A few weeks ago, I placed an order for two hundred Silkworms from Mulberry Farms. They were sent to me via USPS, and although they all survived, there was a lot of miscommunication at the postal office. I am very pleased with Mulberry Farms, and their shipping practices, though I do recommend tracking your package to ensure you receive the insects in good condition. The post office did not notify me, despite the warning "Call when arrived" sticker, and I honestly don't know when they would have found my package had I not kept track.
The Silkworms were purchased with the intent of breeding, but it has become obvious over the few days they have been in my care that it is not an endeavor I wish to pursue. Silkworms, as stated on many other websites, are high maintenance critters, with food and cleaning requirements that go beyond what I am willing to provide for a feeder insect. Furthermore, while my tegu did attempt to eat a few initially, she soon became disinterested leaving me with 190 + uneaten worms.
On that note, I would not discourage other reptile owners from trying Silkworms, as long as they are aware of the potential financial loss (they are not cheap!) if their reptile does not like Silkworms. Mulberry farms is also a great company to do business with if you are looking for an insect provider: crickets, mealworms, silkworms, hornworms, etc.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Taming the Beast
It has been slightly under a month, and there has been a ton of progress, and a couple steps backwards, in the bonding process. When I first ordered my tegu, I had hoped for an already docile, tame animal. After watching all of those videos of amazingly calm tegus on YouTube, it was a bit discouraging to get a tegu that was flighty when handled. "Why is mine broken," I asked myself. Below are some observations I have made in the past few weeks regarding tegu bonding.
Tegus really are all different, so it's hard to determine how long it will take for a particular tegu to calm down and become comfortable with it's owner. This is a rough outline of our progress so far:
Week 1/Day 1: Tegu allows me to easily remove her from the bag. I SHOULD have used this opportunity to allow her to warm up in my lap, or in my jacket, but I was quite worried, due to her arriving late, that I placed her in her enclosure immediately. She immediately lays under the heat source and sleeps for the remainder of the day.
Day 2: Tegu is still fairly placid, and allows removal from the enclosure. She does not seem to mind when people approach her enclosure, and is sleeping the majority of the time.
Day 4: Tegu has finally eaten a large meal and appears to be very active. She is shedding, therefore I have not handled her.
Day 5: Tegu allows me to remove her from the enclosure and stays in my lap I am on the computer. She does not want to be touched, and instead burrows into a blanket.
Day 7: Tegu is now starting to get flighty when hands are placed in the enclosure.
Week 2: I have started moving tegu into a separate box for feeding. Tegu hates the box, and will only eat half of her meal in it. She does not like being placed in feeding box, and has started struggling when being removed from enclosure.
Week 2.5: Tegu is allowed to free roam during some evenings, and has become a little less flighty when being removed.
Week 3: Tegu goes into shed again, and hates my guts. Tegu does not like being handled at all and will jump out of my hands if given the opportunity.
Week 3.5: Backing off of tegu. I am only removing her for free-roam time and feedings. Otherwise, I am not taking her out to socialize.
Week 4: Continuing to only interact with tegu when cleaning/feeding. I sit by her enclosure daily to ensure she sees me every day for hours.
Week 5: I have been removing tegu from enclosure in the morning before heat lamp turns on. She stays in bed with me for approximately 2 hours every morning. She has begun jumping on me to get out of her enclosure to free-roam.
Positive experiences
I noticed a lot of progress when spending excess time around her enclosure. I know a lot of people recommend this when explaining "tegu taming," and I don't think it can be emphasized enough. Gradually, my tegu began feeling more comfortable with my presence and general movements.
T-Shirt method - like other websites recommend, using a t-shirt that smells like you can help familiarize the tegu with your scent. I not only placed a t-shirt inside of the enclosure, but also used a worn t-shirt to carefully remove the tegu from the enclosure and place it on my lap while using the computer or reading a book. My tegu often burrowed further into the shirt and fell asleep, or found a heat source (usually my leg) to lay next to.
The MOST SUCCESSFUL method so far has been through morning-time cuddles. Currently, the timer to turn on her lights switches on at 10:00 AM. For the past couple of mornings, I have removed her from her enclosure at approximately 8:00 AM, and brought her into the bed with me. I either wear a jacket with a collar or hood, or wrap a blanket around myself, and allow the collar/hood/blanket to partially cover her. Because her body is cold in the morning, she is much more amenable to remain in one place and let me pet her.
T-Shirt method - like other websites recommend, using a t-shirt that smells like you can help familiarize the tegu with your scent. I not only placed a t-shirt inside of the enclosure, but also used a worn t-shirt to carefully remove the tegu from the enclosure and place it on my lap while using the computer or reading a book. My tegu often burrowed further into the shirt and fell asleep, or found a heat source (usually my leg) to lay next to.
The MOST SUCCESSFUL method so far has been through morning-time cuddles. Currently, the timer to turn on her lights switches on at 10:00 AM. For the past couple of mornings, I have removed her from her enclosure at approximately 8:00 AM, and brought her into the bed with me. I either wear a jacket with a collar or hood, or wrap a blanket around myself, and allow the collar/hood/blanket to partially cover her. Because her body is cold in the morning, she is much more amenable to remain in one place and let me pet her.
Mistakes I've made
Forcing too much interaction. Tegus give fairly clear signs when they don't want to be handled, and I chose to ignore those signs a few times. In the end, it dramatically broke the trust I was beginning to build with my tegu. She became more weary of my hands, and it made things more difficult.
------------------------------------------------------
Tegus really are all different, so it's hard to determine how long it will take for a particular tegu to calm down and become comfortable with it's owner. This is a rough outline of our progress so far:
Week 1/Day 1: Tegu allows me to easily remove her from the bag. I SHOULD have used this opportunity to allow her to warm up in my lap, or in my jacket, but I was quite worried, due to her arriving late, that I placed her in her enclosure immediately. She immediately lays under the heat source and sleeps for the remainder of the day.
Day 2: Tegu is still fairly placid, and allows removal from the enclosure. She does not seem to mind when people approach her enclosure, and is sleeping the majority of the time.
Day 4: Tegu has finally eaten a large meal and appears to be very active. She is shedding, therefore I have not handled her.
Day 5: Tegu allows me to remove her from the enclosure and stays in my lap I am on the computer. She does not want to be touched, and instead burrows into a blanket.
Day 7: Tegu is now starting to get flighty when hands are placed in the enclosure.
Week 2: I have started moving tegu into a separate box for feeding. Tegu hates the box, and will only eat half of her meal in it. She does not like being placed in feeding box, and has started struggling when being removed from enclosure.
Week 2.5: Tegu is allowed to free roam during some evenings, and has become a little less flighty when being removed.
Week 3: Tegu goes into shed again, and hates my guts. Tegu does not like being handled at all and will jump out of my hands if given the opportunity.
Week 3.5: Backing off of tegu. I am only removing her for free-roam time and feedings. Otherwise, I am not taking her out to socialize.
Week 4: Continuing to only interact with tegu when cleaning/feeding. I sit by her enclosure daily to ensure she sees me every day for hours.
Week 5: I have been removing tegu from enclosure in the morning before heat lamp turns on. She stays in bed with me for approximately 2 hours every morning. She has begun jumping on me to get out of her enclosure to free-roam.
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