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Thread: Newbie Handling

  1. #1

    Talking Newbie Handling

    I got my Columbian on monday, he/she is my first Tegu, how soon should I start trying to handle him/her, and any other tips would be great, thanks.

  2. #2
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    HI BEKL, Congrats on getting your Colombian Tegu ... I seem to be the Colombian advocate ..lol. Overall, I don't think there are any tricks. More time and patience is required in most cases, but it's easy. I don't approach them. I keep a schedule of when and where I feed them (same, clean bowl/plate), water, lights/heat ..etc. I use a timer for the lights/heat. I keep them in an area where they can watch me (on their terms) or I'll sit on the floor next to them while I'm doing something else. In time they build up trust from observing you and eventually they will approach you. Really the same as Argentine Tegus it just 'may' take longer.

    Trying to handle them too soon will only make them defensive and you don't want to break any trust with them. They are the smallest of the Tegus and often looked at as prey.

    Make sure his/her home is correct:
    Basking end of enclosure being 95- 110f surface temps
    Cool end (opposite end of enclosure) around 75f where (imo) I would place a hide box that they can get into (it can be anything) keep it moist as it also aids in shedding and a 'safe place' for them to hide.
    Humidity should suffice around 70%.
    Mulch (Cypress) deep enough to cover their entire body or more. They really like to hide, dig, burrow.
    Feed f/t not live prey along with a varied diet



    Here is a read on handling/taming repitles in general:

    http://www.anapsid.org/tamingvh.html





    Last edited by Angelrose; 09-23-2009 at 07:20 PM.

  3. #3
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    Congrats on your new Tegu .

    angelrose.Yes, you are lol.They are not much different from the Argenitnes for exept the personality and size and sometimes about the food.But since i don't have a columbian and you do I let you handle the columbian Tegu posts .
    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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  4. #4
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    I recommand that you wait 2 weeks, before starting to handling him.

    Then after 2 weeks, you can start to handle him inside his enclosure, to let him know that there is no danger coming from your hand, and that you aren't a monster that is going to eat him.

    After 1-2 weeks of handling him inside his enclosure, you can start to remove him of it and walk with him. Hold him safely, but firmly. So that he doesn't throw himself on the ground.

    After a month, now you can start to let other people handle the little guy.

    You have to know, that Tegus will calm down, once they became bigger, because they will be more confident (higher in the food chain).

    Good luck!
    Ben
    0.1.0, 2007, Bearded Dragon (Uresaii)
    1.0.0, 1999, Hermann Tortoise (Tama-chan)
    0.1.0, 2007, Redfoot Tortoise (Kame-chan)


    Got msn? If you want to talk to me just leave me a private message !

  5. #5
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    I started to handle all five off my Tegus from day one.I wanted to because I don't want to feed them inside the enclosure.I got my three way cross Tegu hatchling on 09.01.09 and she is already very tame.Here is what I did to tame them all down.The shirts trick works great for me.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVyU4...e=channel_page

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZDb-...e=channel_page
    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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    I used this article when I first got my Colombian years ago: http://www.thetegu.com/showthread.php?t=7291. Maybe it will help along with Angelrose's suggestions; she had some really good ideas.

    I have always kept my Colombian is a high traffic area...not a stressful place, but a place where she could see people. The Argentines live in the garage, but I always wanted her to stay around us where she could see us in a non-threatening way. Mine is not great with change, so I try to change her environment as little as possible or she goes off into periods of hiding and skittish-ness.

    I give a settling in period of a week or so and then I start interacting in some manner. I like the used T-shirt trick, hanging out by the tank when the lizard is basking, and putting my hand in the tank without touching the lizard as beginning moves. How fast I move on to petting and holding depends on the temperament of the lizard and how tame he is now. Is he completely untame or does he tolerate you?
    Laura R (FL)
    1.0.0 Colombian Tegu
    1.4.0 Argentine B&W Tegu
    1.2.0 Red Tegu
    1.2.0 B/WxRed Tegu
    1.0.0 Green Ameiva (yet another teiid)
    7 other lizards
    1 little gator
    3 FL box turtle
    1 Sulcata tortoise
    16 snakes
    5 fuzzy pets
    4 little frogs
    a bunch of creepy bugs
    and a partridge in a pear tree

  7. #7

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    In response to Angelrose:
    Basking temp is 103, cool side is 80
    He/She has a hide on both sides of the tank and a water dish in the middle.
    I'm using newspaper as substrate for now, for ease of cleaning so not to stress him too much.
    (Also will make it easier to collect a fecal)
    He's eaten a few super worms, some crickets, and two f/t mouse fuzzies so far.
    Humidity is staying around 65%
    Reptisun 5.0 (10.0 on order)

    laurarfl:
    He is currently in my living room (on the floor until I get my stand) Underneath my beardie tanks, but out of sight of them. and no he's not tame, he's the most vicious little demon I've ever had the pleasure of bringing into my home. LOL just what should be expected.

    Everyone:
    Thank you I will check out these links when I get a chance.

    He hasn't come out of his hide on the basking side since Tuesday morning unless he did while I was at work.
    I have to go by his tank to get to my beardies and my newts so he'll hopefully get used to me being around his tank. I'd like to avoid feeding him in his tank if possible but I also don't want to disturb him in his hide I don't do that to any of my herps. So the problem is... should I keep putting food in front of his hide entrance? Or should I start moving it away from it? Really what I'm trying to ask is: Should I feed him in his tank for now, until I can handle him? Or do I take him out and feed him elsewhere, and risk losing his trust early on?

    I currently take care of very docile herps; 3 Firebelly Newts, 2 Ball Pythons, 2 Beardies
    This little monster is my first aggressive herp so any help is appreciated.

    Oh and for a name I'm at a toss up between: FIDO and FLUFFY
    Leaning more toward FLUFFY, might be fun at the vet lol
    Leave it to the imagination.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by BEKL View Post
    Should I feed him in his tank for now, until I can handle him? Or do I take him out and feed him elsewhere, and risk losing his trust early on?
    Well, the 'trusting taming method' is relative to each person.

    A lot of people have try this method, which can be very long. By letting the animal ''coming to you'' instead of 'forcing' him to come with you. I'm pretty sure that this technique works very well with tegus. But you have to know that those reptile are very curious which is a big advantage to use this method. But if you try to use this technique on a monitor lizard. Like a Savannah monitor or many arboricole monitor. It won't work or will be extremely long, because most of them are very shy, and will wait until you quit their enclosure to get out. (even if you wait a couple of hours).

    I read some Tegu keeper comment explaning that they were digging in the Substrate, or taking the tegu out of their hide to handle them (force method). Today, they do have very tolerant or very social Tegu and I don't think that they had 'lost' their Tegu trust.

    Some Tegu keeper are feeding their reptile inside their enclosure without any problem. What they do is feeding their reptile at the same time of the day in a bowl. Some reptile will wait patiently until the feeder put the bowl on the ground to let them eat. Other keeper prefer to put the food in a bowl, during the night and let the animal eat their food (secretly) in the night or when they wake up.

    However, I do have a water monitor. And I will feed my reptile in his enclosure for the first 2 weeks. He/she will see that I am the food 'supplyer' which is already a good step for making a good bond. After a couple of week, I will feed him outside the enclosure, to make him understand that my presence IN the enclosure do not mean 'feeding time'.

    Taming an animal can be done in two way. The soft way and the hard way. The soft way is to let the animal come to you by himself, step-by-step, which reduce the animal stress. The only problem is that it's a very long process. The hard way is forcing the animal to come out, and let him understand that you are not a threat, and that you are NOT going to hurt him. This method will be stressful for reptile (at the beginning) but will be faster and easier to do. Of course, they're always exception, some reptile will react a very bad way to force handling and some reptile will never come by themselves (by curiosity) to you. It will depend on your animal behavior.

    For your case, I would recommand to put the food in a bowl during the 2-3 weeks. Then, after he calm down a bit, you can feed him outside the enclosure, or inside another enclosure.

    Good luck.
    Ben
    0.1.0, 2007, Bearded Dragon (Uresaii)
    1.0.0, 1999, Hermann Tortoise (Tama-chan)
    0.1.0, 2007, Redfoot Tortoise (Kame-chan)


    Got msn? If you want to talk to me just leave me a private message !

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Central FL
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    It is hard and relative...my green iguana went from being a 'soft tame' to a 'forced handling' and does much better that way. While I went slowly with my Colombian at first, I ended up just picking her up with a glove every single day. She did fine.
    Laura R (FL)
    1.0.0 Colombian Tegu
    1.4.0 Argentine B&W Tegu
    1.2.0 Red Tegu
    1.2.0 B/WxRed Tegu
    1.0.0 Green Ameiva (yet another teiid)
    7 other lizards
    1 little gator
    3 FL box turtle
    1 Sulcata tortoise
    16 snakes
    5 fuzzy pets
    4 little frogs
    a bunch of creepy bugs
    and a partridge in a pear tree

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Pennsylvania
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    3,310

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by BEKL View Post
    In response to Angelrose:
    Basking temp is 103, cool side is 80
    He/She has a hide on both sides of the tank and a water dish in the middle.
    I'm using newspaper as substrate for now, for ease of cleaning so not to stress him too much.
    (Also will make it easier to collect a fecal)
    He's eaten a few super worms, some crickets, and two f/t mouse fuzzies so far.
    Humidity is staying around 65%
    Reptisun 5.0 (10.0 on order)

    Fido or Fluffy, leaning more toward FLUFFY, might be fun at the vet lol
    Leave it to the imagination.

    Your taking him to the vet with a fecal ? That's excellent !!!

    When it comes to the Colombians I have had and have, I guess I'm lucky because I don't have to wait long before they come to me and I am able to interact with them using the soft approach with Colombian Tegus ...


    The names you are thinking about are both funny in their own way ..lol

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