Anybody here clicker train their Tegu? We have a young Argentina B&W who is happily sleeping away the cooler weather now, but we would like to find someone who has actually clicker trained their Tegu so we've got a jump start on spring. Spot is very friendly and easy to handle already. Even when we woke him up by accident, he was friendly and looking for attention. He will spend his hot summer days in an outside pen, but during the not so hot weather, he will have an open 'cage' in our extra bedroom, so we want to be able to have him respond when he's out and about. Thanks!! Jen
clicker train Clicker train it to do what? Never would think you could. Heck you try to clicker my montor he would eat the clicker lol.
RE: clicker train clicker training a tegu helps control the food response. some that have taken to the training will rush to you when they hear the click because they associate it with being fed.
RE: clicker train I've heard of several people training water monitors to clickers to get them to come, prepare for feeding, etc. It wouldn't surprise me if Tegus and others could also be trained in the same way.
i want to clicker train my tegu also, but i dont know where to get a clicker! can anyone help? thanks~cam~ p.s. ive tried other noise including ones from my mouth will that work just a good?
my parents got their clickers [for dogs ] at a petstore. i'm sure they have them online at dog training sites. good luck! it sounds like a great idea.
I really don't know, although it works for birds. I was raised around birds of prey (mostly hawks) all my life, and they were trained to respond to whistling to come to their keepers, to know we were coming (so they weren't spoked when we opened up the aviary doors), and other things.
We already have the clicker... My daughter has horses and we've used the clicker to work with her youngest horse. I've read quite a few articles about clicker training a Tegu. Our goal is to have him respond - much as if he learned to respond to his name. We want to give Spot free roam in the 3rd bedroom, which is a computer / tv room for my daughter. My hope is that with clicker training, he'll come out if he's got himself curled up in a corner (i.e. - I don't have to move the sofa all the time!). And for anyone looking for a clicker - Petsmart has them. Usually in a little tub near the checkout. Jen
This sounds a bit silly to clicker train a lizard. just my opinion. Can i please see a site about this sort of thing never heard of this before on lizards anyway.
Why does it sound silly? It's no different than training a dog to "stay" or "get down" (off the dinner table, somebody's lap, the couch, etc). When you've got lizards (like the big monitors) that can reach 6-8ft in length, providing an actual cage for them is often impossible, and free-roaming is the best option. Clicker-training them to come to you when food is being offered, or just to see where they are can be very important.
who knows....... I dunno they are just not like dogs, same goes with taming i think they are not dogs they are big lizards they dont care about you like say a dog.They probly even hate you when you come at them to pick em up and such. They just expect their to be food their everyday or so. They get used to it.If you have them on a regular feeding schdule they should just come about round feeding time. and i feel free roaming is a very bad idea, why have a lizard that can get 6-8 feet in length if you can not have the room/cage for it. Thats like going out and buying a hoarse and saying "Geez i dont have a stable for it so i'll put it in my bedroom." Monitors are very messy and destructive. Plus how can you keep it properly running round your house,Keeping the temps right and such.90f in a house is very hot for a person anyways. Plus why would you not want to know where your lizard is thats not very safe could be getting in to god knows what in a house. Thats just the way i feel, it sounds silly to me. im not saying its not possible i just want to read more on it from people it worked for thats all,Cause i have never heard clicker training for a lizard.
RE: who knows....... Wow, simple question has gotten out of hand. Spot will not be running free around the house. He has his own setup which has a drop down front. Maybe you're perfectly content having a lizard the size of a Tegu just sitting in his 'cage' 24/7, but our objective is that Spot can be out and about several hours a day, able to return to his 'home' as he sees fit or wants to. This won't be 24 hours a day, but if we open the door at 10 a.m. and come back at noon and he is snoozing behind the sofa, I would like to have him trained to respond without us moving furniture all the time! It's not dangerous or silly, it is an opportunity for a sweet and well trained Tegu to have more freedom and exercise, not live a life of just being on display in his cage. How about people who take their Tegu outside. What happens if the Tegu gets loose, wouldn't you want some training so he will respond to you?? Why is training a Tegu to respond any sillier than training a dog? a cat? a ferret? an elephant? I guess much of this depends on your interaction with your lizard. If you see him as a possession, then guess you wouldn't clicker train your dining room furniture either, so this would be silly for you. But many people truly enjoy interacting with their lizards as much as a dog, cat or in our, horses. Heck, we have pet rats and my daughter has her favorite trained to come to the sound of tapping on the floor. There are no sites with definitive directions, that is why I posted here. There are lots of boards and such that mention Tegus ability to be clicker trained and how intelligent they are, but no set directions or suggestions. Hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! Jen
RE: who knows....... Without having done it myself yet, I would probably attempt a reward system (assuming a lack of advice from people who have done it before). If you click each time you offer food, eventually they'll associate the sound with good things! - at least, that's the theory, lol. That's how it works with most species. They live to eat, sleep and reproduce. In captivity, they don't need your help to do two of those things.
RE: who knows....... John - Thanks for the post. I kinda thought reward too, have a bowl or plate ready for him when he responds. So far no one has posted or emailed their experiences. I have emails out to several people who reference clicker training their Tegus on other boards, but no luck so far. I'll post in the spring once Spot awakens and let everyone know how things go. For now, we might start working with one of our Blue Tongue Skinks and see how they respond. Our bearded dragons could care less Jen
RE: who knows....... I would probably go with a smaller treat, than a bowl full of food. That'll keep him wanting more. I would hazard a guess that if you did it just on regular feeding times, once you've got him trained to respond, he'll eventually learn all over again, that clicking just means you want him to come to you, not that he's going to get anything, and become lazy aagain, hehe. Perhaps start him off at regular feeding time when he's got a full bowl of food, then taper it off to a small treat each time you click (just so he gets something)... Depending on his size, maybe a roach, a superworm, cricket or something more appropriate.
