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Ive had my little tegu for a little over three weeks now. Now i know this probably isnt adequate time to tell if he will or will not calm down, but i was hoping that it would at least be enough time for him to show some signs of a better temperament. Ive done all I can to show him that Im not gonna hurt him but it seems to be all in vain. He still tail whips and has picked up the nasty habbit of trying to nip my fingers in the event that I do pick him up. Is there any hope for my poor little tegu? I mean I know he's still young and a bit tiny, but how long does it usually take for them to calm down?

Hold him everyday for at least 30 minutes. He will try and eat you when you stick your hand in the cage but be a man (or a women) and take that bite, tail whip or scatching. Handle your new "friend" while you read or watch TV. I took me three weeks of daily handling to make my tegu(OGRE) into a very inquisitive and friendly lizard. I have a friend who has a pair of reds that he never handled when they were young. The male charges him when he walks into its cage.. They are usually protective of their cages, oncethey are removed they rarely bite. E-mail me if you need help

Segnatchik@yahoo.com

Stephen

my tegu is a little over two months now, and he has never whipped or attempted to bite, I have always fed mine in a dish and never with tongs or hands. i am not that experienced but he seems nice

my gold was about 13" when I got himin June. He is almost 20" now. He has bitten meonly twice when I first got him,He is alot more settled now, But still is a little bit Skitish. He is just now starting to take fuzzie mice of tongs now.Hope this helps Russ

Hello,
Im very new to tegus, but I believe that the very young ones are very flighty and nervous, which they gradually grow out of as they get older. Repeated handling may do you good for the future, however, so try and stick with it - thing should get better as he gets older.

Incidentally, how old/big is your tegu, and what kind is it?

Hes a beautiful gold tegu and is only about six or seven inches with tail and all.

I have an arg BW, but everything i've seen and heard says golds (colombians) are quite aggresive. There are a few people on here who have tamed their golds down quite nicely, so I hope they respond to this.
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BoidsNTegus@insightbb.com

Hello,
I recently got my first Tegu, a golden tegu. He's quite young, probably around 14 inches long and is not aggresive at all! I try to hold him every day for like 10 mins or so and let him swim in the bath tub, this is about my 3rd week with him, during the first week he as not use to me or anything and any chance he had he tried to escape, never attempted to bite me though. After about 2 weeks he calmed down, now its the 3rd week and he still is cautious of me but allows me to hold him in my hand willingly with out really grabbing him, he just lays on my palm. A tip i've come to known with my own tegu experience is, fill your bath tub with warm water (about 5 inches deep) and let your tegu in it, he will be to young to reach the floow so adventually he'll want out, thats when you keep your hands in the watter and he'll say your hands are the only resting place he has so he'll swim to your hand and relax on them, this si when you keep your hands partially in the water and with 1 hand begin to pet him, this si what i did and its been working lovely.

Thanks
Eros JN

at the minute he see's you as a threat. in time he'll realise everytime you handle him nothing bad happens to him so should calm down in time. stick at it and in time he will get used to you, don't give up on him yet.

i was lucky my tegus's both calmed down within about 2 days

Theres no way I would give up on the little guy. Even if for some reason he decides not to calm down...still gotta respect the animal. After all I might hold a grudge too if someone put me in a cage against my will. Im just gonna stick to daily handling sessions and see where it goes...hes still so tiny so obviously he has a good reason to be scared...its these instincts that kept his species survivng lol. Ill keep everyone updated on his progress.

I have a young Arg B W, when I first got him he was quite flighty now he only gets cranky when I first pick him up (working on that). Once out he is completly calm, but only with me...doesn't quite trust my bf yet

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