Two Questions

1. My b&w tegu doesn't seem to be hibernating well. This would be his first winter, and he seems really skinny and he also lays on the top of his substrate. Should I bring him out of hibernation or just let him go?

2. I'm giving a presentation on my reptiles tomorrow for my public speaking class, and I was wondering how you pronounce "tegu?" Dictionary.com and Answers.com say it's pronounced "Ti (as in Tim) Goo," but I always said "Tee-goo." I'm sure no one in the class would know the difference, but it would still be good to know.

Thanks.

Might want to pm Bobby, the Taegu forum moderator for answers about the health of your lizard.

If you're not planning on breeding him there is no real need to cool him.

So far as I know it's pronounced te rhymed with day and gu rhymed with goo.

It would be fine to warm him back up and start back feeding.

As for the name, it is pronounced "tay-goo"

So he's been in my room for 2 days with the heat on and everything, but he hasn't come out of hiding yet and he hasn't eaten.

He finally came out a little bit yesterday and a good bit more today. I put him in a separate container with some tegu food, but he just decided to crawl through it. I threw a couple crickets in and they finally got his attention. (and on a side note, I was sick that day thought I bought "Tegu Bites" but I actually bought "Total Bites" for crickets )

He's still very skittish. Would it be ok to firmly grasp him until he calms down? Otherwise, he's really good at getting away.

He's gotten very active since my last post and eats just fine, but he just won't calm down. He gets away from me almost every time I move him to his feeding cage. He just goes crazy trying to get away. After he eats, I can hold him just fine. I'm afraid he's going to hurt himself by either jumping or me trying to grab him. Does anyone have any tips?

Feed him more. Once he gets that fat belly a few more times he will probably mellow a little bit.

I want to give some tips on getting them tame. Let me first say, Put yourself in your tegu's position. He is small, you are very big. Big things eat small things. So in his mind he is thinking you are wanting to eat him.To start with, you must build trust with your lizard. Here’s some helpful hints: first off the most important thing that people do wrong, is disturbing them when they are in their hide, never do this, this is their place of safety, that is one sure way to lose trust with your tegu. Next never (man handle) them, they seem to respond better if you are gentle. It is not going to happen over night. And just try to stay calm around him. If he thinks you are going to hurt him he will go into the fight or flight responce. So just take your time, and he will realize you are not a threat and calm down. Keep this in the back of your mind. In the wild these little guys are prey, so when you handle him, remember this. He will come to know you as a friend and not a foe. If you are gentle and slow when handling them, they will feel more comfortable, and respond better when they are handled.


Think of them as your puppy, when you pick him up, do not grab him behind the neck or around the belly, just reach under him. Hold him with a lite grip.
Tegus are the same as a puppy, they don't like to be grabbed either.
Instead reach under them with a loose hand and be gentle. Also when handling them. Let them move through your loose hands, just keep putting one hand in front of the other until he calms down and stops moving. Just remember, the more you grab them and try to restrict them, the longer it will take for him to trust you and become tame. The more interaction you have with him, the better. Just try to handle him with a very slow hand, in a calm manner.

Put yourself in his shoes, how would you react if you were him?

Try getting a tub with nothing in it, put the tegu in the tub. Set the tub on your couch when you are watching TV. Put your hand into the tub, but do not move towards the tegu. Better to let him come to you, tegus are well known for being very curious. See how this works and let me know, within no time he should start to become calm.

I've read your info on taming tegu's many many times before making my last post. My problem wasn't covered in it. I'll have to try your last suggestion though.

It's still really hard to catch him. He gets out of his cage every time and then I have to catch him running around in my room. Now I have to use a butterfly net to catch him in his cage. It's pretty much the only way to get him into his feeding cage now.

BTW, I'm not really asking for advice. I know this will take a while. I'm just updating and maybe someone will have some technique that they know of. Thanks for reading.