Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I had 3 Argentine B&W at one time. I sold 2 and kept one female.
She is the meanest SOB on the planet. Nothing like the 2 I sold. This one could never be sold. Anyway to attempt to get the tail whippng, biting, hissing to stop. This happens in the cage and when being held.
This has been going on for quite some tiime now and she gets worse by the day. She is a July hatchling from Agama International.

stop forcing her to be held, you have to gain her trust, most monitors and tegus seem to tame down with age, and the tegu may never become tame, it happens sometimes, each lizard has its own personality, I personally do not hold any of my tegus or monitor for their first year, after that most become accostomed to you feeding and cleaning, then slowly start interaction, alot of people say that by holding your tegu and not putting it in its cage when it bites, that it will start to learn that its not going to get what it wants so it will stop biting, tegus are not dogs, and all that is going to do is stress them out and with stress their immune systems will crash, take your time your tegu will be alive for at least 15 years, so you have the time,
thanks
tony butler

I second that advice. I handled my "little" guy Tegan only when absolutely necessary until he was about 8 months old. I DID however make sure I was around and interacting with him in other ways though. For instance, when feeding be calm, talk to him. Let him know you are OK and not a threat. Heck, I use to just stand by Tegan and talk to him when he was growing up. Then he was just use to the big hairy thing that brings food. Good diet is important as is environment. Most important is to make sure he associates you as the person who brings food and not the person possibly IS food If you think it is crazy now, wait till fully mature and the feeding response goes wacko on ya. My Tegu though very tame is one crazy critter when it comes to feeding time, LOOK OUT! This started when he was a year plus. Unfortunatley I have to say the first 6 months are key. Though you are past that, I believe with persistance and patience you can work it into a "non-lethal" pet. It may never be "dog friendly" though, most are not. Just do the best you can and provide the basics. I am working with an Argus that pretty much IS THE DEVIL so I feel your pain my friend, best of luck to ya!

When he was a baby

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Peace!
KofSeattle
Reptile-Like
Here lizard lizard.........