Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I apologize ahead of time if this has been answered multiple times already... I've been searching the net for some answers, but I'd like to know what any of you think.

I have a 4 year old Argentine Red Tegu named Lucifer (I asked for it... I know...) who has always been rather skittish. He is approx. 3.5 ft long and weighs about 10 lbs. I have been raising and breeding reptiles for almost 14 years now, but he was my first, what one might call, "intermediate" addition. My biggest issue at the moment is his relentless food aggression. Simply putting on a t-shirt or walking by the cage will send him full-speed into the glass. He will even chase you back and forth if you move in front of him. While I would like that to stop, I am most concerned with the fact that I cannot get him out of the cage without being charged at by a large, tooth-filled mouth. He has even lunged out of the cage at me. He used to be "fine" once I managed to get him out of the cage (I say "fine" because, again, he has always been skittish), but lately, as silly as it may sound, he has started to look at me differently. He seems to be watching my every move and looks as if he will bite my face off at the single second I let my guard down. I used to be able to put him on the floor in the bathroom while I brushed my teeth or just hung out with him, but the last time I tried that he chased me up on to the counter after trying to eat my feet.

I do not think that this is an issue of being under fed, he eats regularly and has been called "overweight" by the local exotics vet. Yet, he does always seem hungry.

I have read a few things online about "taming you tegu" but they all seem to be talking about a new, smaller tegu that could not cause as much damage.

A few questions:

1. have any of you been bit by an adult tegu? should I go get heavy gloves?

2. any successful stories of taming a large and somewhat aggressive tegu? (I want nothing more than for him to feel comfortable around people.)

3. i am willing to make any necessary changes to ensure that he is sufficiently fed and well-mannered. any suggestions at all would be greatly appreciated.

thanks in advance!

P.S. I would love to post a photo of him, but I couldn't figure out how to do it. How do i?

If he is chasing you and slamming the glass with open mouth and not defensive, he is hungry as all hell. I'd suggest that instead of listening to alleged tegu fitness gurus you feed him as though he were Jackie Gleason. Feed him until he won't finish his meals.

Then, let him walk around outside the cage to get some exercise. Captive tegus are known for "cage-induced lethargy," and some get really fat because there's not much they can do in a 6 or 8-foot world. Unlike us, they don't have the Internet.

Main thing is, you need to give him a happy life in captivity. He is not in Argentina. He is in a box - what a major, major bummer. He wants food. Give him food, in abundance. feed him like a king.

If he has to live the life of a captive, let him live it as well as he (not you) can.

Time to get a bigger feeding dish.

B.

To prevent obesity, add fruit to his diet instead of fatty meats. Feed him whole rodents and a lot of diced cantalope, peeled apples (mine don't like the peel), pears, mango, cheeries, grapes, whatever he likes. Like people, he'll stay trimmer on a leaner diet. He still needs protein, but let it come from a lean source like lean rodents, fish, and chicken, and not from fatty ground turkey or canned foods.

If you need heavy welding gloves in the beginning, I'd rather use those than bit by a large tegu any day!!!

You need to condition the feeding response. It will take time, and you'll have to change the way you do things, but it works pretty well. When you go to feed him, tap on the cage, or do so mething similair. When your trying to interact with him, do the opposite. He has been conditioned to think that every time the cage door opens, he'll be fed. Feeding him more will only further enforce what is already happeneing. It's a simple concept for a simple minded animal, but works for Monitors and large constrictors