Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My new arg b&w has taken to voiding on me as of late whenever I pick him up. This happens literally every time he is held, and while there is never a lot of it its very irritating.

Is there any way to break him of this habit? I try and hold him every day, and he didnt do it when I first got him about 3 weeks ago. Its been about 4 days now consecutively that hes been doing it. I dont put him down afterwards, so he doesnt learn that it will get him away from me - but I want to stop him from doing it in the first place!

Hes also shedding at the mo, and just come off a course of medicine - could these things have anything to do with it?

It is good you haven't put him down, you don't want him to learn that’s the way to get away from you. You have only had him 3 weeks so he may still be adjusting to his new surroundings. What kind of set up do you have him in and what are his temps and humidity? As to the medicine it is a possibility but you would have to give us more information. You may want to let him have a few days to himself then slowly reintroduce your self to him. Maybe sit in front of his enclosure and just hang out reading a book or something. This way he gets used to seeing you. Then after a few days of that stare setting down for 5-10 minutes then put your hand in the enclosure but don't pick him up. Finally after a few days of that try the whole routine and then pick him up. Good Luck!

Hiya,
Temps are around 80-85 cool end, and 115 in the basking spot. Im off to buy a humidity gauge tomorrow as I dont know the exact percentage, but Ive been misting the enclosure regularly (and the tegu himself, which he doesnt seem to mind). The medicine was to treat a chesty wheeze that he had, but I have no idea as to the name of it - all I know is that he had 3 injections of it as part of the course. It was at the vet that he first voided (on the vet himself). Ill mention hes about a year old as well, and has been reasonably regularly handled in the past.

I will try the re-introduction thing, but its so frustrating as he was great to hold for the first 2 weeks that I got him; its only recently that hes started doing this! Im hand-feeding him using a tub to hold his food and tongs for his mice, so at least he sees me then as well...I just hope it works

Can I ask as well - do tegus she very bittily? I have a beardie and they shed a body part at a time, whereas my tegu seems to shed individual scales so its almost like hes flaking. Is this normal?

Thanks for your help

The first 2 weeks he may have been to sick and not feeling well enough to really react to you. Tegus usually shed in sheets not individual scales you may need to up the humidity and try to feed some fruit for some vitamin C.

Right, I got my gauge today and, after a good misting, humidity is up to 50%, but I doubt it will stay this high for long. Is there a trick to getting it higher and/or keeping it high? I misted the tegu himself, which he didnt seem to mind, to try and help a little more. I can see that his chin is shedding in a sheet like beardeds, so I guess thats more normal, but the big scales on his head are still coming off one by one. Is this normal?

Yea, the big scales on Lucky’s head flake off one by one. If you got one of those little dial gauges that they sell at the pet stores well, they do not work well at all. You have to get one of those digital temp/humid combos. What kind of enclosure do you have him in? If it has a screen you want to cover it with some kind of plastic and cut holes out for the lights.

Yea, the big scales on Lucky’s head flake off one by one. If you got one of those little dial gauges that they sell at the pet stores well, they do not work well at all. You have to get one of those digital temp/humid combos. What kind of enclosure do you have him in? If it has a screen you want to cover it with some kind of plastic and cut holes out for the lights.

Hes in a wood/plexi vivarium, so it does retain some humidity but not a lot. The average seems to be about 40%, and it gets up to just over 50% after a misting.

Can you get those kind of gauges in garden stores or something? I have never seen a digital one for sale in the reptile shops here in the UK that I visit.

Thanks for all your help so far

Just do a google search using humidity gauge. Below are a couple I found

http://www.extech-direct.com/Humidity-Meters/HumidityMeterIndex.htm

http://www.indoorhealthproducts.com/product-hygro.htm

After a brief convo with a guy working in a pet store near me that used to own boscs, I learned that the reason for his voiding was because of my picking him up too soon after his eating. Doh! Oh well.