Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know around any animal (even some people) you should never make sudden movements, but do tegus take any other body postures as a threat? Like smiling, eye contact, head movement, etc?

i read somewhere that tegus feel threatened when someone is like standing over them and reaching down at them. it also said that they want to be about eye level or higher (mine will actually climb onto my head and just lay there, any more bigger and hes gonna scratch my eyes out). hope this helped a little, justin

You are right about the quick movements. I have worked with many Tegus also that seem to perceive it a threat to make eye contact. In these cases, I kind of went about socializing with them in a round a bout sort of way. Moving things in the cage and brushing up against them or cleaning and nudging them and eventually they start to realise that what they thought was a threat is now just part of your (the person) behavior. You don't want to pick up a baby tegu and put him near your mouth. His first thought is going to be OMG, it's gonna eat me! I also had a tegu that apparently thought it was a threat to move a flat piece of shale (basking rock) that was in his cage. He would get mighty peeved at first when I would move it to clean it or whatever. He was the sweetest Tegu any other time and you could touch anything else in his cage and he was fine. He learned that it wasn't a threat after awhile. After some time and attention, most Tegus no longer perceive handling or any gestures as a threat. Tegus definitely are lizards with "quirks" and a high intelligence. It's finding the quirks and working around them and the intelligence that makes the difference. If you pay careful attention to your Tegu and his body language, you should be able to tell what he perceives as a threat. Hope this blabbering helps.
-----
JS

"It's funny how from simple things, the best things begin."

I found your comment about your tegu's sensitivity to your moving his basking rock interesting. When I first got mine (as a hatchling), he would usually avoid my hand. One day, after he had calmly moved what he clearly felt was a safe distance from my hand, I rested my hand on his basking rock. He took one look, rushed over immediately, climbed on top of my hand, and proceeded to calmly bask! I think he was staking his claim on his territory! After that he would occasionally climb onto my hand on his own when I placed it in the cage (perhaps he felt he had dominated the Giant Hand).

That's interesting. Maybe we just got the crazy ones.
-----
JS

"It's funny how from simple things, the best things begin."