Cato is making HUGE progress!

EchoTheLeoTort

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For those of you fallowing my tegu updates I am so happy with the progress he has made. He will be 4 months old november second. Right now he is 27.5 inches. The first 3 months he was unable to be outside, he would freak out as soon as we stepped outside and i would struggle to hang on to him. I decided taking him on car rides would help. He could feel some warmth, hear more noises, see out, yet be able to do it safetly. He sits on my shoulder in the car and basks or stares out the windshield. He's gone with me to petsmart twice now and behaves great! Today was the real test.. The dog park. He spent half an hour outside without a leash or harness (i didnt set him down though due to dogs and the no harness issue). He sat on my shoulder calmly, laid in my arms, and soaked up the sun. He is truly turning out to be an amazing pet, so happy i got a tegu!

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AustinASU

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:p they grow quick :p good job on husbandry, most tegus i see have missing toes from lack of humidity during shed time.
 

EchoTheLeoTort

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When I see him go into shed he gets soaked each day in warm water with a little but of mineral oil. I dont like to get the cage overly humid (80% +) because i've had fruit flies/gnats in the cage, and its a huge cage! There is a waterfall in the cage though with a fogger, so it keeps it 65-70% humidity. The mineral oil really moisturizes his skin and the shed comes off pretty nice. He also has several pieces of driftwood in his cage to rub on to help get it off. Im happy he still has his full tail and all toes!
 

Tom

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The secret to good sheds is a humid hide. I have been using them for snakes and lizards for decades. It's only fairly recently that I figured out the benefits of using them for tortoises too.

Get a plastic tub, like an 18 gallon, cut a door hole a little bigger than him about 2/3 of the way up one of the walls. Fill it with coco coir, peat, sterile soil or something like that, and keep it damp inside. I didn't have to re-wet mine more than once or twice a month. They love to hang out in there. It's like having their own damp burrow. I always used the Forrest green ones, but I think any darker color would work.
 

EchoTheLeoTort

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The bad part of his good shedding is the cuts i get from his nails. They cut me pretty good.
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mike taylor

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Glade to see he is doing good . The scratches are part of keeping lizards. Try using towels when handling him . Your much to pretty to be all scratched up .
 

EchoTheLeoTort

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Tom said:
The secret to good sheds is a humid hide. I have been using them for snakes and lizards for decades. It's only fairly recently that I figured out the benefits of using them for tortoises too.

Get a plastic tub, like an 18 gallon, cut a door hole a little bigger than him about 2/3 of the way up one of the walls. Fill it with coco coir, peat, sterile soil or something like that, and keep it damp inside. I didn't have to re-wet mine more than once or twice a month. They love to hang out in there. It's like having their own damp burrow. I always used the Forrest green ones, but I think any darker color would work.

I have been saving up some money to get a few new things for his cage. I want to get some rougher tile to use under his basking area to help wear down his claws a little. I need to do a major cleaning soon as well. I spot clean every couple of days but by now the mulch in there is getting old, I want to put in fresh substrate. I want to add a humid hide as well, so i've been planning on that :)
 

Tom

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To take those tips off his nails try gently dragging him backwards on concrete. I've done this for years with monitors by just pulling them by the base of their tail. It takes seconds to do all of their nails at once. Because tegus can drop their tails, I've always done them with one hand over their shoulders and one hand around their waist.

Do this gently in an area where there are no cracks or seams. Never pull too hard in case a nail gets hung up. As I said, I've done this for years and never had one problem.
 

mike taylor

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Re: RE: Cato is making HUGE progress!

Tom said:
To take those tips off his nails try gently dragging him backwards on concrete. I've done this for years with monitors by just pulling them by the base of their tail. It takes seconds to do all of their nails at once. Because tegus can drop their tails, I've always done them with one hand over their shoulders and one hand around their waist.

Do this gently in an area where there are no cracks or seams. Never pull too hard in case a nail gets hung up. As I said, I've done this for years and never had one problem.

I wish I would have thought about that it would have saved me some blood and time.
 

jtrux

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The sidewalk idea is interesting. Probably need to start doing the same thing. When mine comes out of hibernation, I will try it.

Marissa, I'm pretty sure your "little" guy will pass mine up before he wakes up. Can't wait to see it.
 

Tom

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mike taylor said:
I wish I would have thought about that it would have saved me some blood and time.

I learned it quite by accident. In the mid 90's I was living in an apartment with my big water monitor monitor. I would take him outside on a leash and harness for sunshine. As he tried to walk away on the concrete and I pulled him back, I noticed that the walk back inside was much more pleasant for me.
 

EchoTheLeoTort

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I've been workin on getting Cato used to the outdoors. He hasn't gotten the chance to be on the ground yet because he used to freak out. I went to get him a harness leash thing the other day and thought better of it. He wont be outside for a few months since south dakota has cold winters, by the time he could go out again i think he would out grow the harness so i decided to wait. He likes it outside so i'm happy cause i really want to take him out a lot to socialize. And i'll get to keep his nails shorter. :)


jtrux said:
The sidewalk idea is interesting. Probably need to start doing the same thing. When mine comes out of hibernation, I will try it.

Marissa, I'm pretty sure your "little" guy will pass mine up before he wakes up. Can't wait to see it.

I dont know, Barry seems a lot bulkier than Cato. In pictures it sometimes seems he's twice the size Cato is! So we will see ;)
 

Tom

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The UV in sunshine really "turns them on", so to speak. A lot of calm, mild mannered lizards can turn into biting thrashing monsters with a little sunshine, so be careful. When I move my calm indoor tegus into outdoor enclosures, it usually takes two or three weeks for them to return to "normal". So be careful.

Since he's calm inside, you can always just use some cat nail scissors to trim the tips of the nails one at a time. Have some quick stop on hand before you do this.
 

EchoTheLeoTort

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Tom said:
The UV in sunshine really "turns them on", so to speak. A lot of calm, mild mannered lizards can turn into biting thrashing monsters with a little sunshine, so be careful. When I move my calm indoor tegus into outdoor enclosures, it usually takes two or three weeks for them to return to "normal". So be careful.

Since he's calm inside, you can always just use some cat nail scissors to trim the tips of the nails one at a time. Have some quick stop on hand before you do this.

Ya thats what used to happen. He'd try running away and opening his mouth at me when i tried to get him out of his pen. He would even tail whip. It really made me think he'd never get to be outside. But now we are to the point where he is calm. He wants down a lot Though so i'll have to let him on the grass when he is bigger and keep working with him.
 

Kapidolo Farms

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Re: RE: Cato is making HUGE progress!

Tom said:
To take those tips off his nails try gently dragging him backwards on concrete. I've done this for years with monitors by just pulling them by the base of their tail. It takes seconds to do all of their nails at once. Because tegus can drop their tails, I've always done them with one hand over their shoulders and one hand around their waist.

Do this gently in an area where there are no cracks or seams. Never pull too hard in case a nail gets hung up. As I said, I've done this for years and never had one problem.

That's funny Tom, that's how I do my cat's nails. Will
 
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