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Posted by Clay on May 05, 2003 at 20:16:16:
In Reply to: need advice and experiences ackie vs b&w tegu posted by jack7777766 on May 05, 2003 at 14:51:15:
I have argentine tegus, so I will share my (limited) experience with them.
My only concern with them is not their fear of humans, rather their lack of fear. They perceive any moving object (and some inanimate objects) to be food, and will in turn try and eat it. This goes for feet, hands, socks, dogs, etc. I am not sure if this is instinctive, or a learned behavior.
Another annoying thing about free roaming is making a place where they can stay warm. While tegus can tolerate cold quite well, they need a place to bask (except those sunny days, as pictured above).
They also get into EVERYTHING. They are big, and easy to find, but they will find a way into anything. Like reptilian racoons. I left mine alone for 5 minutes in my bedroom, and they tore a corner of the carpet up to make a place to hide (a big room with all sorts of new smells can make any critters feel insecure). They also will grab things and move them across the room (Nesting? Mental stimulation? I don't know.). Being so powerful, it doesn't take much to ruin things (such as clawing at a sweater to "make a burrow" to hide in), so they might destroy things. Also, dealing with big piles of digested rodents, bugs and fruit on your bed is not exactly pleasant.
All said, I love having tegus and from my limited experience they seem to do okay "free roaming". I just figured you should have a heads up about their lack of fear potentially creating a scary situation.
If you want to chat in real time about tegus and monitors, check out the GoanaChat link at the end of this post.
- Clayton -
