Calming an untamed Tegu
There are many reasons why your tegu could be acting aggressive or timid, but the main reason is generally because it's intimidated or scared of you. There are several levels to a tegus 'tameness', from being able to tolerate human contact to actually craving contact with people. (Note: My tegu responds by name, taps the enclosure walls when it wants to be held, walks to my hand when its in the enclosure and nudges me, loves to cuddle against my head/neck while on the back of the couch, etc.)
Keep in mind that 'tame' in no way indicates 'domesticated'. Tegus are not domesticated, but most can be tamed. There are cases where someone gets a tegu and can't tame it. This could be poor animal husbandry or maybe a stubborn tegu. It could also be that the tegu did become tame, but not tame enough for its keeper. I honestly feel that almost any tegu can be tamed to a point of tolerating being held and many can be tamed to a point to crave your contact. There are exceptions to every rule, but I believe with decent husbandry skills and lots of time and patience you will be happy with the results of taming your tegu.
The first rule to taming a tegu is to NEVER get mad or upset with your tegu. It didn't ask to be your pet. You are taking a tegu with natural instincts and making it your pet. When the tegu doesn't respond the way you expect, just let the tegu have a break and try again later. Negative reinforcement will only manage to put your work further behind. Positive reinforcement is the correct method for taming your tegu. This can sometimes become a slow process, but it's worth it in the end.
Now that I have hopefully gotten you into the proper mindset we will consider a good method to help you tame your tegu.
The first thing you need to do is go out and buy a set of leather welding gloves. These are thick and go all the way up to the elbow. They will protect you from bites and dig marks. Your tegu may or may not become threatened enough to bite, but it's always best to show some precaution.
Make sure you have some crickets, mealworms, roaches.. whatever your tegu enjoys to eat. Each time you finish a session you should give your tegu a treat if it is responding well to the step you are working on. Do not feed the tegu by hand. Place the treat in the tegus bowl. You don't want to associate your hand with food. You do want to associate your sessions and its cooperation with a snack, but not until you are done that session.
Also grab a worn article of clothing (shirt, hat, etc) something you have worn recently that hasn't been washed. The idea is to have something with your scent on it. Make sure the item of clothing has no cologne or perfumes on it.
Let me reinforce that the tegu can not bite through a decent pair of welders gloves so do not fear it. If at any point the tegu bites you, do NOT pull away.
First this teaches the tegu that biting you does work to drive you away, second it may cause physical damage to the tegus mouth and jaws.
Now, with that in mind, if your tegu is very aggressive you may want to put on one of the gloves. Using the protected hand, place the worn article of clothing into the tegus enclosure, near the basking area is often best and then place the unused welding glove onto of that. Never leave the articles unattended. They could cause a fire or choking hazard. Remove your protected hand and cover/close the enclosure. Let the tegu examine the articles in its domain for awhile then remove it. Do this several times for a couple days. This gets the tegu accustomed to your scent and to the glove. I would do this until the tegu feels comfortable to actually bask on the items.
Now that the tegu doesn't fear the glove and knows your scent, you can use pull up a chair near the enclosure so you can be as low as possible while working on the next stage of the taming process. Sit in the chair and reach into the enclosure with a gloved/protected hand. Just lay your hand near the basking area for 10 minutes or so. Do this several times over the next couple days. This will acclimate it to you and your arm sticking into the enclosure. Again, let me state that if you get bit you should hold still and don't jump away. We no not want to reinforce the idea to the tegu that it can hurt you or that you are scared. If the tegu bites your gloved hand and it doesn't hurt you and you do not pull away it will so get the idea and stop trying to bite.
Once this is working and the tegu isn't so timid or aggressive you can do the same thing, but slowly move your hand closer and closer until you can touch it. It will more then likely move away, but just take your time and do this over and over for a few days. This step may take longer depending on the temperament of your tegu, but just keep the goal in mind. Slow and steady and you will earn the tegus trust.
Once you can touch the tegu, place your gloved hand into the enclosure, palm up, and slide it under the tegu. Do not lift the tegu, just try to cradle it. Let it sit there. After doing this for awhile you can use your other protected hand to pet and stroke your tegu. Some tegus have areas they are less likely to allow you to touch right away, often the feet or leg area.
The next step we move onto is removing the tegu from its enclosure. With a quiet house (no kids running around, no dogs barking, etc) clear off your couch. With protected hands you can lift and cradle the tegu in your arms allowing the tegu to hold your arm. This will make the tegu feel more secure. Sit on the couch and allow the tegu to settle in your lap. Don't force yourself on the tegu. Allow the tegu to just sit, you may need to hold the tegu to keep it there, but use only enough control to do this. We want the tegu to feel comfortable, not trapped. Let it sit there for only a few minutes then place it back into its enclosure. Do this a few times a day. Once you feel comfortable you can attempt removing the gloves. I would use the gloves while removing the tegu from the enclosure as this is the point where the tegu will feel most threatened, you can take the gloves off on the couch after the tegu is sitting calm.
I hope this works for you as well as it has for others I have shared this with. Please be sure to contact me with your results. I enjoy hearing from you.
You may use this information and post links to this site. All I ask is credit for my work.
Rick
theTegu.com
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