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Muhaha, boy am I clever! Well anyway, I brought Morpheus for the first time outside today, I put him in a small wire cage large enough for him to lay out and turn around etc. He flipped at first, then calmed, then he started FREAKING again! I quickly brought him inside and kinda let him run back into his cage. I closed the door and he continued to flip out for alittle. THEN I heard a rattlesnake, but it was really just his tail. WOW! He must have been really stressed out, poor fella! Anyway, just wanted to tell my story!

David

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David and Kevin

KDRKreatures.com
Exotic Reptile Breeders - Specializing in Bearded Dragons

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Poor Morphius! The great outdoors is sort of scarey for them somethimes. I took all 3 feet of Loiosh fully outside for the first time this weekend. The first time I tried, when he was small, he paniced before we even got out the door, and I had the scratches to remind me he did not like it.

This time, I picked an overcast day and stood inside the open door to let him get a good look and some good sniffs. Then, inch by inch, we glided out the door and down the steps, with me sort of covering part of his head at first so he wouldn't freak if a bird flew over. After that, it was down on the ground, tongue going a mile a minute, and all over the yard. When he finally came back over to me and put his foot on my foot, I took it to mean he'd had enough, and picked him up and took him back inside.

Try it on an overcast day next time, and go slow.

Remember that tegus, even those that have been farm bred for several generations, are wild animals. They still have all the instincts and behaviors that serve them in the wild. These same instincts and behaviors same time annoy and confuse us, particularly those who think of lizards like domestic animals.
(I'm not saying you do, just being complete in my responce.)

I keep mine tegu out doors from Memorial Day til Columbus Day. He has an enclosure with hiding places and areas for him to dig burrows. These help him feel secure. Wide open spaces are scary for wild animals particularly if they are small. My tegu is now just over four feet and about 20 lbs. I bet he still gets scittish outside this summer.

In the summer he dives for his borrow when anyone walks by. He'll stay out for me if I move slowly. He gets a bit wild inthe summer, but usually calms down when I grab him. He's much calmer indoors for the winter.

The tail rattling behavior is VERY intersting! Many harmless New World snakes (Colubrids) will do that when frightened, but I've never heard of a lizard doing it. Very Cool!

Thank you,

Brian

Here's an old picture of my tegu enclosure.

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Brian

"The Earth was not given to you by your parents. It is loaned to you by your children."

1.0 Rhinoceros Iguana
1.0 Argentine Tegu
1.1 Bearded Dragons
1.0 Australian Water Dragon
1.0 Jeweled Lacerta
0.0.2 Blue-tongue Skinks
1.1 California Kingsnakes
1.0 Children's Python
0.0.1 Red-earded Slider
0.0.1 Giant Mexican Musk Turtle
3.4 Russian Tortoises

Thanks for the response, both of you. Yeah, I thought the tail rattling was interesting myself! I have heard of tail "wagging" when frightened in Tegus, but I thought I had experienced that before, and have never seen the tail rattling. LOL

Later
David
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David and Kevin

KDRKreatures.com
Exotic Reptile Breeders - Specializing in Bearded Dragons

Email

Tail wrattling is common among tegus mainly younger. Most of mine do it when they're nervous. My older tegus tail movements are slower and larger movements. The young tegus seem to impersonate rattlers though. It is common though.