruits ( like blended up fruits or smash them with a fork if they are soft ) and mix it in with some ground turkey or ground beef. This way he can't eat around the fruits/veggies. You also can get a syringe ( without a needle ) from your pharmacy and put some fruit or veggies blended up in the syringe. Then stick the syringe in the mouth of a frozen/thawed rodent and put what is in the syringe inside the rodent.
    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

  5. #5

    Default

    owh you're from germany, ic nice to know u. im from indonesia , so many local varanus species here..but i like tegu .. btw sorry before i i have a lot question, i have read all the caresheet for general care, but sometimes i need ask some question that i need more understand
    so is it better feeding first and then bathing right. and is it necessary if i give a big enough water dish in his enclosure?so he can drink and even soak a little or just for drink , if we routine take him a bath n then poop just like u have done

    oh yeah, is the shirt trick to tame ...good for juvenile tegu like i have? or just for baby? worry to get biite or suddenly he aggresive

  6. #6

    Default

    just update .. my tegu a little bit skittish. He lets me pet him well enough but when I try to lift him he spazzes out and runs away.
    any suggest to make him calm when i lift him? is it ok to just hold him a lil bit harder until he calm down..? i worry if i make him stress out

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Mobile, Alabama
    Posts
    7

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    Approach him slowly and when he starts to become "huffy" and tense stop for a second and when he calms continue until you are able to approach him slowly enough that he doesn't feel threatened enough to run. Also you don't need to squeeze him harder because it will make him feel trapped and he won't like to feel captured. You can squeeze him gently enough to slow him a bit but allow him to walk as you putty him through your hands overlapping one hand in front of the other. Very hard to explain

    Dimly lit, calm, quiet rooms are the best places to socialize him. Do so in the morning before you turn on his lamp. Because tegu are cold blooded he will not be able to spazz and run as quickly and will start to associate you with being another source of heat for him. My Columbian tegu has become adjusted used to our morning socialization that he now sits on my shoulder like a parrot or warms himself on the back of my neck under my hair in the mornings while I put on make up, cook, feed the other pets. Lol. You can place one of your dirty T-shirts inside his enclosure for him to hide in. By doing this you train him to your scent and your scent will then be associated with security. He will start to view your pressence as an reward because everytime you come around fresh food, water, and light is available.

    Open and touch everything in his cage daily. Move things, even if only to pick them up and set them back down (slowly move things). Gently move him aside with the back of your hand and dig the dirt that was beneath him. This teaches him that everytime you open his cage it is not only to harrass him. By moving and touching his things you are nonviolently claiming your territory. Your scent should already be there because of the T-shirt and he will learn that although you share space you are not a threat to him and will not hurt him. When you put him in your lap you can cover him with a T-shirt then too. I prefer to place my lizard on my chest. Never try to make your tegu "submissive" to you. It's disgusting and wrong. You want him to believe you to be the gentle harmless type he can trust rather than him being terrified of you. If your tegu grows to be scared of you it will only cause you to be injured when reaching for him. Hope that gives you some new ideas to try!
    Last edited by Nichole; 11-17-2012 at 03:35 AM.

  8. #8

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Nichole View Post
    Approach him slowly and when he starts to become "huffy" and tense stop for a second and when he calms continue until you are able to approach him slowly enough that he doesn't feel threatened enough to run. Also you don't need to squeeze him harder because it will make him feel trapped and he won't like to feel captured. You can squeeze him gently enough to slow him a bit but allow him to walk as you putty him through your hands overlapping one hand in front of the other. Very hard to explain

    Dimly lit, calm, quiet rooms are the best places to socialize him. Do so in the morning before you turn on his lamp. Because tegu are cold blooded he will not be able to spazz and run as quickly and will start to associate you with being another source of heat for him. My Columbian tegu has become adjusted used to our morning socialization that he now sits on my shoulder like a parrot or warms himself on the back of my neck under my hair in the mornings while I put on make up, cook, feed the other pets. Lol. You can place one of your dirty T-shirts inside his enclosure for him to hide in. By doing this you train him to your scent and your scent will then be associated with security. He will start to view your pressence as an reward because everytime you come around fresh food, water, and light is available.

    Open and touch everything in his cage daily. Move things, even if only to pick them up and set them back down (slowly move things). Gently move him aside with the back of your hand and dig the dirt that was beneath him. This teaches him that everytime you open his cage it is not only to harrass him. By moving and touching his things you are nonviolently claiming your territory. Your scent should already be there because of the T-shirt and he will learn that although you share space you are not a threat to him and will not hurt him. When you put him in your lap you can cover him with a T-shirt then too. I prefer to place my lizard on my chest. Never try to make your tegu "submissive" to you. It's disgusting and wrong. You want him to believe you to be the gentle harmless type he can trust rather than him being terrified of you. If your tegu grows to be scared of you it will only cause you to be injured when reaching for him. Hope that gives you some new ideas to try!
    wow thats nice suggestion.. really help , thanks alot, i ll try , so if he skittish, timid and panic if we lift him.. just let he leave? and then try again

    whats substrate the best ? i try to search cypress mulch is so hard to find here in my local, so i use cocopeat
    but when he is in the enclosure ( i still use gex akuarium, but i have order a bigger wood enclosure to give more space) he usually distract like to escape, not calm
    except when he sleep at night

    about mouse, hard to find someone who sells frozen mice here, is it still ok to feed him live prey but we hold the liveprey, so tegu must not catch the prey?

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Mobile, Alabama
    Posts
    7

    Default

    If you are feeding your tegu inside his enclosure don't use coco husk because of impaction danger if they accidently eat some. (I would suggest feeding him outside of his enclosure for now at least while he is young) Where I live Cypress mulch is hard to find and I fear coco husk so I use 75% top soil (with no chemicals or fertilizers added) and 25% sand. It holds humidity really well, is really inexpensive, and is great for burrowing. If you cannot find frozen mice don't feed them live. They can really hurt your pet if they defend themselves. If you are up for it you can use captive raised prekilled mice (yes you will have to kill them so try to do it as hummanly as possible). Or you may be able to order them frozen online or through a local pet store. Mice aren't the only things they eat though. They are a popular food because the digestion of their bones is a great source of calcium. It may be easier for you to find other boney animals such as fish, smaller reptiles, eggs with shell included, or even insects dusted in calcium powder. You want to give him a large variety of food so that he gets a good source. My vet says that the worst mistake he sees is someone being "too careful" with what they feed the tegu. The vet told me that If it's food and he wants to eat it let him. He raises tegu himsef.

  10. #10

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Nichole View Post
    If you are feeding your tegu inside his enclosure don't use coco husk because of impaction danger if they accidently eat some. (I would suggest feeding him outside of his enclosure for now at least while he is young) Where I live Cypress mulch is hard to find and I fear coco husk so I use 75% top soil (with no chemicals or fertilizers added) and 25% sand. It holds humidity really well, is really inexpensive, and is great for burrowing. If you cannot find frozen mice don't feed them live. They can really hurt your pet if they defend themselves. If you are up for it you can use captive raised prekilled mice (yes you will have to kill them so try to do it as hummanly as possible). Or you may be able to order them frozen online or through a local pet store. Mice aren't the only things they eat though. They are a popular food because the digestion of their bones is a great source of calcium. It may be easier for you to find other boney animals such as fish, smaller reptiles, eggs with shell included, or even insects dusted in calcium powder. You want to give him a large variety of food so that he gets a good source. My vet says that the worst mistake he sees is someone being "too careful" with what they feed the tegu. The vet told me that If it's food and he wants to eat it let him. He raises tegu himsef.
    thank u so much
    how about rice ?is it good right? mixed with ground turkey or other menu.

    oh yeah, my tegu usually eat not too much , so i feed him every day with little portion.. is it ok ?

    last night i put my tegu with me in closed door bathroom, he tried to close to me, sniff2, climbing to my body, but when he sniff to my toe, or even my hand finger, he try to bite me like food..and yeah.. my toe has biten
    Last edited by sv7en; 11-18-2012 at 10:01 AM.

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