Reptile & Amphibian Forums

All right. I need some opinions on the behavior of this new gold tegu. It's about a year old, little more than a foot long. I am trying to get a good feel for the animal itself... an empathy of sorts, you could say. In order to do that, I would like to find out what to look for and expect. It's pretty laid back as far as reptiles go. It seems to really like being stroked in the neck and back area, so I have been doing that since I brought it home last week. Fair to say I have been alternating that and holding it for a couple hours a day, on and off. As far as agressive behavior goes, I follow the theory that the more (almost) any pet is handled, the better it usually acts (although I have been proven wrong on this once).

I guess to get down to one of my main concerns, has anyone ever had an experience where this type of animal just struck you out of nowhere? From what I have read already, they tend to hiss when they get threatened or upset. That's another question I have. Is that a very audible hiss, or just something where it opens it's mouth to try and scare you off? I feel like these are such basic questions and I have been looking up a lot of information, but because every animal has its own personality, I find that some of the opinions and info are conflicting. So if anyone would like to share their experience with me on potential behavioral signals and actions, I would very much appreciate. Thanks so much.
Jenn.

The 'gold' is technically a Colombian Gold-Phased Black Tegu. The species is generally rather timid, though there have many many cases of this tegu being tamed.

They are sometimes labelled as "Aggressive" but that's only from people who don't understand the term. An aggressive animal will attack you for no reason. The colombian tegu is "Timid", meaning that if it has not been socialized it will be scared of you. It will avoid you if at all possible, but may bite if it is cornered.

They do not generally bite without warning. If the tegu is scared it will huff & hiss (you will hear it loud and clear) and you will see it's chest as it inhales and exhales deeply. The purpose of this is to scare you away, a sign of being timid. Not the typical sign of an aggressive animal. I feel rather strongly about the term "aggressive" being unfairly labelled on the poor things.

I hope that has helped clear up some of your questions.

Rick
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The Tegu Community - theTegu.com

This does help quite a bit. When I hear "agressive", I think in terms of mean or pushy, which is part of why I asked the question. When I think of "timid", it gives me a chance to better observe his behavior and let him come out of the corner by himself if I have him out. That also explains better his tendency to be skittish in the morning. I'm assuming that that particular behavior will even out as he gets more used to being handled.

Then with that said, is it a better idea to leave him alone if he's burrowed or hiding, or in the best interest of getting him comfortable with handling, is it Ok to go ahead and get him out? I have a feeling I know the answer to this, but if I'm wrong, I don't want to regret it later.
Thanks very much!
Jenn.

Golds are actually, or tend to be from guyana, require higher temps constantly as do most columbians. Golds to tend to be more flighty, however is handled on a regular basis, (aka, A LOT!) they do tend to become handable. I have had a few that were very tame, both juvies, and an adult. I currently am taming one juvie down now and it is doing well, and one a bit younger that is quite tame. The one thing with golds is you must be very patient. As columbians, if miss handled they remember...........for a long time! Thus tend not to become too handlable. One thing is to hlep gain their trust is to place your hand at ground level!!! With golds, until tame, this is an absolute must!!!! They fear being grabbed from above as in they will be prey. Go palm side up, and move slowly!!! Let them smell, etc. If he goes nuts, stop moving and be calm. He needs to trust you........let him lead and be patient. One thing I have found very useful if you can is to rub under their chin gently. This helps calm and ease their alarm-mechanism.

Good luck!!!

Greg

Thanks for the tips. So I see I was not doing that part correctly with picking up from underneath. I mean, as with many animals, I know approaching from above can intimidate them, so I was being very slow and gentle in picking up, but still coming from above. I did notice that (s)he like to be "petted" around the neck area in general though. So whenever it's resistant to being picked up (i.e. the darting away quickly, jumping, etc.), I usually just stroke it's back and neck for a few minutes and let it be for a while; try again later. I feel fortunate in that it allows me to pick it up more often than not.
Thanks again for the great input...
Jenn.

Very good news then! Keep your approach going, it sounds like you are on the postiive track!!! Remember, patience!!! LOL I know, it can be very difficult! LOL

Greg

Something that worked for me (I have a B&W Columbian) was to sleep with a small towel at night for a week or so and then put it in his cage. He got used to the smell and recognizes me. On the other hand, he dislikes my roommates a lot because he doesnt recognize their smell.
-Beth

This also works well with any tegu specie! Good info!

Greg

Holy cow; that's a lot of big (pretty) lizards!
BTW, thanks for the encouragement in the earlier reply. It was well needed as this little guy was pretty moody today. He hid himself away extra well, so I left him alone the better part of this day. And the "patience..." comments went through my head more than once. I just stuck my hand in to pet his head a few times and let him be.
Jenn.

That sounds like a great idea. I had never heard any such suggestion before, but it makes perfect sense! I will definitely try it.
So out of curiosity, since you said that your tegu doesn't like your roommates, how does he react to them exactly?
Thanks again for the tip!
Jenn.

Good advice, here is my complete method for taming a tegu. It makes use of an article of your worn clothing.

Rick
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The Tegu Community - theTegu.com

Here is a picture of my gold Thanks Russ

When either of my roomies approach him he puffs up and hisses. He's even made a grab at my rommies toes before, so they are both scared of him! Yes this method should work well for any tegu species, prolly for any species of anything, except maybe fish...
-Beth