hello everyone i think i made a mistake i bought a male arg red tegu from repticon here in florida about a month ago and have been trying to tame him. i have tryed the shirt in his tank, placing him in a bathtub with me, and setting my hand in the cage for 15mins a day. the owner didnt tell me much about the tegu but he was cheaper then the others. he is about two feed long from head to tip of tail so about one foot long nose to back leggs. i think he is a young adult. anyway i have tryed everything and people are starting to tell me that maybe i should get rid of him since its very very hard to tame a tegu can anyone please shed some light for me. i have pictures and everything you can right me here or on my email address at cobrasfury@aol.com thank you very much

An Argentine is easy to bond with. The big secret is let them come to you. My first Tegu was an Arg B&W adopted as a full adult. He was brought up well by his previous owner based on his great behavior and never tried to bite.

 It sounds like you got an import instead of a domestic Tegu. The imports are caught wild and sold to an unsuspecting public. Domestic's are healthier and acclimated to the seasons.

 Also if you are live feeding a Tegu it will become habitat agressive. If you let me know the habitat size, substrate, lighting, feeding schedule I will work with you. Pictures help so I can see the Tegu and check for any abnormalities on the hide. I have turned monsters into loving pets. I'll tap Johnny the owner of this site for info. He is the Reptile Whisperer.

Earl G. Morse at October 14, 2011 at 2:35 PM

An Argentine is easy to bond with. The big secret is let them come to you. My first Tegu was an Arg B&W adopted as a full adult. He was brought up well by his previous owner based on his great behavior and never tried to bite.

 It sounds like you got an import instead of a domestic Tegu. The imports are caught wild and sold to an unsuspecting public. Domestic's are healthier and acclimated to the seasons.

 Also if you are live feeding a Tegu it will become habitat agressive. If you let me know the habitat size, substrate, lighting, feeding schedule I will work with you. Pictures help so I can see the Tegu and check for any abnormalities on the hide. I have turned monsters into loving pets. I'll tap Johnny the owner of this site for info. He is the Reptile Whisperer.

ok i have a standard 3ft L, 2fW, 2ftH aquarium for him at the time. i feed him everyday at about 1 untill a few days ago when he started showing symptoms of hibernation. i use a 10.0w Uvb and a 75w heat lamp on the far right of his cage. the temp is constand 82-85 defrees and the right side is around 100. i believe he was never fed live prey when i bought him he was fed some type of cubed cat food. i put an end to the fatty cat food and feed him chicken livers/hearts/gizzard with fresh fruits and dragon time veggie meals. with egg on an every other day. the substrate is repti bark from petsmart and coconut fiber so he can burrow through it and hold the humidity around 65-85% humidity without any molding.

he has started ripping the livers from my hand but other then that if his lid opens he runs to his hide or puffs up like a blowfish and hisses until the cage door shuts.

for the picture i have them but idk how to add them to this site do you have an email address i can send them to thank you very much i really like tiny and dont want to get rid of him.

You can keep Tiny. I made the same mistake when it comes to bonding. The best thing is to back off and let the Tegu come to you. After a couple of weeks interacting by just putting food down, habitat maintainence and just talking to them if they were out basking. It was a short time being able to hold them and while cleaning they got used to my hands. Slowly just picking substrate around them working my hand closer until the Tegu moved away. Day by day I kept getting closer and now can hold both in my open hand.

 The substrate Johnny recommends now is the Coco Coarse. It is edible and will not cause a blockage. Heat, 90 to 95 on the basking end for a Tegu that age and as a full adult cut it back to 85. The opposite side with the burrow should be 75.

 Do not let Tiny associate your hand with food. Just put it down.

 The tank is too small, you need at least a 6 foot long tank for when Tiny grows and it will be easier to balance the temperature in the habitat.

If you start with the above I am cconfident we will be on the right road. We wish to keep in contact thru the bonding just to be sure. Tegu Terra puts the Tegu's first costomer or not.

My goal is a happy Tegu and a happy you.

Earl