Is my Tegu Mean or Hormonal?

I like to be transparent with you all because I don’t want anyone to impulsively get a tegu and think they are all super cuddly. That is not always the case. Everyone has bad days, and you need to expect it. I think it would be highly irresponsible of me to not show the bad. By showing my mistakes, I hope it can teach you what to do and what not to do. 

Over the years, I am sure many of you have seen videos of Winston trying to bite my lady chest apples, my shoe off my foot, my skirt one time, my hand, and trying to bite at my sweatshirt strings. Each one of these bites were not aggressive. Most of them were just him trying to grab something or my hand was in the way. Now, the lady chest apples… He has always had a thing for those. He loves to bite them. He’s not trying to be mean, just grabby. He’s a grabby gu. 

After living with Winston for almost 7 years now, I can tell which type of biting behavior is positive or negative. He has never bitten me out of aggression, but he has shown upset behavior a few times to where I had to back off or else, he will bite. This was only in the beginning when we first brought him home. I honestly don’t remember the last time he was upset enough to lunge at me. It’s been a while. Probably when he heard the fire truck for the first time driving on our road with sirens on and Winston thought it was me. So, I got chased to jump up on the flower bed and threw a blanket on him to calm him down. That was intense. Good adrenaline for us both I guess. I think he now knows I don’t make firetruck sounds.

Winston and I 100% understand each other’s body language. I can comfortably move my hands around him and he is fine with it. Occasionally he will get a little excited and think my hands have food but once I show him, he’s like “oh, ok.” He does not scare me or make me feel intimated. It is a nice feeling when you can understand their body language enough to know what they are saying without being verbal. His stance, his eyes, his walk, pause, etc., are all ways he can communicate, and it is so neat once you learn to understand them. 

If you are doing food games, it is important to pay attention to how they respond. They don’t always mean to get you and they aren’t always aggressive. A lot of times, they just get in a frenzy which can be intimidating. Most of the time, that behavior was motivated, and you can control it by how you respond to them. How you present yourself to your reptile, will determine how they will respond back. Always watch their eyes, always be sure you are ready, and do not hesitate or flinch. If you do, they will miss and grab you on accident. So, if you are unsure how to safely hand feed your tegu, use tongs. It is a fun enrichment activity in my opinion but make sure you both are safe. 

When they are in a bad mood, it is best to leave them alone. They don’t like to be woken up and they will let you know with a grunt, lunge, tail wiggle or arching their back. If you ignore any of these warnings that they were so kind to show, you will get bit. Winston never lunges without giving a few warnings first. You must always respect their boundaries. 

You can tell what mood they are in by watching their eyes and their body language. If their eyes are dilated, body stiff while staring intently, give them space. They may have gotten spooked. If their eyes are relaxed and they are licking the air, it is ok to pet them. That is a good sign. If they are melted in the middle of the floor with closed eyes, you can pet them if they know you are around. You can also tell when they are excited by listening to their chuffs. If Winston is chuffing, he is super happy to be around you. But chuffing is also a sign that he wants to mate. This will result in a bite, but it is not aggressive. He means well. I promise. He just wants the lady chest apples and doesn’t understand.