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Hello everyone,

I have a male female red tegu. They are 40 inches each and are cagemates. They eat/sleep/bask together just fine. Heck, they sleep on top of each other almost every night.

Over the past few months though, the male has started to simply wildly huff and shake his jowles, then mount the female until she is cornered, bite her neck, flip her, and breed. Within seconds after he is completed, she turns violent and bites him anyway, anywhere she can and it is not lovebiting, she bites down ahrd. The head, the body, the tail, it does not matter. He just shrugs her off but she persists until I intervene. The problem is this has caused his tail to be scaleless in spots, minor bleeding, and so forth. It does not seem to bother him, but it bothers me. She only does this after being successfully mounted. Is this a part of the process or is she just getting revenge? Thanks

Maybe she is mad because he wont cuddle???
I really do not know if that is normal or not. I will do some asking around to see if that is the case or if there is something else to it. It may take a day for the breeder to contact me back. I hope maybe someone who does know for sure will post as well. Good luck
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Beau W.

"There are no athiests in foxholes. It is not an argument against athiesm but rather one against foxholes." James Morrow

Hello there. I heard back from my friend who breeds. He says that the aggression is pretty normal. He said also that you may end up having to seperate them if it gets worse and that the females may also become much more aggressive towards nesting time and up to 4 mos after eggs are laid. Good luck to you and I hope this helps. This is just one opinion there may be others out there that do not have this problem. AGain good luck.
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Beau W.

"There are no athiests in foxholes. It is not an argument against athiesm but rather one against foxholes." James Morrow

Hey, thanks for the reply. Wow, normal...glad my wife does not do that. I was thinking of seperating them, but they function so well together aside from these sessions. Ahhhh, hard decisions...thanks again for the reply.

Hey - i dont know the answer for tegus, but it may be related to other lizard similar aggression. In bearded dragons, they will mount and breed, but the female will get aggressive because she is already gravid. This may be the case with her. Im not sure though..Just using my bearded dragon knowledge here!
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KDRKreatures.com
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Well that is interesting. It makes sense. I guess only time will tell. The only problem is she has been this way for 2 months now, but it still does not rule it out if there are other factors present that I cannot see. Thanks for the input.

Just a thought but if she is Gravid you may want to go ahead and remove the male and put some nesting material in there for her. My buddy also said that his females sometimes remain aggressive for up to a couple months after they lay their eggs. It is hard to say what it is. Good luck to you.
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Beau W.

"There are no athiests in foxholes. It is not an argument against athiesm but rather one against foxholes." James Morrow

I would certainly do that if I could determine she is gravid. I wonder if the EPT test would work.... :}

LOL Yeah its hard to tell for sure if she is Gravid. I wonder if EPT would work. In all seriousness. I know it is used for other mammals since they produce the same hormone as humans do when pregnant. I may have to email a buddy or two and find out if any one has tried this. Boy that should be good for a laugh. I can see it now "here lizard pee on the stick." Actually you might be able to tell if you gently feel her belly you might be able to feel the eggs in there or maybe just a tightening of her belly as it is filling with egss. Also she should be getting the larger look to her as she fills up with eggs.
good luck man
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Beau W.

"There are no athiests in foxholes. It is not an argument against athiesm but rather one against foxholes." James Morrow

If that actually works, I would roll laughing, only cause the wife would give me the look of craziness. I know nothing about hormones, only that they exist and flare up at times.

Interesting though, she is refusing food (1st time), and is sleeping like never before. I couldn't even get her to wake up with petting her head and that has always worked. Then again, it is that time of year for nappy time.

As much as I watch her, I couldn't tell if she is bigger or not. I will let ya know though and look forward to the answer on EPT!!! :}

Yeah you are right about the Hormones they do have a tendency to flare from time to time. I am still waiting to hear if they produce the same hormone as mammals or not though. Also it would be hard to tell if she is gravid and refusing food or if it is because she is getting ready to hibernate. There is also the possibility that she may be getting stressed by the constant unwanted advances of her tank mate. These are just a few thoughts. Good luck. One of the Doc's I work with his Brother is a herpetologist so that is who I am waiting to hear from. It just sucks waiting since right now we are on the other side of the world and 10 hours ahead of every one over there. I will get back to you as soon as I can on this one though. Good luck
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Beau W.

"There are no athiests in foxholes. It is not an argument against athiesm but rather one against foxholes." James Morrow

>>I would certainly do that if I could determine she is gravid. I wonder if the EPT test would work.... :}

This was an interesting enough question that I had to do a little searching... I can't give a difinitive answer, but I found a note that early pregnancy tests key on a hormone that promotes blood vessel growth, which of course bumps way up in mammals when it's time to grow a placenta (not present in reptiles). I also see that it's specific enough this it only works in a small number of mammals... So I thing the answer is most likely "no".

Yes I also did some checking with friends of my own. You are right about the fact that early pregnancy test. They do target specific hormones in mammals that reptiles do not have. It was a good thought. It was just one of those things that make you think is all. Maybe that is something I can work on in my spare time. I do not see it sitting on many store shelves the reptile pregnancy test. You never know.
Take care
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Beau W.

"There are no athiests in foxholes. It is not an argument against athiesm but rather one against foxholes." James Morrow

Well thanks for the interest, that would've been good stuff if it worked from the standpoint of my dilemma.

Sorry I know it would have helped you in your delima now. Maybe in a few years we will have a product on the market for that. Good luck to you.
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Beau W.

"There are no athiests in foxholes. It is not an argument against athiesm but rather one against foxholes." James Morrow