Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know, you're getting a lot of these types of questions, buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut... I just have to ask a question. How do I get my tegu out to handle if she's never out?? I'm not going to handle her right now, but after I give her another week to settle down, I want to start taking her out and getting her used to human contact. In the week I've had her, I've never seen her come out of her burrow. I've seen signs of her coming out once or twice because her water would be dirty, but as far as I know, I have a dead tegu! She hasn't passed any fecal matter, nor has she eaten. I'm planning to take her to the vet on Friday for a fecal and a checkup so I'll also ask my vet for more advice. Until then, I hope Tindra will start showing signs of life.
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The Last Place

But you are plastic and so are your brains.

The primate's scream of consonance is a reflection
of his own mind's dissonance.

Sadistic and constantly inflicting a slow demise.

your tegu could be trying to hibernate at this point, but i might be wrong

if you don't think she is, just dig her out.. watch out for obvious "don't pick me up" signs though, hissing/tailwhipping/etc... be gentle as possible, if you don't handle her soon, then it'll be harder.. this way they also get used to being plucked out of the substrate IE in case of a vet visit or something

this is what i was told by a reptile expert, but you may get a different opinion from someone else here

she's always showing "don't pick me up" signs. She's okay with handling once she's out of the cage for a while, but she'll thrash, bite, and tail whip in the cage and right out of it...cute, but it won't be as cute when she's bigger.. She's only around 14" long..do tegus brumate this young?
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The Last Place

But you are plastic and so are your brains.

The primate's scream of consonance is a reflection
of his own mind's dissonance.

Sadistic and constantly inflicting a slow demise.

I didn't see my little (17" red much when I first got him, only like you described with dirty water, etc. I was lucky I could dig him out and he never was aggressive at all. I work all day and come home at night, so I wondered if he came it during the day while I was gone. I set up a video camera to record movements, and sure enough, my tegu was out all the time during the day and burrowed just before I got home every day. My obvious solution was to reverse the light cycles, so he basically became nocturnal. It worked perfectly, and it only took like 2 days for the tegu to adjust. Ever since them I saw him all the time.

I would try and have his basking timer on mostly for when you are around. It worked great for me.
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-reptilian9

I usualy give any animal I get a couple weeks to acclimate then I start his "BE NICE" program.
I usualy start by putting the enclosure in a semi high traffic area (not too high traffic). Once they will go about thier bussiness without trippin out I'll stick my hand in the cage and just watch them (not tryin to touch) somtimes they do good somtimes they dont. I dont "make" them do anything I just kinda make sure he knows im around.

When I start trying to hold them 99% of the time they freak out so I usualy get them use to my hand cuppin over them (just barely trying to pick em up with your fingers). They will squirm out and move foreward or back. When hes not trying to squirm out then I pick them up and let them just sit on my forearm. When I can pick them up they start getting soak time and usualy that is what helps the most for me. I shut the bathroom door and block off every hiding/escape spot with towels and let them do what they want. I always make sure the floor is clean and nothing is around that can hurt him (chemicals or stuff that can fall on him). I think the biggest thing is not letting them win. If he bites,whips, or poops on you and you stop and leave him alone you just taught him how to beat you and get his way. If you successfully handle him and you put him in his cage and he whips or bites your hand on the way out pick him up again and start over. As long as he learns you arent going to hurt him and he cant stop you he will chill out. Dont mess with him so long that you piss him off but just enough (little short bursts) for him to learn. This usualy works pretty good for me and this is the same way I tamed my gold tegu. He was very tame and potty trained.
gl