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Thread: aggressive behavior

  1. #1

    Default aggressive behavior

    Hey there Tegu people!
    My tegu is a year old. He is 28 inches and still growing rapidly. The problem is, he does not like me. I can get him out and hold his but he squirms and wiggles. Also, when I go into his cage he acts like my hand is food and will leap to bite me! He quickly lets go usually, but it hurts! I use a feeding bin so I dont know why he is food aggressive. I really want him to be very docile, but I cant figure out how to do it. I have tried getting him to sleep with me, but he wiggles and trys to run off and find a cozy dark spot to sleep in. So he is not evil or anything, just needs the kinks worked out. Any help?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Central FL
    Posts
    4,349

    Default

    That is an ornery stage they go through. First of all, they do settle down with age and size.

    A lot of tegus really do not like to be held, so that may be an issue you have to work out with yours in finding a comfortable position. The more support he has, the secure he'll feel. I have found that cradling them like a baby hold works, or using a towel for ground support so they feel like are standing on something. Also, if they feet against my body, like across my front or going up my shoulder works, too.

    Gloves work for the biting issue. I had one that was a leaper but I manged to avoid her teeth. Now she's so laid back...well, before nesting. I wonder if he's eating enough at one time? Especially for growing tegus, the appetite can really be enormous. I would let him eat his fill before handling and see if that calms him down for handling.

    Not all of them will hang out and go to sleep. A couple of mine will but others would rather dig into the sofa cushions or hide under the sofa. There's a cozy spot back in the corner where I store blankets that seems to be a tegu favorite. If I lose track of one for a moment, I can generally find them buried into the blanket stash.

    Anyway..just a few quick thoughts this morning.
    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

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Posts
    1,210

    Default

    I second everything laruarfl said.

    Also, is he still getting live prey? Little tegus who chase crickets or live pinkies and the like will tend to have the instinct to bite at anything that moves. Yours should now be old enough to not get much out of insect prey and instead survive off of sedentary foods: thawed or fresh killed small rodents and chicks, fruits, veggies. Some people include ground meat and fish fillet. None of these need to be chased or eaten quickly before they escape. It might take a few months for him to lose his old habits, but that should reduce the biting in addition to what what pointed out above.

  4. #4

    Default

    No he is not and has never been on live food except worms which I do not feed anymore because he can eat almost 200 in one sitting! Thanks for all the adivice.

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